Growing your small business, whether you’re a sole proprietor or have a company with 15 employees, requires a lot of time, hard work and dedication to your company. It’s never easy running a business, let alone ensuring great success so you can continue to move forward and expand.
At first, many people may think that growing a business means just growing your customer base. While having a steady stream of customers is an important part of knowing your company is successful, it’s not the only way to help grow your company. Making sure every aspect of your business is considered and has strategy behind it will really go far when it comes to long-term success.
Here are five ways you can improve and grow your inspection business.
1. Give your clients a little extra
Adding extra value for your clients goes a long way in customer retention and building up a relationship. Providing professional and responsive customer service is crucial for any successful business, but you can set yourself apart from your competitors and add a little more for your clients without costing too much or spending too much time. Creating added value for your customers shows them you truly care about their experience with your business.
It also makes them think they have gotten something extra by using your services. Some examples would be to offer free advice or technical support to past clients (whenever they need it and not just during a job) or offering referrals for services for any repairs noted during an inspection.
2. Nurture your referral base
Inspection businesses often rely on referrals and it does take a lot of time and work to develop a referral base. If you keep your attention on it and nurture it, it will grow and lead to more customers. You can tend to your referral base by regularly checking in with other inspectors who have sent you clients in the past, visiting real estate agents and offering your business for their clients looking for homes and send thank you notes to past clients who have sent customers your way.
Don’t forget that nurturing current client relationships can lead to referrals down the road. Clients that are thrilled with your services (or, as mentioned in the previous point, the perceived value of your services) are much more likely to remember you if a friend or colleague is looking for the services you offer.
3. Expand the number of services you offer
If you want to grow your business, one good way is to add new services and branch out into related areas in your field. Sticking to one specialization is fine, but it just means you’re effectively capping your business potential to that specific area. Growing your business requires a larger customer base and increasing the number of money-making avenues. The more services you can offer your current and potential customers, the higher your business’ value will climb.
Depending on what type of inspection your business does, you could also venture into: home inspection, termite inspection, air quality testing, toxic mold/lead/asbestos testing and inspection, radon testing and conducting energy efficiency inspections. If you want to take it even further, you can move into HVAC and electrical work and offer your clients a well-rounded service.
4. Streamline your workflows
Small business owners know disorganization is like a kiss of death to a company. Not properly keeping track of; appointments, follow-ups, reminders, important agreements, documents and other day-to-day business operational tasks can be a huge waste of time and effort. Upgrading your system to software that can automate tedious tasks and streamline workflows can change how your business operates.
A software system like ISN is perfect because it keeps everything organized and easy to find. Regardless of whether your company is just you or if you have 30 employees, ISN can help lay the foundations for long-term success and growth. Your day-to-day tasks get optimized and automated so you can spend time on tasks that are more important.
5. Advertise
Marketing your business is vital. Without proper marketing, your potential clients may never know you exist, so unless you’re comfortable relying solely on referrals, attracting new customers is the way to go.
Come up with a marketing strategy that includes digital marketing, social media marketing, auditing your website (and fixing it up if necessary), SEO and branding. It can be a lot to take on at once, especially if you don’t have all the knowledge and experience. You may want to consider investing in a freelancer or agency to help with this side of the business since it is crucial and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Final summary
At the very least, you should have a clean and functional website where visitors can easily find the information they’re looking for. You should also be active on social media and use the platforms that your target customers use so you can speak to them directly. If you have the time, you could write blog posts on your website that offer useful tips, tricks and information for your target audience. This can help improve your SEO and increase your Google ranking.
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