Keep Your Plumbing Business Competitive in a Changing Landscape with Plumber Estimating Software
As a small business owner, you have to complete a wide range of tasks. In addition to serving your customers, you also have to write quotes and invoices, market your services, and manage your employees. As your business grows, it becomes more difficult for you to handle all these tasks on your own. You have to either hire admin staff or buy software. The latter option is almost always cheaper. ServiceBox starts at $25 per user per month, so it's one of the most cost-effective ways of speeding up your services, reducing your admin costs, and improving your digital marketing efforts.
Marketing
In the past, many plumbing businesses could survive through word of mouth and analog advertising. However, this strategy doesn't work anymore. Millennials and Gen Z customers use the internet and social media for almost everything. When looking for a new plumber, they almost always search online instead of browsing through newspaper ads or looking at billboards. That's why building up a solid online presence is key. When you have a search engine optimized website, attractive social media profiles, and great customer reviews, you're one of the first businesses to be displayed on Google when customers search for plumbing services in your area. This allows you to attract a steady stream of new leads and future-proof your business.
Your Website
A good website is clear, attractive, and search engine optimized. You have to make sure all your images are quick to load and that your pages are engaging for the readers. At the same time, you have to strategically place keywords on your sites, so search engines recognize your content as relevant for your target audience. At ServiceBox, we can create a website from scratch for you, or we can help you to improve your current one. If you already have some website-building experience, you can run your site on your own by using our software's audit tool. This shows you what you're already doing well and which aspects of your site you still have to improve.
Social Media
Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest can expose you to a wider audience and help you to become more well-known in your community. Small businesses that use these sites effectively have bigger chances of attracting customers of all ages. The best way to start is to figure out which sites are suitable for your company. It's best to choose one to three, so you have enough time to update them regularly. Most social media platforms work best when you post five to ten times per week. Share behind-the-scenes content about your business, industry news, and content relevant to your local area. With ServiceBox, you can view all your accounts as well as your Google My Business Profile on a convenient dashboard. You can also schedule posts ahead of time, so you don't have to worry about creating new content every day.
Reviews
Did you know that over 70% of people are more likely to buy a product or service if they've read positive customer reviews or testimonials beforehand? Once you've worked with your customers for some time, ask them to write a short paragraph about your services, which you can place on your website. Encourage them to also post a review on sites like Yelp and Google. With ServiceBox's Review Generator, your positive reviews are automatically added to sites where people might be looking for your services. That way, you increase your chances of making a good impression and acquiring new customers.
Offering a Fast Service
Finding new customers is time-consuming and expensive. For this reason, you need to work hard to offer your current ones an excellent service, so they ask you for help again the next time they have a plumbing problem. Home service software helps because it allows you to quickly create customized quotes and turn them into work orders and invoices at the click of a button. A good program also keeps track of all your customer information and tells you when to follow up with people. That way, you stay in regular contact with your customers and show them that they're important to you.
Reducing Admin Costs
Once you start hiring more staff, admin becomes expensive and time-consuming. You have to coordinate everyone's schedules, make sure your workers have enough jobs throughout the week, and keep staff informed about updates to the schedule. If you want to maximize your business's potential, you also have to keep track of your employees' hours and prevent long drives by scheduling jobs by geographic area. ServiceBox helps you with all these tasks. The program has a drag-and-drop scheduler that allows you to view and edit your calendar quickly. Once you've added a job to an employee's schedule, they are notified on their personal devices. That way, they always know where they need to go. The program also offers GPS tracking and a sign-in, sign-out process, so you know how long your employees spend at each customer's home or business.
Working from Anywhere
Another major benefit of home service software is that you can work from anywhere. Because ServiceBox is compatible with mobile phones, tablets, and laptops, you can communicate with your employees and customers on the go. Whenever you make changes to someone's schedule or work order, the relevant employee receives a message, so it only takes a few seconds for them to be up to date. Plumber estimating software allows you to optimize your website, keep up with social media, post reviews to various sites, offer a fast service, and reduce your admin costs. Get in touch with us at ServiceBox to find out more about our software. We offer a free demo, so you can see if it's a good fit for your plumbing business without spending money.
