Some time ago, a friend of mine who is a local vicar asked me to recommend a Tree Surgeon. I gave him a list of 5 companies who we insure within 10 miles of his parish.
Doing work for churches can be very lucrative and there was also the potential to get on the approved diocese contractors register, so this was an amazing lead. But guess how many contractors answered his call? Zero! And guess how many called him back? Zero!
He rang me, frustrated, and had a right moan ☹️, so I made a point of speaking to some of the recommended companies at renewal. I asked them why they didn’t answer and was told several times “I don’t answer if I don’t know who it is”. When asked how trade was – they responded ‘a bit slow’!
I experienced this again recently when I met a young lad putting up business cards in the local shop for his Handy Man business. I took one and we had a chat. As promised, I called him the following week. The best I got back was a text to my land line – “Who is this? I don’t recognise your number!”- another missed customer! 🤬
This may all seem obvious, but if you want to run a successful business then you need customers! And with more customers, you can adjust your prices accordingly! Responding to initial phone calls is a simple step. Another really good idea is have an company answer the phone for you. These will typically cost around £1 a message and they will send you a text each time. (Then you can see if they are cold callers asking if you if you have been injured in a car crash, or whether it’s the local Bishop looking for a new contractor.)
Ignoring calls because you don’t know who it is, is economic madness. There could be a nice meaty contract waiting to be picked up. In summary if you want to make it happen, make sure your ‘new enquiries number’ gets answered!
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