In this second instalment, Tina Simpson, marketing director at Triton Showers, continues to look at how simply showcasing your work can often prove more beneficial than traditional way of promoting your business.
Social set up
Recent research by Yell revealed that when homeowners look for a service, 51% believe the key point of reference is a website. However, commissioning and maintaining a bespoke company website can be very costly and time consuming. One ideal alternative is a Facebook business page, which can be easily managed and updated while on your computer or mobile device.
Not only will it allow you to have a strong online presence, it will help you to appear within Google searches for plumbers in the region. It also allows ratings and reviews to be left by your customers which are then displayed on the public page for others to see. This platform creates a hub for you to upload pictures of installations you have carried out to demonstrate the quality of your work.
More than half of those surveyed by Yell said they rely on positive reviews when seeking local services. As such, encouraging people to share images of their finished projects as a third party endorsement is fast becoming the new ‘word of mouth’. Incentivising this kind of feedback with a small discount or voucher is a great way to capture every recommendation possible and build up a strong reputation.
Over to you
Triton spoke with one of its installers, Paul Shepard of Plumbing PDS, who explained about their experiences of promotion in the digital age. He said: “Although a lot of my work comes from word of mouth, I definitely think it’s important to continue to promote yourself. I did look into setting up my own website but this was an expensive process that took a long time to get going. One of my customers recently suggested I set up a Facebook business page so I’m currently looking into this as an alternative.
“I’ve always avoided listed tradesmen websites as I’ve assumed you need to pay a fee to be included on there. My feeling is that anybody can pay to be on a website but you can’t put a cost on how valuable personal recommendations are.”
Triton regular training sessions to ensure its installers are always in the know about its latest products. To find out more, visit: tritonshowers.co.uk, connect on Twitter at: @TritonShowers, or follow Triton on Facebook by searching for: ‘TritonShowers’.