Do Your Customers Know What Type of Electrical Work You Do?

By Stan Rydzynski

 
     When a customer has an electrical problem or new installation opportunity, he or she will search for the company who offers the solution. How well do your existing customers know what type of electrical work you can perform? Simple question but can you answer with complete certainty that they know?

     With your need for work so great in these times, don’t you want to make sure they know?

     What is an electrical contractor without their truck? The truck is the tool room and warehouse on wheels all in one. It is also your marketing communication vehicle. Have you ever thought of it this way? Sure you have! The white (90% use factory white) truck has your company name, address, telephone number and maybe your email address. Also, in big letters the words, “Residential-Commercial-Industrial”. In fact these words appear on almost 90% percent of the electrical contractor’s trucks in America, which makes every contractor equal in the eyes of the people reading it.

• How does you customer differentiate between you and the other 60,000 electrical contractors in the US?
• Are your attributes (Reasons for doing business with you) stated on your business card?
• If you advertise in the Yellow Pages, do you list what you do for the customer to select you before calling another contractor listed?
• If you mention your website on your truck, is your URL easy to remember? Do you keep your website updated with the services you offer?
• On your quote sheet, do you list the attributes?

    It seams obvious but many contractors fail to understand this basic rule of marketing their business. Without the customer knowing what you do, you are equal to every other contractor. Let’s say I am the purchasing agent for a small industrial facility and a motor on the assembly line that controls a pump critical to production was smoking. Yes, they need an electrician quickly. But they need one who specializes in motors and pumps.
With time of critical importance which contractor will get the first call? The one who has stated their expertise? Correct!

   To help you, I put together attribute examples to get you started.

Commercial/Industrial
220/480 circuits	Machine shop wiring
A/C disconnect and service	Maintenance contracts
Arc Flash Testing	Meter conversions
Agricultural	Museum & school electrical experts
Apartments wiring and repair	Motor controls
Athletic field lighting	Motor equipment wiring
Bucket truck service	New construction
Cable testing/repair	Occupancy/tenant inspections and repairs
Code corrections	Overhead lighting
Commercial maintenance specialists	Parking lots
Computer support systems	Phone/computer wiring
Control systems	Plant maintenance
Control wiring	PLC troubleshooting
Controls, switchgear	Power back-up systems
Conveyor factory wiring	Pump and electric motor repairs
Dock & ship-to-shore wiring	Repair/inspect grounding of services
Emergency & standby power	Restaurant equipment
Energy management audit and implementation	Restaurants wiring
Fire damage repair	Service design and upgrade
Fire/burglar alarms	Service station electrical work
Fluorescent maintenance	Sign and neon repairs & installation
Food preparation equipment and maintenance	Single phase/three-phase systems
Generator transfer switches	Sports lighting
High voltage 5K and 15K	Storeroom & display lighting maintenance
High voltage repair	Strip mall wiring
Healthcare safety audits	Survey inspection and test
Hospital and nursing home maintenance	Thermal scan
Infrared scanning (arc flash)	Total facility maintenance
Inspection violations removed	Traffic signals
Landscape & fountain lighting	Transformer work
Lightning & surge protection	Underground wiring repair
Low voltage controls	UPS dedicated wiring

     This list is certainly not complete but will hopefully get you thinking in the right direction.

     There is another very important point to be made concerning your attributes. They should all be profitable. Sounds crazy that I mention this but you want to promote not only the things you make money on but the ones that are the most profitable. In this case, profit is defined by the most profit dollars and percentage. Either is correct. For example, you couldn’t list all your attributes on your truck. Therefore, list the ones that make you the most money and the work that you believe your potential customers are looking for.

    There are many elements that make up a solid marketing driven company. Showcasing and communicating what you can do for the benefit of your customers is a critical foundation to succeed profitably.

Stan Rydzynski, Executive V.P., Channel Marketing Group, has over 35 years of experience in marketing/sales/product excellence in the electrical industry. The Channel Marketing Group provides strategic planning, marketing planning and market research for contractors, manufacturers and distributors with a focus on growth initiatives to accelerate performance. If you have a marketing/strategic planning question, you can contact Stan for a FREE consult at srydzynski@channelmkt.com or 516-319-1191. In addition, Stan conducts a 2-3 hour marketing/planning contractor seminar covering basic marketing concepts as well as teaching how to write an effective contractor marketing plan. Contact your local IEC, NECA chapters and/or your local distributor to arrange for him to conduct his highly effective and informative seminars.