July 4, 2022Time is a precious resource that we all want more of. And if you own a field service business or work for one, you undoubtedly know how hard it is to find time for everything you need to accomplish in a workday, let alone a week, a quarter, or a year.
Like many of us, you do your best to check every item off of the to-do list during working hours while inevitably pushing lower priority items off to another day. And often, marketing your field service business is one of those things that easily falls to the wayside after being pushed back for more urgent matters.
But fear not! Even if you’ve had to push marketing your business to the backburner for quite some time, you can easily start prioritizing it through small, simple actions.
Why Should I Prioritize Field Service Marketing For My Business?
Like many businesses, the goal of your marketing is to acquire new customers that bring new and/or additional revenue into your field service business.
To win new customers, you need to promote your business and services. And the best promotion for your business happens when your business shows up at the right time, in the right place, for the right people. In fact, in a nutshell, that’s much of what marketing is about. Content and timing.
What do we mean? Think back to the last time you gave someone a business card.
When did you hand it to them? And why did you hand it to them at that particular time?
I’m willing to bet you handed it over to them before you started any work for them at all. Maybe you handed it over the very first time you met them, or perhaps someone else in your industry and neighborhood passed it on to them for you, and that’s how you got the job. You handed out your piece of content (your business card) to your potential customer at the right moment, the moment they needed your services.
Handing out business cards is one of the simplest marketing tactics you likely already use tofind new customers. And upping your marketing game doesn’t have to take much more time or effort than that.
Here’s how to find time to market your business by setting small, realistic goals, focusing on your best marketing opportunities, staying organized and automating what you can when it comes to marketing and daily operations.
Five Tips To Help You Find Time For Field Service Marketing
1. Observe and track
Before you dive into any new marketing for your business, spend at least 30 days simply observing and tracking where most of your new customers come from and how many of them come from each place.
You can start tracking this simply by asking customers how they heard about you and tracking the responses on a Word document or spreadsheet. Look for trends, and note any recurring ways customers come into contact with your business. You’ll likely see one or two common ways that customers hear about your business. We call this a marketing channel or platform. I’ll move into those in a second.
2. Focus on your top channels
Facebook, Google, Yelp and even your website are all different marketing channels you may use to help market your business. Once you spot the one or two most common channels that bring you new customers, focus on regularly creating high-quality, helpful content for just those channels as a starting point.
3. Measure and set small goals
Before you start creating anything, set a goal for how many new customers you want to bring into your business from the top channel(s) you plan to focus on first. You can do this by looking at the data you gathered in your 30-day observation and setting a goal to increase the number of customers coming from the channel(s) by a small but realistic amount. For example, if you get a lot of new customers from your Facebook page, set a goal to increase the number of customers you get from Facebook in the next 30 days by 10%.
4. Create a calendar for field service content marketing
The more organized you can be about creating content to help market your business, the more efficient you can be overall with the time you have to dedicate to marketing. Just as you have a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule for which field staff should dispatch to which jobs, you can create a schedule for when you create and post content.
Start with a small goal to create a new Facebook post or blog post at a frequency that fits whatever time you currently have available to dedicate to marketing. Even if this means you only create and post new content once a month, it’s a start. Besides, something is always better than
nothing at all.
5. Automate what you can
The best way to make time to market your field service business is to reduce the amount of time you spend doing tedious, manual tasks as part of your marketing. For example, when it comes to social media, you can often schedule posts to go out ahead of time instead of logging on every time you want to add a new post to your page. On the other hand, sometimes automating other manual tasks within your daily operations can help give you time back to focus on marketing and other business strategy tasks that you may otherwise struggle to dedicate time to. Job management software, for example, can help automate things like scheduling and dispatch or invoicing and payment. As a result, you can spend the time you would have spent on these tasks to further plan posts and content or even research new areas to expand into or different services to offer that will help grow your
business.
No matter how much or how little time you have to focus on marketing your business, remember that even the most successful companies today had to start somewhere with their marketing. While you might have to take baby steps to get there, with a little consistency, planning and dedication, you’ll be on your way to building a full-blown marketing strategy that can drive new revenue and sales to your business in no time.
Would you like to learn more? Visit our website at https://www.simprogroup.com/ca/campaigns/electricalindustry to find out why 200,000 have made the switch to using simPRO for their field service management software.
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2021 Canadian Electrical Code Overview of Changes
CSA C22.1:21, Canadian Electrical Code, Part I contains many updates and changes that are potentially significant to electrical professionals. This online, self-guided course provides the key changes and impacts to the industry presented in an easy-to-follow format.
Designed for professionals with a good working knowledge of the Code and who solely need the key changes including general updates or those made for clarification, safety, and new products and systems. Key changes due to Rule relocation or deletion are also noted.
This course may help save valuable time to help keep electrical projects safe and in compliance. This training is developed with input from a broad cross-section of electrical industry experts and with cooperation from all provinces, territories and several key jurisdictions across Canada.
Changing Scene
Federal Governemnt Launches Call for Proposals for the Zero-Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative
The federal governemnt has officially launched a call for proposals (CFP) for the Zero-Emission Vehicle Awareness Initiative (ZEVAI). The initiative’s 2022 CFP will help fund new and innovative projects that aim to increase awareness and knowledge of ZEVs and charging and refueling infrastructure thereby increasing public confidence in these vehicles and their economic and environmental benefits.
Natural Resources Canada will provide funding through non-repayable contributions of between 50 and 75 percent of the total eligible project costs, with a maximum funding of up to $300,000 per project. The CFP will close on August 18, 2022.
OmniCable Joins ETIM North America
ETIM North America announced that OmniCable has joined the product classification standards organization. Headquartered in West Chester, PA, OmniCable has 24 locations throughout North America, and also owns Houston Wire & Cable (HWC). The company partners with many electrical manufacturers and only sells to distributors.
According to John Dean, Director of Marketing & E-Commerce, OmniCable/HWC, “The wire and cable industry is often called commodities, but there are very distinct features and attributes for the different products our manufacturers produce.
Atkore Inc. Announces Acquisition of United Poly Systems
Atkore Inc. announced that it has acquired United Poly Systems, a manufacturer of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pressure pipe and conduit, primarily serving telecom, water infrastructure, renewables, and energy markets.
“We are pleased to complete the acquisition of United Poly Systems, which strengthens Atkore’s product portfolio, expands our manufacturing capacity and further enables us to meet HDPE customers’ needs,” stated John Pregenzer, President of Atkore’s Electrical business. “HDPE pipe and conduit is a growing market that is expected to benefit from U.S. infrastructure legislation, and United Poly Systems is a great addition to Atkore. We welcome these employees and look forward to working together to continue to serve and support our customers.”
Canadian Electrical Contractor Discussion Group: Can You Count the Deficiencies?
Have you ever been called to fix the work of a 'handyman'?
"Was supposedly done by a"certified ' electrician....told the homeowner that he got a $266 permit....no record at TSBC. Can you count the deficiencies?"
"There is a second panel change in the triplex also.......even more deficiencies. Think the guy was a glorified handyman. Ones not obvious: 240 BB heat hooked up 120....drier on 2p20....range on 2p50....water heater fed with 2c14 Bx on 2p15."
Go HERE to join the discussion
Grimard is more competitive and produces estimates 3X faster with Procore
When the pandemic lockdowns started in March of 2020, Grimard (an electrical contractor) had to decide whether to shut down its operations entirely or implement a new platform with people who were now freely available for work. Once they implemented Procore, they found a way to efficiently communicate with stakeholders and offer full transparency in terms of project costs and planning. It also allowed Grimard to utilize historical data to make project estimates more accurate. Grimard was able to streamline its bidding process, which made it more attractive to potential clients and helped the business grow.
RenuWell Pilot Projects Transform Inactive Wellsites to Generate Solar Energy
The RenuWell Project partners are excited to announce the groundbreaking of two pilot sites located near Taber, Alberta. These pilot sites are the first of their kind to repurpose inactive oil and gas infrastructure as a foundation for renewable energy development and job creation.
When operating, the solar projects will generate 2,030 MWh annually – enough electricity to power 280 average Alberta households or irrigate 11,700 acres of farmland for an average year. This is roughly equivalent to $200,000 in electricity sales per year with 1,100 tCO2e savings in GHG emissions. Over a 25-year lifespan, the projects will generate 50,750 MWh, with GHG emission savings of 28,420 tCO2e.
The Future of Smart Home Technology, Upcoming Products, and Other Thoughts: a Discussion with Schneider Electric's David O'Reilly
By Elle Bremmer
Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with David O’Reilly, Vice President Home & Distribution and Secure Power Divisions with Schneider Electric Canada for a discussion regarding the Wiser EnergyTM smart home solution, the Wiser Approved training program, and his thoughts on several different subjects, including sustainability and future technologies currently in the works at Schneider Electric. David has been with the company for five and a half years in his role.
We recently published a study (version en français ICI) from Schneider Electric showing a strong interest from Canadians in smart home technology.
Product News
Ericson Reintroduces Industrial String Lights & SL Stringlight Series
Ericson announces upgraded versions of their extremely capable line of Industrial String Lights and SL, LED Stringlights. These new and updated products have several key features important when safe, code compliant lighting for industrial workspace is necessary.
Infinitely capable, these ruggedly built products have several industry leading & exclusive features including:
Industrial String Lights:
- A United States Navy Specification since before WWII, they’re time and application tested...
Intermatic Introduces New Installer-Focused Pool and Spa Solutions
Intermatic Incorporated announced its new P40000 Series Load Centers, a set of next-generation panels for pool-only applications, as well as its new PE24GVA 24-Volt Valve Actuator, an easy-to-install valve actuator that allows for tool-free cam adjustments. Both solutions remove obstacles for pool service professionals while delivering lasting performance.
“Intermatic load centers and valve actuators have been the preferred choice of pool professionals for more than 30 years,” says Brian Lamberty, product marketing manager at Intermatic. “The PE24GVA and P40000 Series build on that tradition, helping pool professionals streamline service calls while setting the standard for quality and performance.”
Klein Tools Launches New Stand-up Zipper Bags for Storing Tools and Small Parts on Jobsite
Klein Tools introduces new Stand-up Zipper Bags, in a 2-Pack with 7-Inch and 14-Inch sizes, both designed to handle tough jobsite conditions and stand up so tools and small parts can be easily accessed when working.
Stand-up Zipper Bags, 7-Inch and 14-Inch, 2-Pack (Cat. No. 55559)
- Perfect for storing pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers, drill bits and other small tools and parts
- 4 1/2’’ tall zipper bags come in two sizes:
- 14’’ (36.6 cm) dark gray
- 7’’ (17.8 cm) royal blue
Emerson Safety Device Prohibits Unauthorized Access to High-Voltage Electrical Connections
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates 350 employees are killed annually in electrocution accidents, which roughly equals one fatality per day. In the face of these dangers, OSHA officials and industry safety consultants alike recommend eliminating potential hazards on work sites, rather than simply relying on contractors or employees to follow safety guidelines.
To help safeguard employees from electrocution, Emerson has launched its Appleton™ Powertite™ Lock Collar, a device that fastens over plug and connector connections and is secured with a padlock, preventing unauthorized personal from disconnecting the cable connection once in place.