The Electrician’s Guide to Creating Repeat Customers

Every business has a hard time creating repeat customers. Because of the nature of their work, electricians may have a particularly difficult time earning repeat business. But repeat business is typically more profitable, so it’s worth taking the time to come up with a strategy for creating it.

In this article, we’ll look at why repeat customers are desirable, how much more profitable repeat customers are, and a few practical strategies electricians can use to develop repeat business.

Let’s get to it.

Why Repeat Customers Matter

As a report from Bain & Company points out, “a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit.” In other words, customers who buy from you more than once tend to be more profitable.

Why? For two reasons. First, repeat customers tend to spend more with each purchase. As their trust in your services goes up, so does their willingness to do more work.

In fact, recurring customers spend about 67% more than first-time customers.

Second, it’s cheaper for you to work with a repeat customer because there’s less overhead. You already have them in your billing system, for example. The less busywork you have to do to provide customer service, the more time you have to focus on more profitable tasks.

Why It’s Hard for Electricians to Get Repeat Customers

There are a variety of reasons why electricians have a tough time developing repeat customers. First and foremost, the nature of the work.

Homeowners aren’t likely to call an electrician until they need one. As a result, they will rarely maintain a connection with an electrician. Instead, they’ll only reach out when there’s an immediate need, and they may not think to keep your contact info for the next time.

That’s partly due to the fact that there are so many electricians out there. It requires a lot of work to establish trust and to make an impression.

Plus, a lot of homeowners and commercial business leaders may not be aware of necessary regular maintenance. While you can tell them, you have to do so carefully. You don’t want to come across like you’re just trying to get more business. You have to make sure they know you’re putting their needs first.

6 Tips Electricians Can Use for Creating Repeat Business

It’s hard for electricians to get recurring customers. But it’s far from impossible. Given how much more profitable repeat customers are, it’s definitely worth your time to develop a strategy for creating loyalty.

Here are 6 ways you can do that.

1. Create Goals for Your Business

Let’s begin with a basic but critical business strategy. Take some time to assess where your business is right now. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Then develop a strategy for building on your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses. 

We recommend writing out your goals. Make sure your whole team is on the same page so you can achieve results. 

What does this have to do with customer loyalty? A lot.

One in three customers will switch to another service provider after just one bad customer service experience. If there are areas where the experience you offer customers could improve, get on it. The fewer unhappy customers you have, the more likely you are to develop repeat business.

2. Excel at the Job

Doing high-quality work is critical. After all, given the kind of work you do, quality of work isn’t just about profitability. It’s also about safety.

The better you are at the job, the more likely you’ll be to get repeat customers.

And it helps to secure new ones, too. On average, happy customers will tell 11 other people about their good experience with a company. But upset customers will complain to 15 others.

You’ll want to ensure that every part of the experience of working with you is top-tier. That includes the quality of the work you do, as well as your processes for providing quotes, handling scheduling issues, dealing with complaints, and billing.

“93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service.” – Hubspot

3. Stand Out from the Crowd

As we said above, there are a lot of other electricians out there. You could easily blend in with the crowd if you’re not careful.

Blending in is bad. It means you’re forgettable.

One way to stand out is to make sure you have a strong branding image. If you haven’t thought much about branding your business, it’s a good time to develop a branding strategy. That includes everything from your logo to your website to the info included on your trucks.

You want customers to easily recognize who you are and remember your brand image.

4. Educate Your Customers

Some of your customers may not recognize the value of ongoing electrical maintenance. They might wait to call an electrician until something goes wrong.

This presents you with a powerful opportunity.

If you take the right approach—we suggest freely offering helpful information on your company’s blog, on social media, on YouTube or even via email—you can help customers better understand the need for routine electrical help.

When they understand that they need you more often than they might have thought, you get a new repeat customer.

5. Follow Up

When you’re done with a job, take the time to talk to the customer before leaving. Check in quickly to make sure you’ve done everything they expected you to do and to ensure they don’t have any questions.

While this will add a few minutes on to each job, it’s worth taking the time. It can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction.

Similarly, a few days after the job is complete, follow up again. This is an ideal time to send a quick customer satisfaction survey via email. If there are any additional issues, resolve them. If not, you’ve made a great impression.

You might also consider a complete customer follow-up program so that past customer stay engaged—which, in turn, makes it more likely they’ll give you more business.

6. Get Involved

Community events are a great way to get your company’s name out there. You can pitch in, sponsor or even just participate. Just make sure folks know you’re representing your business. (Company t-shirts, for example, are an easy way to let everyone know who you are without having to say it constantly.)

This strategy works especially well in smaller, tight-knit communities.

When customers see you showing loyalty to them by supporting the community they live in, they’ll be more likely to be loyal to you in return.

Wrapping Up

Repeat customers are a huge advantage for any business. And since it takes a little extra work for electricians to develop repeat customers, you’ll give yourself a significant advantage if you aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves.

The real key here is to focus on your customers. Make everything about doing business with your company—from the quality of the work to the customer experience—memorable and pleasant.

Do that and your customers will come back to you when they have additional needs.

If you’d like to know more about how pulseM can help you grow your electrician business, book a demo with one of our experts now. Our tools are designed around making skilled professionals like you as successful as they can be.