Potential customers want to hear what you've done for your existing clientele. They want to hear that you deliver value for money. You don't need to have designed and built a sophisticated solution or put yourself to massive inconvenience. Simply doing a good job for a fair price is enough for most people.
Here's a good example, from our recent experience, of someone doing exactly that.
It began when a survey of a potential new home indicated a possible woodworm problem in the roof timbers. The surveyor, like so many professionals, made the potential risks very clear to us, and then said the nature of the insect infestation, if any, was outside his remit and we needed to get a pest control specialist in.
The pest controller is the star of this story. Never having hired one before, we took the obvious step of typing 'pest control' into Google. Within a few moments we'd identified a couple of local suppliers, including Proactive Pest Prevention in Dorset, owned by Robin Elford.
We called the mobile number listed on the site. No answer. It was the middle of the afternoon so perhaps he was up a tree somewhere, chasing wasps or squirrels, or squeezing under the floorboards of a Victorian mansion hunting rats. We don't really know what pest controllers do when they're at work, but this one clearly wasn't in a position to answer his phone.
However, within minutes Robin phoned back, having spotted the missed call. We explained the problem and he asked some questions about the age of the house. Built in the 1990s it was unlike to have woodworm and he shared a quick tip for checking it for ourselves. As we didn't own or have access to the house he offered to take look himself.
We asked about cost. Time is money and professional expertise has a value. We were surprised when he said that preliminary site visits were free, if they were in his local area. Actually, we were staggered. At a time when business is tough here was a professional willing to give us the benefit of his knowledge for nothing.
Robin took a good look at the area identified by the surveyor, and concluded the holes were not made by insects. He also gave us several very plausible reasons why it was unlikely to be woodworm. With that he was on his way to another call, leaving behind satisfied customers who felt they'd had excellent service.
Robin was an example of a business owner who goes out of his way to ensure customer satisfaction. That's partly the sort of person he is and partly because he understands how important it is to invest in future business. We might never have another pest control problem but if we do, we're in no doubt who we'll be calling for help, and we've already started recommending Proactive Pest Prevention to friends.
