What are the keys to business success?

Despite what you may see on social media, having a successful business is not about wearing plain t-shirts and giving drawn-out speeches hyping up your company and your services. It’s also not about being a sales guru or a marketing genius- the best companies don’t need to trick or mislead their customers to stay in business.

To be a successful plumbing, HVAC or home service company, you don’t need to be a creative visionary or an engineering master that invents a new product or even a high school graduate. You do have to be really good at executing on a few of the key principles for home service business success.

We’ve narrowed it down to four of the most important ones:

1. Streamline your business operations

As a service-based business, the “why” and “what” are your two first factors to consider. Even under the umbrella of one specific industry – like HVAC or electrical work – it’s often helpful to narrow down your specific services to the handful you do best. Lots of home services contractors we speak with worry that choosing a niche will limit their potential to win business. While it might seem counter-intuitive, this perspective neglects the other side of the coin: you’ll stand out much more to prospects who are looking within your niche. (Ex: plumbers are everywhere, but repiping specialists? Now you stand apart from the crowd.)

Think about it: if you were going to pay someone to build a deck on your house, would you be more comfortable with a general construction firm or a deck contractor who only builds decks?

Once you’ve narrowed down the “what” and “why,” think about the “how.” Too many home services contractors rely on inbound leads and requests to get sales and customers. While incoming calls and referrals will always be important, it’s also important to create one or more service(s) you can offer any time of year. Not only is this helpful for customers to gain pricing transparency, service bundles allow your business to make predictable use of its resources. As you repeat the same services over time, you’ll naturally develop ways to handle them more efficiently.

2. Dial in your pricing

Pricing is one of the key business elements that must to be ironed out for success. Unfortunately, as many young companies have learned, pricing yourself correctly is not as simple as adding up the total cost of rendering a service and then adding 20 - 50% on top for the sale price. To survive and succeed as a business, you also need to find the balance between paying your team correctly, calculating your overhead, paying your salary as the owner, and having a healthy profit- all while not overcharging based on current conditions. Considering external factors like inflation and interest rates is important too, but they shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all of your pricing strategy.

The best places to add margin are for customized services that don’t have an industry standard. For example, some companies might provide a pre-service inspections that includes documented drawings and diagnoses of issues within a home. This kind of service can be offered for a smaller consulting fee in addition to normal services, or as a less-expensive option for prospects who may have passed initially because they can’t afford a full service.

If you’d like to learn more about pricing, view our guide here: https://www.levergy.io/make-more-profit-with-your-hvac-or-plumbing-company-using-flat-rate-pricing

3. Manage your internal team

Operations is where the “rubber meets the road” in business. The head of operations in any organization has to make sure all arms of the business – from sales to accounting to customer service – are working as they should and completing relevant tasks on-time. Luckily for modern businesses, there are plenty of software tools and platforms that can assist with internal team management today, from time tracking apps to scheduling and work assignment systems. However you choose to organize and operate your internal team, be certain it’s intuitive for end users. Your team shouldn’t need to be tech geniuses just to get through a normal project.

One of the other big concerns with internal team management is hiring- especially in economies were the labor market is in short supply. Addressing this topic in full would require its own article, but our most concise yet valuable tip here is to hire primarily for attitude and intangibles – communication, listening, the ability to work with others – instead of technical abilities. Most people can be trained on technical home services skills, but it’s much tougher to train someone on how to fit into your company culture.

Pro tip: the very best home service companies, don’t hire talent- they grow them. Click here to listen to Blue Collar CEO’s conversation with Chad Peterman: https://www.bluecollar.ceo/chad-peterman-2

4. Provide an excellent customer experience at every step



This final step is arguably most important for a business that wants to grow and create a lasting impact in its community. Many local HVAC, plumbing, and home service companies we speak with are able to do a great job with one area of service, but struggle to maintain a high quality of excellence throughout the process. Think of the entirety of your customer experience as a long factory process that happens on a conveyor belt – all it takes is one mistake somewhere along the way to ruin the whole end product.

Sometimes your sales team can be friendly and helpful, but the service techs who carry out a job are rude and abrupt. In other cases, the service techs or install techs are courteous and professional, but it’s impossible to get a hold of anyone in the accounting office when there’s a question about a bill or payment option. It’s important to have a way to manage and get oversight into every part of the process – not just the ones where you have a direct input.

The very best shops focus on customer experience at every stage: from online presence, to CSR training, to sales training. For more ideas, listen to this conversation with Jennifer Frith on Blue Collar CEO: https://www.bluecollar.ceo/jennifer-frith

Final thoughts on the four keys to service business success

As you go about evaluating and creating solutions for these four areas, don’t get caught up in comparing your business to others who may seem better or worse in a particular field. Even within the same industry or specialization, every home services contractor is different and has its own history, strengths, weaknesses and oddities. Lamenting about how far behind you feel in comparison to other contractors won’t help grow your business.

Instead, research each of these four keys to come up with solutions for your needs. And if you’re looking for expert assistance with this task, reach out to our team of specialized marketers for help. Our team has many years of combined experience helping all types of home services companies nail down the fundamentals so they can fulfill their top objectives in business. Click here to book a call and learn more.