As much as clients can sometimes be the bane of your existence (changing the plans again?!), because their work means money for you, you need to make sure you’re treating them with respect and being the bigger person. So how do you get clients to choose your business over someone else’s? It’s all down to those killer first impressions.

Have a clean and professional brand
This might be a bit of an afterthought for many tradies – after all, what’s the point of a website when you’re actually out there doing the work anyway? But where do most of your clients go to find you before they become your clients? Yep, it’s your website, or your Facebook page, or both. So make sure that you’ve got everything they’re looking for in a simple, professional layout – testimonials, previous work, contact details, any accreditations, etc.

Work on your phone etiquette
If you’ll be the one answering the phone when potential clients call, you need to make sure that you take the time to make it a good conversation. You don’t want to be answering the phone in the middle of a job with, ‘Sup?’ or a grunt, and tonnes of yelling and loud site noise in the background. Either make sure you have time to put in the effort of answering calls properly with a friendly and welcoming tone, or hire someone else to do it for you in the comfort and quiet of an office.

Put in the time
Everyone wants to feel as though they are number one. Although it might seem like a bit of a time-consuming headache, it will be worth it in the end, particularly if you get a high value client out of it. When a potential client arranges a meeting with you, make sure you do some prep – send them some more info about you and your business and put together an agenda of what you will look at/discuss based on their initial explanation of their needs. Not only will it help you put a quote together, it will also make you seem totally on to it and much more professional than the other outfits around.

Be nice
We get it, people can be idiots. But when you have a reputation on the line, you need to make sure that they don’t have any ammunition to throw at you should something go pear-shaped. Make sure you always keep your mannerisms professional and friendly, no matter what the response is, keep your cool and be patient. Not only will it make you look better, it should also defuse any tense situations as the client or potential client won’t be getting anything back and will likely run out of steam soon enough!

How do you make a killer first impression?