Cost effective lead generation for tradesmen

As the credit crunch takes hold, it is becoming more difficult for tradesman to find new business in traditional ways. Leads from recommendations in particular are are drying up as people tighten their belts and look for ways to save money. As such many tradesmen, such as plumbers, builders, scaffolders, carpenters and gas fitters will need to find more and more innovative ways of advertising their services.

The internet is the obvious solution although many of the older generation still avoid it, claiming technophobia. However Nielsen, the world's leading monitor of internet use, asserts that thanks to more people logging on and a wider availability of broadband services, self-employed tradesmen and smaller businesses now have no reason not to use the web as a method of cost-effective advertising.

According to Business Daily, 875 million people are now looking online for products and services, which means there is a large audience for tradesmen to advertise to. Although it is easy to set up and run a website these days, it is not absolutely necessary to do so in order to advertise services online.

Internet directories such as Yell.com and Thomson Local offer a similar service online to that in their printed book and are reasonably priced. There are also a number of local websites dedicated to promoting the services of local businesses and tradespeople, which are reasonably priced for advertising space.

A website can, however, be very beneficial to a small business, particularly one that relies on word-of-mouth to find customers. If someone recommends a business these days the first thing that happens is that the business is looked-up online.

Your website can offer very useful information to customers. You could put photographs of your work up there, testimonials from happy customers, and details of your insurance and other official accreditations. All this serves to enhance your reputation.

Some insurance companies, such as Simply Business, offer business customers a link for their website that takes the user directly through to view the insurance policy documents.
In addition to the main directory sites there is a new breed of website that aims to make services more transparent for customers.

Reviews of businesses are very common on the internet these days, as are recommendations on sites targeted at specific kinds of service.

MyBuilder.com, for example, is a way for customers to advertise for builders and for builders to advertise to customers. Users can leave feedback on the builders, which is useful for other customers using the site. Building up an approval rating on a site such as this could help build your customer base.

Ratedpeople.com is another similar website that aims to help customers find reputable tradesmen through recommendations and reviews by others. Customers can also get quotes for a job directly through the site.

The internet isn’t the only method of actively generating leads. If you can stretch your budget to produce some leaflets you could do a targeted mail drop in your area of operation. For example, houses with Sold signs outside signify that someone has just moved into that house. It’s very possible that they might be looking for a decorator, builder, plumber or other tradesman to help them out.

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