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When it comes to home services—from plumbing to house cleaning—it’s important that your customers not only feel safe, but also comfortable and confident in having you enter their home. 

By implementing specific marketing and customer service techniques, you can build customer trust and showcase to your customers that you are friendly, professional, and good for the job. These simple, yet effective tricks will help your home services business stand out without breaking the bank. 

1. Personalize your communication 

Most businesses send automated emails and/or texts for appointment confirmations and “arriving soon” alerts. But to make your business stand out from the competition, try making those communications more fun and personal.

• Homesense Heating and Cooling sends a text to let customers know a technician is on the way, and in that text, they also include a mini bio about who will be arriving.
• Hope Plumbing confirms arrival times via email and gives some fun facts about the incoming plumber and links out a blog post about the employee, including more details on their interests and why they love working for Hope Plumbing.

Including this type of information allows your customers to get to know your team better, so they feel more comfortable when your employee arrives at the door. 

Another company utilizing this simple technique is Rescue Air Heating and Cooling. Owner Josh Campbell said personalizing communication messages is one of the best ways to showcase great customer service and build trust with your customers. Every time Rescue Air sends a service provider into someone’s home, they send pre-appointment messages with the technician’s name and photo. There’s no need for complex infrastructure to automate these kinds of messages—Rescue Air technicians use their own templated messages to send to customers prior to arrival.

“It’s just customer service,” Josh said. “Put a headshot on there, and then you put a bio in there. Now it’s evolved to where there’s a video. I wanna make people feel nice and warm and fuzzy, and it helps my guys. They get to the house, they’ve got a little rapport.”  

2. Differentiate your brand with a logo

Creating a unique and memorable logo will help embellish your brand, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. When designing a logo, focus on patterns, colors, and messages that are unique but also simple. Whether you use a free online logo design tool or order a professional, custom design from a third-party company, there are plenty of affordable options. A great place to start is Canva, which allows you to build your logo for free with no prior design experience.

Once you design a logo, building a cohesive brand is key. Plaster it across all of your marketing platforms—put it on your website, social media accounts, brochures, vehicles, and uniforms. This represents the professionalism of your brand, and it can even increase revenue by up to 23%. 

3. Showcase your personality

Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

One of the easiest ways to improve your home services business is by incorporating your personality and serving a genuine, enthusiastic smile (which research shows can even be heard over the phone). Not only is this one simple, it’s also free and delivers a positive experience to your clients’ home. Whether it’s through a friendly conversation or a funny joke, let your personality shine through your work. By being yourself and maintaining a positive attitude, your business will appear much more authentic and trustworthy. Not only will you build better relationships with your customers, your positive energy will likely rub off on your customers and have a positive impact on your long-term relationship. 

4. Show off your awards and certifications

Sharing your awards and certifications adds legitimacy to your business and builds confidence with your customers. If you don’t have an in-person office to hang awards and certifications, display them on your online platforms. You can show off your top achievements on your front page, or collect them all within a special section of your website. 

On Yelp, you can add a Verified License badge to your business page, which is indicated by a blue shield with a check mark. This shows potential customers that you have a confirmed business or employee license.

5. Spread the word with in-yard advertising

Not only is in-yard advertising an easy and affordable marketing option, it’s also an extremely effective way to reach your local community. This can be especially helpful if your work is visible from the outside (roofing, landscaping, window installation, etc.) About 85% of your customers either live or work within a five-mile radius of your business’s service area, so putting your business name on display in that area means you’re more likely to be seen by potential customers. Roy’s Builders & Remodeling displays a large sign on the outside of the fencing surrounding its project.

When advertising with yard signs, follow these important tips and practices. First and most importantly, think about the quality of the signs you’re using. Consider using durable materials and metal stakes to help secure signs into the ground. Try customizing signs with brightly colored, weather-resistant inks so your signs will stand out and avoid water damage in the rain. Additionally, always make sure your business name and contact info are highly visible so that potentially interested clients—including those that are just driving by—are able to easily see your info and contact you. And if your client does decide to let you advertise in their yard, consider giving them a small discount on future services as a token of appreciation.

6. Send confirmation photos

Once your job is complete, send confirmation photos to your customers. This is a simple delivery innovation that corporate giants like Amazon have implemented so that customers know exactly when and where their package was delivered, instilling a stronger sense of security and trust. Not only will your customers have reassurance that the job was well done, you’ll also have provided them with a seamless communication process throughout your service from start to finish. 

Fred’s Junk Removal texts its customers to confirm when their junk has been picked up and hauled off. They even send “junk removal selfies,” confirming they are there, and it’s being handled.

All photos from Yelp

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