Lessons learnt that you never forget, an interview with Electrical Contractor Scott Holt - Part 2

Transcript

Auto-generated from the audio (3,635 words). Names, numbers and the odd Aussie-ism may be off — check the audio before quoting.

Hey, guys, James from Marketing Secrets for Electricians and this is part two of the interview with Scott, so enjoy. With that, how long did you reckon it took you to recover from this thing? Well, this has happened. It's him, it's him, it's him. And then, like I said, obviously, my thought process changed.

I thought, well, no, I've got to take responsibility for what I did and there could have been steps there that could have been avoided if I had to take a different approach. So I think possibly the first year after that happened before I started, you know, to come full circle and realize that it's me that needed to change and improve things. But, yeah, financially, like I said, it was hard because it was my main wage on my family and really struggled. Luckily for me, I had family support that helped me through it. My mum was a big helper with helping me through all that.

But, yeah, to bounce back on my feet, I'd probably say realistically, probably about a year. So, yeah, if you're going to avoid doing it, avoid it at all costs. Well, like even in Australia, like just recently with the whole shenanigans that are going on, there's been a lot of or even the last five years, there's been a lot of builders who are like losing millions and just shutting the doors like they're going bankrupt. And millions of dollars because that like they're just, you know, quoting badly or just planning wrong or whatever the case, but they're losing a lot. And then all the electricians who are subcontracting to them, they lose out on it.

So like, you know, it's a mistake coming in their trade. Like even the bigger guys that are doing this for years, someone made that mistake and then that whole company goes bankrupt because of it. Yeah, and that drags everyone down with them, doesn't it? Yes, exactly. And then and then all those Sparkies that had had jobs, I don't know if you use Sparkies over there.

Yeah, we do. I say that sometimes when people look at me like, what are you talking about? So and then like it, it also affects the like, if you're in the domestic trade, it affects like then you get a flood of electricians, but then there's more trade, the supply is less because there's more electricians in and prices go down and everyone then starts competing on prices. And undercutting each other is what kills our industry. It's just a race to the bottom.

It's just not worth it. So many guys I know will try and throw freebies in without actually understanding what detriment is having to them and their costs. They think that they're doing well. And it's the long term cost is ridiculous for, you know, undercutting and trying to just do the work. I get some people might be desperate, but it's not a good way to go.

We should be sticking together. I mean, plumbers don't do that to each other. Plumbers, especially in the UK, it's almost like they have a secret called and they all charge a fortune for doing a boiler and everyone is the same. But our industry seems to undercut each other and not get it. Yeah.

I don't know. Like it's a, I mean, it's the worst, one of the worst ways to do business is it's just, it hurts the person. It hurts the electrician the most because they win. They get the cheap steel. They may, it may hurt them as well.

Like I've had plenty of jobs where I've walked to the people, the cheaper guy. And then they've called me later, Hey, he didn't show up or being like, lights falling out of the roof. Like, yeah, exactly. It's happened to me plenty of times, but they always make sure that them types of customers always get charged a little bit extra for, uh, for not using this in the first place. No, I'm joking.

And then, but then it's an opportunity for the customer learn and you know, the, the actual quality electrician kind of and save the day. And then sometimes I haven't been able to save the day. Like they wanted me like there today. And it's like, I can't come today, you know, like just because you booked the day off and that guy didn't show up doesn't, doesn't mean I have a day free to come and install your lights or whatever. So.

Yeah, exactly. I think, um, I think a big one as well for, um, for our side of things, I think one of the main things that we do to set ourselves apart from everybody else is we take, we do take the time to sit down with the customer and get to know them personally and understand their issues and what it is that they want from the physical job and try and tailor the experience around them. Our company is big and I'm trying to push even more. So I'm creating a positive experience, not just a transactional turn up, change your light, do this, actually speak to them about the job, help them with safety issues they might have on the property. And I've found customers are more happy to pay the prices that you're charging.

If you did, if you're delivering on service, if you turn up and just swap a light and leave, then yeah, it's going to, you're going to get a low quality job. Because you're providing a low quality service. Whereas I have, I have found one of the biggest things I've learned in certainly in the past six years is you will get customers that are happy to pay for a good quality service. If you're providing one, if you go the extra mile, people rarely question them. Like why, why are you more expectable?

I say expensive, not like, why do you charge more? But it's because you get more. It's, I always say as well to people, it's like going into a Ferrari garage and saying, we'll be at our own charge in 3000 pounds for a car. Why is yours so expensive? It's because it's a different quality of service, isn't it?

They don't question that, do they? Yeah, you know, you know, the quality that you're getting. And that's, that's what I tried to speak. Any guys that I speak to just try to say, make sure, make sure you provide a quality service and that you do charge something that is enough to make money. And you still not, I wouldn't say rip the customer off at all, but make sure that, yeah.

Like, and that's, and businesses about building relationships. If you take the time to help build that relationship up front, of course, like they're going to be more trustworthy and it's a more of a long-term game. Like for the rest of life, ideally, as long as they're in town or whatever the case may be, which couldn't in Australia, I think the average domestic place or domestic customer spends about 500 bucks a year. So that's like 500 bucks in your pocket every year, ideally versus if you just do one job in the market. Yeah.

I wasn't impressed or he just did the job, but maybe do you find people returning, like, do you have a lot of return copies from doing that process? That's, that's predominantly where we get our work from. I mean, again, just to touch back onto what I said about trying to do self-improvement, I'm not big on marketing. I've never really marketed and it's an area I'm, I know that I'm weak on, so I'm trying to look on how to promote our business to other people. Nearly all of our work is repeat customers or word of mouth, just purely because we do do a good service and people appreciate that.

So we get recommended and it's all recommendation-based. I find that one pillar that, so that would be, I'd say, a pillar of marketing, the referral side. And that's where a lot of electricians are looking. They're strong in that point. They're good at building.

You go into business, you can spend a lot of time with people on that as well. There's got to be that aspect. You can't deal with people. It's not, you're not going to get anywhere, so that's important. A lot of people struggle with new people, you know, doing extra marketing like Google.

So you're definitely not alone in that avenue. No, yeah. I mean, social media marketing is slightly easier, but certainly, you know, trying to approach new customers, new businesses that maybe already have an electrician and trying to explain why you provide a better service. Again, I'm not ashamed of it. It's a weak point for me, because I'm a people person.

I don't want anyone, if I'm in front of someone and actually get that first meeting, it's easy. It's just trying to get that first meeting that is challenging. But then like I said, if you have certain pillars of marketing, if you rely on one and that one pillar collapses, say, for example, COVID-19 happening and people aren't booking work because of referrals or anything like that, then you will find yourself struggling. Yeah, for sure. There's definitely one thing.

Okay, so with your business at the moment, if I say you have a list, do you know what it means? Well, a list of customers. Do you have a list of customers, yes? Yeah, we do. And do you communicate with them on a regular basis?

Yeah, it's good that you've touched upon that, because again, I suppose everybody has good customers and bad customers. I do keep in contact with them, but I mean, without trying to properly track it, I'm surprised because I've again started tracking when I've spoke to someone and stuff like that. And sometimes it's months between. And I have found that even just calling up and just saying, Oh, how's it going? Sometimes it jokes them to think, Oh, yeah, I do need some work.

We're doing or I'm not something he's going to do. And so keeping on your customers and again, just providing a bit of extra service, even just saying hi and not trying to do a hard sell. Like you don't always have to sell something. Keeping on top of, on top of mind, they're like, so if they need something, you're the electrician, they call, they don't have to go, I'm going to look through on Google and type in electrician. No, they're just like, Oh, I know Scott, I'm going to give him a call.

I've got him, I got him as a safe contact as electrician under in my phone. That's what you want to be on speed dial. Exactly. Yeah. And as well, if you are not, if you are not providing any sort of benefits to that customer and you turn it up, doing the work, taking the money and going, they're not going to think of you.

But it's like you say, if you, if you're constantly on them and not having on, but you know, like contacting them and just checking in with them, you're going to be more likely at the front of the mind than others. And that's, I think that's a big part of it. Like just because you don't need electrician every day, you know, you do need electrician. Everyone uses a panel. So you do need them.

It's just a matter of when and are you going to be that person that the customer calls versus going on Google? So now that's definitely a big part of it. What, what was an opportunity or success for your electrical company? I did drop this down. Yeah.

We've already touched on it, to be honest, James. It's my biggest, my biggest aha moment was, as I've said, that people will pay for a quality service. And I didn't, I didn't realize that at first. I always thought, oh, they're expensive. And like I said, I mean, if you're, if you're a good people person and you actually listen to what the person's saying and take a genuine interest in, in them and they'll just be selfish and think about what you can get out of it.

And actually provide a point and think about them, not you. Yeah. Honestly, trying to think of other people and it works in all aspects of life as well. Actually listen, listening to what the person's telling you. And I found it, I even make notes when I've had a chat with a customer, I'll make a note on what we spoke about.

So the next time I see them, if it's like, Oh, my kids have got a footy game next week. And next time I see them say, Oh, how did the kids game go? And the amount of people appreciate the fact you've actually listened to what they were talking to you about. Oh, it's huge. Yeah.

It's massive. And like I said, that puts you in front of everyone, everybody else. So yeah, definitely like game changing moment for me was realizing that if you provide a good quality service, there's a lot of customers out there that that is more important than the monetary aspect of the job. And they will pay to have you there, you know, making them feel a lot better about the work and confident that you're, you know, you're a good person trying to do a good job. Totally.

And I even remember one customer went to me like, I just went to change a lot. And I went there and she was like, telling me all her problems. And I felt like a cancer. I was like, pay me for an hour so I can I can listen to and have a chat with you if you want. Yeah.

You find some customers, they tell you some strange stuff sometimes. And like you say, it's almost like a council session. But yeah, it's it's strange, whereas I didn't used to have that again from when I first started. I used to turn on, do my work, say thanks, bye. And then that was it.

But you have to you have to be like you have to make a connection and you have to listen. Like that's that's the key key aspect of you've got an opportunity to call you. You've got an opportunity to get into the door. That's huge. A lot of like a lot of lead generation businesses, you know, they send out three quotes.

So you've got to if you're the one going there and you win that job, take the time so they don't send out another three quotes next time. Well, exactly. I think, again, obviously, if if people are into books and stuff like that, a great book around that is How to Win Friends and Influence People. Don't know if you've read that. Yeah, that's such a good book.

And that, again, is just exactly what we've just said. If you take time to listen to people, not just in business, but in your personal things, you'll reap the benefits from it. And that book's like 80 years old. It's like and it's even more relevant nowadays because of the social media, like there's a lot of disconnect. I can easily tweet or write something on Facebook and it's like not so meaningful where it's to have a conversation like get on a video call like this.

If you could do that with your customers, like it's even if you're not there, it's still more meaningful. You're taking the time to sit down. Okay. What's your electrical problem, for example? Yeah.

Like and I haven't actually as well, but I want to test this in the future is having video calls instead of driving out there, having video calls where you're just like, okay, get on your phone. Take me around. Okay. Let's look at that job. Let's look at that job and see if that works.

Yeah, that'd be really cool. Really cool. Driving back and forth. Yeah, it's funny. You've said that because especially like with what we've had to do with a lot of Zoom meetings and things like that that have taken place in today's climate.

I've been thinking of something similar. I mean, even one for me is just with my staff. Sometimes it can go up to a week where I'm not actually seeing the guys out on site doing it because I've been doing my own thing and working on it and even just not seeing them sometimes as a disconnect there. And it's again, it's just people skills. If you're not there to support people, you know, people don't want to want to work with you.

It's like they don't be everything in there. Yeah. Like if your employees are your customers too, you've got to make sure they're happy because they're not happy. They're going to leave. Yeah.

Well, yeah, it's true. Very true. So any any last tips or anything else you'd like to share? Yeah, well, like I said, I mean, if there's anything if there's anything that you're ever unsure on, always ask. There's no just get past the the embarrassment of not knowing and always always ask if you're weak on something.

Always look to improve it. It's again, it's touching up on everything that we spoke about today. But I mean, I've got to say that saying again, if you do as you've always done, you'll get what you've always got. If you're not happy in your current life, change it. You know, I mean, there's there's there's stuff out there.

There's people out there that will help. I mean, like I said, if anyone wants to reach out to me, personally, I'm on Facebook. My name's Scott Halt search, maybe chat to me any time. I'm always open and I'm willing to help other people set them on on the right path. Try and surround yourself.

I'll put a link in the description for people as well so they can find. Yeah, that'll be great. I think if you try to surround yourself with either other successful people in your industry or like minded people that can just help you out on stuff, you'd be surprised at how far you can get just by asking for help, because there's always people out there willing to help and try and help other people along. And that's the mastermind factor. You know, what is the rule like?

You're the sum of people you hang around. So, you know, you can divide the average or not. You have a level down. That's what you're at. So if you get better, you need to kind of also reach involved, have them part of your circle.

And sometimes that's actually a choice like, hey, there's a woman who looks successful. Can I reach out? And this is part of reaching out to be friends with them, not officially, but actually genuinely try and be friends with them. Yeah, it's true. They say they say they say be the be the dumbest person in a smart group of people.

You don't want to be the smartest person in the room, if you are, you need to find another route. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, definitely. Cool. So we recommend to be featured next on the podcast.

Oh, if you can get him Greg Allen from he runs something called the Electric Electrician Success Academy. He he is just absolutely built. He's someone who I would consider one of my mentors. And again, he is he is someone that I found doing something similar than as what you're doing. He has a podcast and I reached out to him and I've joined his academy and that's just that's helped him massively.

So, yeah, like I said, if you can get him on your show, that'd be that'd be awesome. And so and then the and what I like about that is you're from the UK, he's from Australia. So distance isn't a thing. Yeah, like wherever the people are that you want to network and connect with today with today's technology. It doesn't matter where in the world that I you're going to internet connection, you can connect and work something out and communicate and get that up and helping each other.

That's it. So and then we had to find it more about you. So coming back. Yeah, I can put it I can put it in the link after that. My website is www.hpelecom.com.

That's just a bit about my business, what we do. And like I said, if if anyone wants to reach out and ask me more, I'm always available. I'll schedule you in just in case, I guess I miss it. Yeah, make sure to schedule appointment with him. That's cool, Bobo.

Yeah, thanks for the other sports. It's been great having you on and sharing and getting to know you a bit and we'll maybe catch up again sometime. Yeah, that'd be great. I've enjoyed doing that. Thank you for your time.

I appreciate it. Thanks for tuning in and listening, guys. Now, if you want to join in on this conversation and see what we're doing as we develop sales funnels for electricians, head over to Facebook and go to marketing secrets for electricians. And you should be able to find us there. Thanks.