Inspecting electrical systems.

Installing lighting systems.

Troubleshooting and repairing electrical malfunctions.

These are tasks you likely do day in and day out as an electrical business. But you’re always looking for more work. You’re hungry to take your business to the next level. 

Keep reading to learn eight effective strategies that can help power up your electrical business.

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Growth Should Be Customized to Your Electrical Business

Your electrical business is unique — which means your pathway to success is also unique. Your strengths, weaknesses, and needs will dictate what growth will look like for your company. 

Are you fully staffed and prepared to take on double the work?

Are you short-handed on employees and need to focus on recruiting efforts?

Are you looking to service new cities and prepared to widen your service area?

Are you hyper-focused on bringing in more quality leads?

These are the types of insights that should shape your business growth plan.

Define Your DREAM Business Situation 12 Months From Now

We call it the 🍾 moment.

Imagine … 12 months from now, you’re popping bottles of champagne and celebrating your success. You’ve hit all your growth targets and are ready to party like there is no tomorrow. 

What do those growth targets look like?

For example, your goals may have been geared towards:

• Increasing revenue. By the end of the year, you managed to double your revenue by implementing referral strategies.
• Managing your time. You’ve been able to increase your staff and move to working part-time hours to spend more time with your family. 
• Improving company culture. You’ve created an amazing work environment that supports employee retention. Employee productivity and efficiency never looked better.

Defining your business goals for growth is critical in understanding which growth strategies will be the most effective for your electrical business.

8 Strategies to Help Grow Your Electrical Business

You have the vision for success. Now let’s put it into motion. Keep reading to learn eight strategies on how to grow your electrical business.

#1: Hire the Right Folks

Your business is only as good as the team behind you. But with the skilled trades industry still battling post-COVID19 labor shortages, finding good talent can be a challenge.

Here are some tips to help you find the right employees:

• Make sure your job descriptions and expectations are clear.
• Invite potential hires to work alongside you and your crew for the day to observe their skills and how they mesh with your team.
• Get feedback from your team on how they think a potential hire would fit into the business.
• Try implementing an employee referral incentive and let your team use their network to help you find other qualified potential hires.

#2: Build Systems to Streamline Your Business

The age-old method works: KISS — Keep it simple, stupid.

There are a host of systems that can help streamline your business, including:

• Time tracking systems
• Invoicing systems
• Organizational systems

Systems like these can help:

• Accelerate your business’s growth
• Keep employees accountable
• Improve company morale
• Reduce errors; and
• Encourage employee engagement

Some project management systems for electricians are holistic and can streamline every aspect of your business from time tracking to invoicing and more.

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Time Tracking Systems

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Time is money.

Time tracking systems make it easy for employees to: 

• Clock their hours
• Track their PTO; and
• Request to take PTO

With time tracking systems, workers can accurately record their hours, so you can rest assured your invoicing for each employee is correct, whereas by-hand time tracking methods can be less accurate and frankly, a pain for everyone involved.

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Invoicing Systems

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If you track invoices using spreadsheets, you know how easy it is to make mistakes with this tedious process. Invoicing systems can take this problem off of your hands by automating the process and allowing you to:

• Create client invoices
• Track invoices and payments
• Make invoice payments to vendors and suppliers

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Organizational Systems

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Staying organized is critical in successfully juggling all of the moving parts that come with operating an electrical business.

Having organizational systems can help: 

• Clearly define employees’ job responsibilities and their role within your business
• Outline the hierarchical structure of your business
• Outline procedures and directions for employees to follow

Having an organized system in place keeps your employees focused so your electrical business can run at peak efficiency.

#3: Fix Cash Flow Leaks

Cash flow — the bane of every electrical business.

Slow to pay customers.

Overdue payments for equipment.

A slow-building revenue.

Having to cover business expenses out of your own wallet.

These are the ingredients for cash flow leaks.

The Flexbase card offers a solution. Flexbase can help keep your cash flow in the green by offering:

• 10x the credit limit that traditional credit cards offer
• 0% interest for the first 60 days*
• No annual fees or security deposits
• And more

Click here to pre-qualify for the Flexbase card today.

#4: Retain Existing Employees

When it comes to growing your electrical business, a high employee turnover rate is like taking two steps back. According to a study by Employee Benefit News, the average employee exit can cost you up to 33% of their annual salary.

So, how do you retain your employees and grow as a company with a strong team? Here are some tips: 

• Offer comprehensive employee training. Make sure that your team feels supported and confident in performing daily job responsibilities.
• Offer competitive pay rates and opportunities for promotions and career advancement.
• Offer an attractive PTO policy. 
• Be an approachable leader that your team feels comfortable interacting with.

#5: Increase Your Local Exposure With SEO

According to a Hubspot marketing report, 72% of users that perform a local search on Google visit a store within 5 miles.

If you’re not showing up online on search engine page results for local search queries, like “electrician near me”, “electrician in [city]”, etc, you’re missing out on high-quality leads from motivated buyers.

So, how do you increase your local exposure on Google? Let’s look at some local SEO strategies below.

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How to Rank in the Google Local Pack

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A Google Business Profile is a key tool in growing your electrical business. If you don’t have a Google Business Profile or know what a Google Business Profile is, you’ve likely seen these listings when searching for local services.

Here is what a Google Business Profile looks like: 

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The Google Local Pack pops up in localized searches and features the Google Business Profiles of the businesses in that area.

Think of the Google Local Pack as owning beachfront real estate. Only three businesses can rank organically in the Google Local Pack. And the majority of users performing localized searches will click on one of the three businesses listed.

Optimizing your Google Business Profile with local SEO best practices is critical to beat out your local competition and rank in the Google Local Pack.

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Why Google Reviews Are Important

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Google Reviews are another area to hone in on. Why? Above all else, Google prioritizes user experience.

Google released an algorithm update in December 2021, which places more emphasis on high-quality reviews and ranking performance for local businesses. 

Consistent, quality reviews are key in increasing your chances of ranking in the Google Local Pack for localized keywords like, “electrician near me”, “best electrician in [city]”, “electrical businesses in [city]”, and more.

#6: Increase Your ‘Social Proof’ and Establish Your Brand

Imagine you’re shopping for a digital multimeter. Surfing through supplies sites, you’ve found three that look like the best options available. 

One has over 300 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8 stars. The second one has 100 reviews, with an average rating of 3.0 stars. And the third option has five reviews, with an average of 5.0 stars.

Which one do you buy?

You probably chose the digital multimeter with 300+ verified buyers.

Making your decision based on the experience of others is a psychological phenomenon known as social proof. 

Growing an electrical business, or any type of business, all boils down to proof. 

Proof that you are trustworthy and are who you say you are.

Proof that you are highly skilled in electrical services.

And proof that you offer more value than any other electrical business in the area.

Let’s go through a few ways you can increase your social proof.

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Social Media

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More than half of the world has social media accounts, like:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• TikTok 
• And more

On social media platforms, your social proof is gauged by the engagement your customers have with your brand. How often do people interact with your content? Do people leave reviews on your profile? Follow/like your page?

You can up the ante on your social proof by being present. Post photos and content of:

• Customer reviews and testimonials
• Before and after photos of jobs you’re proud of
• You and your happy customers

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Third-Party Directory / Review Sites

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There are a host of third-party directories and review sites on the web. Some of the most popular include: 

• Yelp
• Angi
• Trustpilot
• TrustATrader
• And more

On these sites, your social proof is enhanced by: 

• The quality of reviews
• How many reviews you have
• Your average review rating

Responding to reviews is also a great way to enhance social proof because it shows that you are present and care about your customers’ feedback. Reviews from third-party sites can also be leveraged by sharing glowing reviews on your social media accounts.

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Your Website

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Your website is the perfect stage to display your social truth and build trust with:

• Case studies
• Testimonials
• Reviews from your Google Business Profile
• Licenses
• Awards and certificates; and
• Press releases

This is your opportunity to do some bragging. How long have you been in business? What is the combined years experience of your team? What makes you the best electrical company around?

#7: Use Referral Marketing to Dominate Your City

Your happy customers are your best advocates.

A Nielsen report showed that 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. 

So, how do you get your customers to refer to your business?

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Provide Excellent Customer Service

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Remember that time you drove the extra miles outside of your normal service area to help fix a fuse box for a family that lost power in the dead heat of summer?

Or that time your team squeezed in an extra house call to install electric wiring for a customer’s hot tub before a Fourth of July cookout. 

Going the extra mile to “wow” your customers can lead to some great referrals and rave reviews about your business. Most customers also just appreciate an electrical business that is:

• Honest and transparent about pricing
• On time to job appointments
• Kind and compassionate

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Consider Offering Referral Incentives

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One way to get people talking about your business is to offer an incentive. Encourage your customers to refer your business by offering incentives like:

• A discount on their next service; or
• Gift cards to local shops or retailers like Amazon

Customers aren’t the only source for referrals. You can also network with other skilled trade businesses, like plumbers, and offer a finder’s fee for referrals that result in jobs.

#8: Measure Your Success Over Time — Clear KPIs Are Critical

Now that you’ve learned how to grow an electrical contracting business, you need to learn how to measure that growth.

It’s nearly impossible to know if your growth strategies are actually paying off unless you are measuring key performance indicators (KPI). Below are some critical KPIs you’ll want to keep an eye on.

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Keyword Rankings

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If you’ve optimized your website and created blog content around data-informed keywords that your target audience is searching for (which you should), you need to also track keyword ranking performance to ensure your SEO efforts are working. 

Which keywords are performing the best? Which keyword searches are resulting in the highest level of conversions? These are important insights that can help shape your SEO strategy. 

Keyword rankings can be tracked using SEO tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs.

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Website Traffic

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There are many different sources that can drive traffic to your website, including:

• Organic traffic from Google
• Traffic from paid ads
• Traffic from social media
• And more

Where is the majority of your website traffic coming from? 

Which source of traffic has the best conversion rate? 

Knowing this information can help you decide where you need to focus your marketing efforts.

Website traffic can be tracked using tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

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Online Lead Submission

Do you have form submissions on your website? Form submissions can provide a wealth of insights that can help you make informed, strategic decisions for growth, including:

• Customer information, such as an email address that can be used for marketing purposes.
• Information on where the lead came from. Did they hear about your business via a referral? Social media? Google search?
• Which page did the user click on the form submission? Was it on the home page? The ‘Contact Us’ page?

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Phone Calls

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There are many different opportunities and avenues for customers to contact you by phone from, including:

• A clickable call button on your website
• A clickable phone number on your Google Business profile
• A clickable phone number on a Google ad; or
• Manually entering a phone number listed on your website or Google Business Profile

Phone calls = an excellent opportunity for conversion. 

Knowing where your phone calls are coming from can help you determine which marketing strategies are most effective. 

Are your Google ads resulting in high-quality phone calls? Are users clicking on the phone number listed on your Google Business Profile? This is critical information you need to know.

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Most importantly, revenue

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Revenue is arguably the most important KPI you should be tracking. 

We recommend tracking revenue in two ways:

1. Year-over-year data
2. Month-to month data

Based on collected data, you should be able to track trends in your revenue and determine potential factors. Does business seem to slow down during a certain part of the year? Do you tend to have a “busy season”? 

These insights can help you plan around the highs and lows of your revenue so you can achieve long-term growth.