How to Grow your Small Service Business

For the first few years of business, most field service companies focus on survival. However, prioritizing the growth of your business increases the chances that your company will not only last, but also contribute to your economic well-being and a stable future.

What can I do to help my field service business succeed? How can I turn my business into a money-making machine? You can try multiple growth strategies, including the ones explored below.

Choose a scheduling/accounting software system.

Getting new customers isn't the only way to grow a business. Many times, the customers you already have represent your best bet for increasing sales. Choosing an accounting/bookkeeping software and a scheduling software can help you retain and reengage your existing customer base.

Smart Service and QuickBooks are fantastic examples of how field service software can save your company time and huge amounts of money. With the ability to report on customer information, create marketing campaigns, mail merges, email blasts, and text message blasts, these software systems will help your business grow with ease.

Ask for referrals.

Of course, attracting new customers to your business never hurts. One way to do this? Ask your current customers for referrals.

Your customers are already your target market, which means that people in their social or work circles are likely to be your target market as well. This makes them a strong access point to new customers.

However, simply assuming that your customers will pass the word about your business won't automatically increase your customer base. You have to actively seek referrals. Depending on the type and size of your business, you can:

1. Ask satisfied customers if they know anyone else who would be interested in your products or services.

2. Incentivize referrals with a discount code or financial incentive for participating. (Our own referral program works this way.)

3. Encourage customers to share and tag your brand on social media.

A field service software like Smart Service allows you to track how your customers heard about you. It also allows you to correspond with them via email, text, and mail for promotions and special offers. Everyone loves a sale, right?

Participate in trade shows.

A strong trade show presence can help you grow your business and establish yourself as a leader in your local area.

Trade shows draw people who are already interested in the type of product or service you offer. This gives you the opportunity to directly market toward a large group of people already in your target audience. Trade shows also give you the benefit of in-person interaction, which increases your ability to connect with and convert potential customers.

Trade shows also allow you to network with other businesses in your industry. This opens the door to new opportunities, promotional campaigns, and collaborations.

Working with these other businesses can help you reach new customers and establish your credentials on a national or even international scale, all of which can help grow your business.

Focus on your customer experience.

Customer perceptions of your business can really make or break your efforts. Deliver quality experiences and products, and they'll quickly sing your praises on social media; mess it up, and they'll tell the world even faster. Fast growth depends on making your current and potential customers happy with their experience. 

Using scheduling and dispatching software like Smart Service will improve your company's ability to remain efficient and up-to-speed. If you can show up on time for your customers, you'll make a great first impression. With features like GPS turn-by-turn directions, text message reminders, QA surveys, and a professional mobile app, you will have a HUGE advantage over the competition when you use field service scheduling software like Smart Service. 

Measure what works and refine as you go.

While there are a variety of strategies you can use to grow your small business, it’s important you measure what’s working. For example, if you create a customer loyalty program and find it does not actually improve customer retention, you may need to change your strategy. Maybe getting a CRM and engaging with your customers on a regular basis, or engaging with them through an email campaign (or on social media) will do the trick instead. Regularly monitoring your progress and making updates represent the keys to running a successful business.