EP #62 – The Reputation Mistake That Costs Gas Engineers More Than They Realise w/ Dean Jones

Overview

There’s a faster way to grow a heating business than hiring one engineer and hoping it all works out.

Three years into running Phoenix Gas Home Care as a sole trader, Dan acquired the customer base of another local gas business, brought their engineers over, and used it to fundamentally change the shape of his company overnight.

In this episode, he explains how it actually worked, what he’d do differently, and why more engineers should be thinking about it.

Highlights

Why reviews matter more than ever

• (1:31) – Nearly 300 five-star reviews, and the review link Dean adds to every invoice.
• (2:59) – Customers check reviews now, so shoddy work and unanswered phones get noticed.
• (3:52) – Street WhatsApp groups, and how one job leads to the rest of the road.

What does a good job look like?

• (2:26) – Trust and quality over volume, and looking after the customer’s home.
• (6:19) – Getting back to every customer, and how Dean cleared missed calls as a sole trader.
• (7:21) – Ringing ahead with an arrival time, and never going in without shoe covers.
• (8:49) – The extras on a service: filters, inhibitor, flow rate and boiler settings.
• (11:05) – Taking 15 to 20 photos per service so customers can see what you’ve done.

How do you justify charging more?

• (11:56) – Dean tells the story of a customer who had various different engineers before, and none spent as long at the property. The photos and showing the quality of work done justified the extra cost Dean charged.
• (13:21) – Working out your price from your real business costs.
• (20:27) – Building a contingency into quotes, and knocking it off if the job goes well.
• (22:48) – How Dean handles pricing a job where a competitor has quoted £1000 cheaper. “It won’t be the same job” – or to the same standards. He can then lean on his reviews as well.
• (24:14) – Why fussy customers can be the best ones to have & advocate for your business.

When a customer isn’t happy

• (15:40) – Why sorting out callbacks is worth more than the money it costs.
• (17:16) – Two jobs Dean put right: a smart home system and a badly placed radiator.