Building Your Reputation as a Tradesperson

Good reputation = easier sales. Clients come to you pre-sold on quality. **Higher prices**: Reputation justifies premium pricing. **Less competition**: Clients choose you without comparing. **Referrals**: Happy clients bring more happy clients. **Resilience**: Quiet periods hurt less when you're known. Reputation compounds. Every job either builds it or damages it. There's no neutral.

Reputation is built in small moments: **Communication**: Reply promptly. Set expectations. Update on delays. **Punctuality**: Be on time, or communicate early if not. **Cleanliness**: Protect floors, clean up daily, leave it better than you found it. **Appearance**: Clean vehicle, tidy van, presentable on-site. **Courtesy**: Treat clients, their homes, and their time with respect. These basics separate professionals from cowboys. Most tradespeople fail on one or more. Excel at all and you stand out.

Reviews are reputation made visible. **Ask every time**: Right after job completion, when satisfaction is highest. **Make it easy**: Direct link to Google review page. QR code on cards. **Respond to all**: Thank positive reviewers. Address negatives professionally. **Showcase reviews**: On your website, van, quotes. **Quantity matters**: 50+ reviews beats a handful of 5-stars. Goal: 4.7+ average with 50+ reviews. This dominates local search and converts lookers to bookers.

How you handle problems defines reputation more than preventing them. **Listen fully**: Don't defend. Let them explain completely. **Acknowledge**: "I understand why that's frustrating." Validate their feeling. **Solve**: Offer to fix it. Be generous — callback cost is less than bad review cost. **Follow up**: Check they're satisfied after the fix. **Learn**: Prevent the same issue next time. A complaint well-handled often creates a more loyal client than no complaint at all.

Reputation is relative. Stand out from the crowd: **Specialize**: Known for one thing beats okay at everything. **Over-communicate**: Most tradespeople under-communicate. Regular updates delight clients. **Guarantees**: Stand behind your work publicly. **After-care**: Follow up after jobs. Care that extends beyond payment. **Content**: Share knowledge (blog, videos). Expertise builds trust. Find what you do better than anyone else. Amplify that. That's your reputation lever.