Geoff.....you surprise me, I would of thought companies like check a trade would be beneath a tile design technician like yourself....
Q
Qwerty
Meow!!! 😀
Thinking big mate. I want my business to expand and boy it's helping me! Onwards and upwards.
Seriously....I thought those kind of companies had a bad name...
Full of cowboys that can't get there own work......vetting process, a joke....there only after your money......bad reviews being with held or not posted...etc
Full of cowboys that can't get there own work......vetting process, a joke....there only after your money......bad reviews being with held or not posted...etc
Q
Qwerty
They have come under scrutiny over the last couple of years as that kind of practice was going on. I am also a member of the buy with confidence scheme run by Trading standards who were trying to shut down Checkatrade. Even they acknowledge there has been a turn around.
I have yet to meet bad customers as a result of checkatrade. Only discerning honest people wanting a quality honest tradesman. Cant say fairer than that
I have yet to meet bad customers as a result of checkatrade. Only discerning honest people wanting a quality honest tradesman. Cant say fairer than that
I find yell.com good.
Always ask customers to leave a review and have got loads of work because of the good reviews...
Always ask customers to leave a review and have got loads of work because of the good reviews...
S
Spud
I did checkatrade last year and here is my honest opinion
It is a review / feedback based search engine, I had a bit of an issue with this, at the beginning you have to submit at least 6 references which become your first 6 reviews which is fine everyone starts the same the more a review is posted the higher you appear on the search engine, I was asked by checkatrade to get existing customers and customers who I got through other means tham checkatrade to post reviews on the checkatrade site, this seemed to me no entirely honest and I said to checkatrade I only would ever post feed back for customers which I gained through their services not ones I found on my own, I did get a couple of jobs out out it but I also got loads and loads of timewasters and low ballers , I didnt renew this year as I am not trading at the moment ,would I rejoin ? Not sure may be , as although alot of the work is crap you do get the odd good job
You cannot trust the feedback scores in there however as loads of people on there get their mates to post feed back for them and this cant be controlled by checkatrade as they allow feedback from people who didnt come through their system
It is a review / feedback based search engine, I had a bit of an issue with this, at the beginning you have to submit at least 6 references which become your first 6 reviews which is fine everyone starts the same the more a review is posted the higher you appear on the search engine, I was asked by checkatrade to get existing customers and customers who I got through other means tham checkatrade to post reviews on the checkatrade site, this seemed to me no entirely honest and I said to checkatrade I only would ever post feed back for customers which I gained through their services not ones I found on my own, I did get a couple of jobs out out it but I also got loads and loads of timewasters and low ballers , I didnt renew this year as I am not trading at the moment ,would I rejoin ? Not sure may be , as although alot of the work is crap you do get the odd good job
You cannot trust the feedback scores in there however as loads of people on there get their mates to post feed back for them and this cant be controlled by checkatrade as they allow feedback from people who didnt come through their system
J
Just Rizzle
the best form of advertising is word of mouth.
F
Flintstone
It is indeed Ray. I find most of the calls and Customers I get from online, are a waste of time.
Q
Qwerty
Don't knock it until you try it.
Word of mouth is by far the most powerful but not necessarily the most profitable or efficient. What about all those house bound, elderly, independent types who may not and often do not have a network of family & friends to recommend reputable tradesmen? How does word of mouth reach them?
My customers from checkatrade so far have all been very nice, honest people who had only the Internet/ leaflet drop to rely on and this is in addition to all of my existing word of mouth referrals. I would say I get about the same amount of contact between the two but I can honestly say that I would not have been contacted by most of the checkatrade customers had I not been on there.
Horses for courses but I'm sticking with it, watching my business grow along with my income and future business opportunities.
Mapei, BAL, Weber, Tilemaster, Schluter all are fantastic companies with a proven track record who rely on word of mouth recommdations within the trade to continue & prosper. Yet each of them will spend tens of thousands on advertising. Why? To continue to grow and gain new custom from those who do not/ have not used them previously.
Ask yourself the question 'Am I marketing myself effectively?'. Do you regularly use social media to promote your & your business?, do you have a website?, do you want to grow?, are you happy with where you and your business are?
Again, I would be questioning as to why this is the case. Are you marketing yourself correctly? Are you attracting the wrong type of customers?
Word of mouth is by far the most powerful but not necessarily the most profitable or efficient. What about all those house bound, elderly, independent types who may not and often do not have a network of family & friends to recommend reputable tradesmen? How does word of mouth reach them?
My customers from checkatrade so far have all been very nice, honest people who had only the Internet/ leaflet drop to rely on and this is in addition to all of my existing word of mouth referrals. I would say I get about the same amount of contact between the two but I can honestly say that I would not have been contacted by most of the checkatrade customers had I not been on there.
Horses for courses but I'm sticking with it, watching my business grow along with my income and future business opportunities.
Mapei, BAL, Weber, Tilemaster, Schluter all are fantastic companies with a proven track record who rely on word of mouth recommdations within the trade to continue & prosper. Yet each of them will spend tens of thousands on advertising. Why? To continue to grow and gain new custom from those who do not/ have not used them previously.
Ask yourself the question 'Am I marketing myself effectively?'. Do you regularly use social media to promote your & your business?, do you have a website?, do you want to grow?, are you happy with where you and your business are?
Again, I would be questioning as to why this is the case. Are you marketing yourself correctly? Are you attracting the wrong type of customers?
Not being funny Geoff but how do you fit them in ?
If your booked till 2017 I would assume most customers using those sites won't wait that long , I'm having serous issues getting people to wait a couple of months and although the advertising is working you have to question what's the point if you can't do it.
If your booked till 2017 I would assume most customers using those sites won't wait that long , I'm having serous issues getting people to wait a couple of months and although the advertising is working you have to question what's the point if you can't do it.
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