1) Tell your friends about your Service

 Telling your friends and family about your Service is the fastest and most effective way to promote your Service through word-of-mouth recommendations. Friends and family love to help and are perfectly positioned to recommend your Services to their network of friends.

87% of people trust a friend’s recommendation!

SOURCE NIELSEN GLOBAL SURVEY 2007, WORD OF MOUTH IS THE MOST POWEFUL SELLING TOOL

 2) Be known for outstanding customer service

Nothing will broadcast personal recommendations and attract new customers more effectively and rapidly and providing outstanding customer service will greatly amplify the effects of your positive word-of-mouth recommendations.  Outstanding customer service is your greatest selling point against rivals, especially close competitors or more established companies.

52% cited “outstanding service” as the main reason they would recommend a company to others.

SOURCE RIGHT NOW CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REPORT 2007

  3) Get reviews and testimonials

Potential customers viewing your Service Profile will be much more confident to use your Service once they read glowing reviews and testimonials about you. Reviews and testimonials provide potential customers with a 3rd party endorsement – It is no longer you alone saying your service is phenomenal, it is someone else saying they are phenomenal!

97% of online researchers are willing to trust online reviews 

SOURCE JUPITER RESEARCH THE MOST HELPFUL CUSTOMER FEATURE 2007

 4) Guarantee customer satisfaction

Guarantee customer satisfaction for your Service and any potential customers viewing your Service Profile will be greatly incentivised to try you out. By having a customer satisfaction guarantee your existing customers and friends will be much more confident to endorse and recommend you to others.

Satisfied customers will recommend a service to at least 5 other people and 78% of consumers say recommendations are the most credible form of advertising. 

SOURCE NIELSEN GLOBAL SURVEY 2007, WORD OF MOUTH IS THE MOST POWEFUL SELLING TOOL

5)    Advertising your Selling Points

Clearly promote the strengths of your Service as Selling Points so potential customers can quickly differentiate you against your competition. Create a clear, short list of your 2-3 key Selling Points at the very start of your Service Profile.

Your Selling Points are the most valuable assets you have for attracting new customers. The best Selling Points may focus around your: 

·          Experience – what relevant experience do you have?

·          Qualifications – what relevant qualifications do you have?

·          Accreditations – what relevant accreditations do you have?

·          Training – have you had any specialist training?

·          Courses – have you been on any relevant courses?

·          Tools and equipment – do you have any specialist tools or equipment?

·          Studio or Office – do you have a studio or office?

·          Hours – can you provide your service out of normal working hours too?

·          Associations – are you a member of any relevant associations

·          Previous clients – have you worked for any well known clients?

·          Number of Clients – how many clients have you?

·          Guarantees – what guarantees can you offer in your service?

·          Awards – has your work won any awards?

·          Famous Clients – have you worked for any famous clients?

If you would like free expert assistance on your Selling Points, contact SetYourRate.com.

5 ways to lose out on customers

1)     Not focusing on the customer benefits

By not focusing on how the customer benefits from your Service is the fastest way to lose their enquiry despite the fact you have all the necessary skills and experience for their problem.

Typically businesses only focus on themselves, their experience and what their Service does. Focus on what your Service does for the customer and successfully stand out as a solution to the issues your customer could be experiencing.

·          Which problems can your Service solve?

·          Do your solutions save the customer money?

·          The customer will always be thinking: What can you do for me?

Use the Selling Points you made in section 5 of this guide and merge together with your benefits.

Example:10 years experience in tutoring Spanish which means your progress will be faster and easier

[----------SELLING POINT---------] which means [------------CUSTOMER BENEFIT-------]

2)     Not including the relevant information

Don’t rely on potential customers to contact you for any basic information which you have missed on your Service Profile.  People are very unlikely to take a chance contacting you to find out whether your Service can help when there are more information rich alternatives just a mouse click away.

Anyone should be able to read your Service Profile and know the following:

·          What are the exact Services you offer?

·          What problems or issues do your Services solve?

·          Why should I use your Service and not someone else?

·          How are you going to help me?

·          Are you going to save me time or money?

3)     Not giving customers a compelling offer to get in touch

By not giving customers a compelling reason to contact you there and then you allow interested customers to put it off for another time and maybe not at all. Provide a strong motivation for the customer to contact you immediately by giving a compelling offer, such as a time limited discount:

·          Enquire today and qualify for a free 30 minute consultation

·          Book a lesson this week and receive your second lesson at half price.

·          Each reservation placed this month will receive a free place for a friend.

·          Get in touch today and receive 15% off all quotes issued in March.

4)     Not keeping your existing customers happy

By not keeping in touch with your existing customers you are neglecting the opportunity to gain repeat business as well as harm the opportunity to spread recommendations.

Stay in touch with your customers through quick phone calls and email to check they are happy with the Service you provided. If the customer has any problems offer to resolve them immediately. Negative comments spread from unhappy customers will damage your reputation, so keep all your customers happy.

5)       Not participating in customer referrals

By not participating in customer referrals through other Service Sellers you are not maximising the value of shared customers. Find Service Sellers who provide complimentary Services to yours and work out a referral system. If you’re in PR contact Copywriters and Graphic Designers for mutual client referrals. If you’re a Plumber, get in touch with Builders and Electricians.

Further incentivise other businesses to refer their customers to you by offering them a cash incentive for every successful customer referral. If you’re just starting out start by just offering the referral to your friends, family and colleagues.

The many benefits of the internet for both individuals and businesses are well-documented. I’m sure we will continue to see fantastic new online innovations in the coming weeks and months.

The pace of change is truly breakneck and I believe this is leading to a fundamental shift in the traditional relationship between the employee and employer. Firstly, for the employer the combination of advancing technologies and globalisation have led to a flood of new companies competing for the same customers in the UK. The web now offers consumers more information and a greater choice of companies than ever before. This has resulted in businesses growing and declining at unprecedented rates (just look at the contrasting fortunes of Google and EMI over the last few years). On the flipside, employees have found that their employers can no longer offer job security as they once did. However, I believe the internet can be used by individuals to provide both additional financial security and new career opportunities. That is why we created SetYourRate.com.

Speaking to our families and friends really vindicated the thinking behind SetYourRate.com. As you would expect, most of them had full-time jobs but perhaps surprisingly, it became apparent that many of them would offer their services and skills in their ‘free’ time for the right price. In addition of course, there were students and retired relatives who, as we expected, were enthusiastic about the chance of earning income on their terms. We’ve listed some examples below which should make things more tangible:

Who: Father

Experience: Retired accountant

Service: Advises small businesses and start ups.

Who: Sister

Experience: Maths degree

Service: G.C.S.E. maths tutor

Who: Friend

Experience: Computing

Service: Home PC support

This basic research confirmed the validity of our idea. In August 2007, we went about creating what is known today as SetYourRate.com.

The site has been built to provide web space for individuals and small businesses to post their profiles and service offerings directly to the public. Crucially, SetYourRate.com allows and encourages not only your typical freelancer but also the millions of people in the UK that can provide services but have never done so.

After encouraging signals that people would use SetYourRate.com to post their services the second equally important question was whether there was actually a market of buyers prepared use these ‘new’ service providers.  So once more we asked friends and family but this time we asked businesses as well. It quickly became clear that there was a huge demand for services. Some peoples’ service needs were relatively straightforward. Others were more passive desires, frustrations and problems which could be easily solved by the right person.

Furthermore, since SetYourRate.com’s target demographic is so broad and untapped, it would quickly be able to offer buyers looking for a service a centralised selection of unique providers with useful, user-generated content about each to compare.

Some examples of services searched:

·         Configuring a wireless network for a flat.

·         Training in being a manager.

·         Learning how to make an authentic curry.

·         Learning Spanish in the evenings.

·         Personal trainer in Islington.

·         New website for a jewellery maker.

·         Dog walker during the weekdays.

·         Google AdWords expert needed for a small business.

The requests for services just kept pouring in. Indeed, when we started SetYourRate.com we ourselves needed a variety of different service providers – a web designer, accountant and copywriter to name a few examples. We didn’t want use big companies for these needs, we wanted more personal dealings with people that cared and were flexible in their approach. We struggled to find people.

By this point we were pretty exited – and intuition had been backed up by our research as well as our own experiences. We were now convinced that we had stumbled upon a great idea.

Luke Aviet

Managing Director

E: Luke.Aviet@SetYourRate.com

T: 0207-491-9875

Since launching the beta SetYourRate.com site back in November we continue to receive hundreds of new feature requests and suggestions for improving the experience and usefulness of the site – thank you again for taking the time to send your suggestions! Today we released several of the most common requests we received:  

NEW Price on Application Pricing option for Service Profiles 

Service providers can now set the rate for your service profile as “Price on Application”. Previously you were restricted to “Hourly Rate” and “Fixed Rate” only. 

This means service providers who offer a customised service based on unique customer requirements, such as website design or wedding photography, now benefit from the extra clarity in their pricing for potential customers. 

Service providers can update existing profiles to “Price On Application” or the other available rate options via the “Edit Profile” screen which is accessed via “My Profile” from the main menu. Please note you need to be a registered user and logged in to access this feature.  

NEW Manage Images on Service Profiles: 

Service providers can now add, remove and edit the image for your service profiles.

This feature was requested to enable service providers to upload a photo, or image of your product and service at anytime. You can manage your service profile images via the “Edit Profile” screen which is accessed via “My Profile” from the main menu. Please note you need to be a registered user and logged in to access this feature.  

NEW Manage Keywords for Service Profiles 

Service providers can now add, remove and edit the keywords used to trigger service profiles in the search results. The keywords service providers enter support the search algorithm in presenting relevant service profiles to searches on the site, meaning better targeting for service providers as well. 

Service providers can manage their service profile keywords via the “Edit Profile” screen which is accessed via “My Profile” from the main menu. Please note you need to be a registered user and logged in to access this feature.  

NEW Subtitle for Service Profiles 

Service providers can now include a subtitle for their service profile, the subtitle is also displayed in the search results bringing more service information, benefits and relevancy to users. 

Service providers can add, remove or edit subtitles via the “Edit Profile” screen which is accessed via “My Profile” from the main menu. Please note you need to be a registered user and logged in to access this feature. 

NEW Manage your Account Image 

All registered users can now add, remove and edit the image used for their account. Your account image is used if you write a review for a service provider or request a service. 

Add, remove or edit your account image via the “My Details” screen which is accessed via “My Profile” from the main menu. Please note you need to be a registered user and logged in to access this feature. 

NEW Service Profile images displayed in search results and directory 

Service providers now receive further benefit from their service profile image as they will be displayed in search results and the general directory listings creating further appeal and relevancy for users.  

Other features requested will be shortly announced in a separate post. Please get in touch with any suggestions you have for SetYourRate.com.

Ash Rees

Operations Director

E: ash.rees@setyourrate.com

T: 0207-491-9875