These days, you can buy or book just about everything online. Buy some new socks, book your next oil change, apply to adopt a puppy — it all starts with a search engine. This means an online presence is absolutely critical for your moving company, and making your services available online is a solid bet for booking more jobs. Here are some of the key reasons why — and how to make your online presence count.
Online reviews count for a lot
- Even if a potential customer hears about your business by word-of-mouth, they will probably look through the reviews from your customers on one or two review sites. Customers are more likely to trust a business that has an established base of reviews from satisfied customers!
- Utilize this feature by actively soliciting reviews and building an online presence. Make it easy for customers by sending them the link to popular review sites, then use a plugin or link to those sites from your own homepage. Potential customers appreciate transparency!
- Very important: stay on top of your review accounts to make sure information stays current, and reply to any negative reviews in a kind and courteous manner. In some cases, the way that you handle conflicts shows the customer just as much as a five-star review of your customer service and professionalism.
Prices matter, so set yours competitively
- For better or worse, your potential customers are doing a lot of price comparisons. As soon as they establish that a list of companies offer comparable services, they start looking to see who is cheaper, who includes additional services, and who clearly lays out their pricing structure in an easy to understand way.
- Don’t underprice yourself, but do be clear that your prices are seen in relation to the market average. If your prices are a little higher, can you make it clear why? Outline the additional services that are included, why your company’s experience sets you apart, and clearly outline your pricing structure. Clear value means you’ll book more jobs!
Save on marketing and sales
- Having a solid online presence means you’re actively marketing 24/7. Customers can get many of their questions answered before they ever call you – or better yet, they’ll book moving jobs online without even needing to go through one round of phone tag.
- One of the best ways to book jobs through online services is to streamline the experience for the customer. If you haven’t taken this step already, making a professional website (rather than a free template) will set your company head and shoulders above the competition. This can also enable you to put booking options directly on your site with plugins rather than sending your customers to a different site to book. Smooth experience = happy customer.
Lastly? A strong online presence can save you money and time, with fewer phone calls and higher conversion rates. Then you can pass those savings along to your customer without cutting into your bottom line. Sounds like a win-win deal for everyone!
