It takes a lot of creativity to make business exciting and connect with potential customers. It is particularly important to leverage social influence in the tradie industry because jobs are skill-based and straightforward. The more buzz you create, the more traffic and sales you generate. If you increase your sales, you will have access to more methods of influence. Here are five social influence strategies that can benefit tradies like you.
- Choose to Fit In
Understanding conformity is crucial to incorporating social influencing strategies into your business effectively. Business resembles adolescence in some ways—we strive to fit in.
Whether in print, online, or on-screen, brands have displayed relatability by emulating the behaviors that consumers are most likely to respond to. Consider Apple, one of the most well-known brands in the world, and the way it markets to families and niche markets.
You might also parody an icon or campaign from a popular brand–like IKEA did with Apple. As a method for connecting with an audience, imitation has been successful time and time again, whether for humorous reasons or to strike an emotional chord.
- Make Yourself Stand Out
Apart from our constant longing to be included, it is also important that we stand out from the crowd. To expand and diversify your business clientele, you must connect with as many different types of people as you can.
Business owners should never limit themselves to having high-profile clients. As an alternative, you should connect with up-and-coming professionals, industry peers, and experts.
Whatever you choose to start with, whether it be taking a well-known trend and executing it differently or defining your own brand voice, begin wherever you see fit.
Exceptional leaders distinguish themselves from competitors and inspire their followers to take risks. After all, everyone likes to be a little rebellious once in a while.
- Motivate Employees to Perform to a High Standard
Your influence is more than just how you make a positive impact on the world, but how you help your team perform better. According to a study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, 71% of executives have realized the relationship between employee engagement and company performance.
“Healthy competition” is familiar to all-but there is a line to be drawn between alienation and stimulating social comparison. Do away with winner-take-all contests, top-performer awards, etc. These types of incentives are actually demotivating to your team.
Think about making use of a management system that can assist your team in keeping up with one another without feeling that they are losing out to better performers.
Teamwork is a good software option that gives business managers an overview of team productivity, allowing them to reassign tasks accordingly.
If you engage employees well and assess their bandwidth, you can make informed decisions and create a more effective working environment. Don’t forget to protect your employees with insurance for tradies, this creates a safe and inviting workplace.
- Consider How You Give as Much as What You Give
An Android fan who wrote a joking letter to Samsung in 2012 asking for a Galaxy S3 along with a dragon drawing was quietly denied by the company. Their response was accompanied by a drawing of a kangaroo. Samsung spotted the post as it went viral and gifted the fan the phone anyway, with the dragon etched into the back of its case.
Several brands, including Samsung, have proven that how you present what you give is more important than what you give. You learn to refine your communication skills in addition to building a memorable brand.
Knowing what your audience responds to makes it easier to adapt that message across other social platforms. It’s simple: do a high-quality job and then give the customer something memorable.
You might consider offering a free add-on or discount if a customer opts to hire you again. You can show your customers your appreciation with something as simple as a thank you note.
- Share Knowledge of the Industry
Knowledge sharing is the best way to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Besides providing potential clients with useful information, you can also improve internal communications and unite your team.
In fact, 74% of employees say they don’t receive company news and information, so now is the time to update your communication method. An informed employee is more likely to contribute feedback and participate in open collaboration. Moreover, your workforce becomes more engaged, and you’ll reap the associated benefits.
Knowledge sharing has benefits that extend far beyond your business. In spite of its seemingly counterintuitive nature, sharing what you know with others can foster a sense of community.
As much as you’d like to be ahead of the game, good relationships with other contractors can enable you to fill in knowledge gaps and gain valuable knowledge as you go. Attending a seminar may not always be possible, let alone when you’re investing time and effort in making your social impact.
The key to better relationships is to share your expertise. Having others back your business is a fundamental part of a successful social influence strategy. When you’re a well-regarded member of the community, you can get even further by being lauded for the quality of your work.
We all experience social influence even when we don’t intend to. This is perhaps one of the most important things to remember. Whether offline or online, it occurs all the time, and the variety of responses we continually collect is endless. Many times, we aspire to be like other businesses. At other times, we aim to be unlike them.
Essentially, social influence is a powerful tool that we often don’t exploit. By studying and incorporating social influencing, any trade manager can create a buzz, boost their business’s reputation, and achieve more successful working environments.
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