As a company, we want to make sure that our customers succeed, and that our product plays an important role in helping our customers achieve their goals.

One of our team values at NextMinute is to sit alongside our customers and partners.

We also have the value proposition that we “make life easier by managing pricing, planning, people and profits.”

So, we recently put together a Customer Survey in order to get a better understanding of the needs and preferences of our customers, and to question are we delivering on what we promise?

‘They’ also say success is in the eye of the beholder, and our beholders are our customers - who are also your customers!

If you are a Trusted Advisor with clients in the Trade & Construction industry, here are some results from our Customer Survey that might help you understand the industry better.

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Who are they?

Our average client is a 39 year old male builder, business owner, married with more than one child and has completed some form of tertiary education like trade school, college or university.

What do they need?

We asked our clients, on a scale of 1 to 10 how important are the below items to their business (answers in order based on the average response.)

1. Profit

2. Managing their team

3. Save time

4. Consistent work

5. Scheduling work

6. More clients

This re-confirms for us that our value proposition of pricing, planning, people and profits aligns with what our customers consider important in their businesses.

What do they want?

We asked them to rank the importance of family time on a scale of 1 - 10. It was number one.

Other questions around ‘hobbies and freetime’ had a variety of answers, all of which included outdoor activities such as fishing, board sports, or playing sports with their family & friends.

These responses indicate that our clients value and want more time to spend outdoors with their family.

When do they want it?

NOW!

No, not really. This was not actually a question asked in this survey. The fact remains though, that there is never a wrong time to make improvements in your life.

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What can you do to help?

Get to know them

The information we provided above is based on the average responses.

Spend some time understanding each individual client, what is important to them, what their personal life looks like and why they chose to start their own business.

This will help you base your services on the individual client needs and what they will value from you, all while having their best interest at heart.

Plus, it will give you something to talk about with them next time you catch-up.

Learn about their day-to-day

Learn about their daily routine, the best time to reach them, office preferences, work hours, meetings, onsite times, who does the invoicing & payroll, do they have admin staff. The list goes on.

This is going to help you understand where & when you fit in and if they prioritize the “back end” work.

Learn about the industry

Trade & Construction complex with differing laws, education requirements, certificates & license requirements. For example, a cabinet maker is a carpenter, but a carpenter is not necessarily a cabinet maker - so what differentiates them?

Knowing industry requirements puts you in the best position to give advice & market yourself as an industry expert.  If you are looking to create a niche in your business that sets you apart, having this expertise helps you attract the right clients.

If you already have a few like trade businesses, start there. For example, if you have a carpentry client and a cabinet maker, you probably have a good grasp on the industry and market yourself to that specific industry only.

Set the expectations

Set your expectations with them - what will you need from them to make the relationship work, and in turn, what can they expect from you?

If you spent time learning about their day-to-day, you might learn that Wednesday at 9pm, after the kids are in bed, is the time they allocate for admin. This is the time you will most likely receive a response to an email.

Or you might learn, they have no plan or priority for the bits of the business you need, which will mean you need to consider how viable this relationship will be or if there is a way for you to help them prioritize the business finances.

Be their eyes and ears

These guys want time back in their life to spend with their families, but they are prioritizing their businesses instead.

The digital landscape is ever-evolving and technology can be a game-changer for these clients but they won’t give it the time to learn about it or how to integrate it with their accounting software and existing processes.

You can partner with apps from the Xero Ecosystem, like NextMinute and incorporate these into your service offering. It is definitely a value-add that your clients want & need.

Don’t forget, if your clients succeed, so will you.

If you’re looking to improve your relationships with your Trade & Construction clients, start by learning more about them and then consider partnering with an industry specific software like NextMinute.

Our dedicated team can help you build strong and effective relationships with your Residential Construction clients, reach out to emily.ossignton@nextminute.com and start the discussion on how to achieve greater success with these clients in your practice.