Power Up Your Electrical Sales: 8 Tips to Attract and Retain Electricians

Market Your Electrical Company

Show potential recruits what they’re missing

• Prove your company stands apart from competition

To find top talent, your electrical service company needs to be a great place to work—and potential recruits need to know it.

Tom Howard, ServiceTitan’s Vice President of Customer Experience, says to attract new recruits, you need to spread the word about your company’s employee perks and culture.

“We can retain all of the people we want, but if we’re not attracting new people, we just aren’t going to have the people we need,” says Howard, who owns multiple home service companies in Fresno, Calif.

He created a low-budget YouTube video posted on social media to spread the word about his company’s employee benefits, which attracted job seekers and provided a significant return on investment.

Think about ways your company can use testimonials to show potential recruits what they’re missing—and what they’ll gain if they work for your company.

Seek the Right Employees

• Develop a recruitment plan

• Hire for high-quality skills and attributes

When it comes to hiring an electrician, quality takes precedence over quantity.

Tommy Mello, host of the "Home Service Expert" podcast, says business owners in the trades should make recruiting top talent a core business function.

“Some people say, ‘always be closing.’ I say, ‘always be recruiting,’” explains Mello, who gives employees $1,500 for a new-hire referral.

Other companies might offer employees bonuses for recruiting new techs with no experience, then deliver larger payouts each year, based on the new recruit’s continued employment. That gives companies a powerful tool, says Chris Hunter, ServiceTitan’s Director of Customer Relations.

Current employees become a recruiting—and retention—force. “They're going to try to make sure that person is successful and happy on the team,” Hunter says.

Develop a recruitment plan for your hiring process and update job descriptions, so your company remains at the ready. 

Top employees possess skilled knowledge and exhibit positive traits, such as integrity, dependability, and problem solving. Depending on the position, you may require employees to possess strong communication, sales, or managerial skills. 

Your employees become the face of your company to customers, so hiring the right people is key to creating positive customer experiences.

Prioritize Job Postings 

Constantly recruit to hire the best candidates

• Regularly post to online job boards

Experts suggest service companies constantly recruit, so staffing issues do not force them to hire less-than-ideal candidates.

Spark interest among electricians looking for work through electrician job postings on trade job boards, such as the National Electrical Contractors Association or the Nexstar Network. 

Consider posting full-time job openings on LinkedIn, Indeed, Craigslist, and even social media, or use nontraditional methods to sway a highly skilled tech to join your company. Other avenues for potential recruits include temp agencies for electricians or an electrician recruiter to find qualified candidates.

Join forces with organizations or local workforce programs to provide apprenticeships for entry-level positions or resources to promote the trades to high school students, to widen the talent pool. 

Offer competitive benefits and electrical salaries based on years of experience, and consider non-salary incentives to sweeten the deal for potential candidates.

Maximize the Interview

Gain insight with comprehensive questions 

• Focus on safety and technical knowledge

Asking the right interview questions enables your business to identify qualified electrician candidates.

Interview questions should encompass their professional background and why they chose to consider your company. Ask questions relating to potential customer situations and safety protocols to obtain insight into how they would react in certain situations. Technical questions pinpointing step-by-step procedures or troubleshooting can provide key insight into their knowledge and skills.

Technology-related questions enable you to gauge their proficiency with ServiceTitan electrical software to communicate with the office while on the job site, and show customers good-better-best pricing options on a mobile tablet during repairs or installations.

Invest in Training

Empower your employees through training

• Provide incentives for success

Invest in your employees to build a strong company foundation. If your company empowers your team to succeed, they’re likely to achieve greater success.

“Employees are your No. 1 asset,” says trades consultant Ben Stark, who advises keeping techs and other employees involved in the business planning process, and making sure they know their roles in the business.

Train techs in-house for technical skills, as well as sales and customer service. Consider involving other industry trainers or leaders skilled in specific areas of interest. Set high expectations, but reward employees with performance pay or other incentives to encourage reaching company goals.

When you recognize, measure, and reward whatever behavior you want your team to repeat, they often do, Hunter says.

Boost Positive Feedback

• Provide instant feedback

• Incentivize team goals

Developing a positive company culture is key to attracting and retaining employees.

“It’s really easy for people to feel like they only get talked to at work when something goes wrong, but if they’re doing something well, they rarely hear about it,” Howard says. 

To give instantaneous positive feedback, his company used ServiceTitan’s automated text messages to alert the entire sales staff every time someone on the team made a sale. This also built camaraderie and healthy competition. In another case, the company instituted a yearlong competition where employees were entered in a drawing and awarded prizes.

“I think attracting and keeping employees is just like attracting new customers and keeping existing ones,” Howard says.

Find ways your company can boost positive feedback to enhance teamwork and drive success.

Sustain Employee Loyalty

• Enhance employee experience

• Boost recruitment through success

In many instances, happy employees become loyal employees. Stellar leadership and a positive work environment give employees benefits far beyond their paychecks.

Not only does employee retention benefit a company by preserving an adequate number of techs, it also boosts electrical recruitment.

Potential new recruits see your happy, successful employees like a magnet, pulling them in to find out more about your company.

“People are attracted to people like them,” says Eddie McFarlane, Vice President of Learning and Development at Haller Enterprises, in a recent ServiceTitan webinar. “So, when we remove hurdles and create runways for incredible team members, we’re in a hyper-connected world, and they’re probably getting asked at least weekly, ‘Hey, what’s it like over there?’ How incredible would it be to say, ‘It's awesome, man. They just keep out of our way and we just get to do our job.’”

Prioritize and enhance employee experiences to maintain a positive company atmosphere and promote your business through loyal employees.

Advance Company Growth

• Enhance efficiency with ServiceTitan software

• Track KPIs to measure growth

Electrician recruitment is key to the growth of your electrical service company. Leverage your company’s growth by providing employees tools to enhance efficiency from office to field.

All-in-one ServiceTitan scheduling software allows you to schedule the right tech for the right job at the right time. Mobile tools enable techs to send branded estimates or invoices right to a customer’s inbox.

Gain an edge with payroll and timesheet software synced with the dispatch board, so office staff knows when techs sign off for the day. Tailor pay structure and automate performance pay or bonuses to make quick work of complex payroll tasks.

From start to finish, ServiceTitan’s software enables you to capture meaningful data and track key performance indicators, so you can recharge your company’s growth.