Roll call! Meet & introduce yourself to other Service-based Skilled Trade pros
If you’ve ever thought, “How are other businesses like mine handling this?” you’re in the right place! This space is for Service-Based Skilled Trades pros to connect, compare notes, and talk shop with others who understand the day-to-day realities of running your type of business. 👋 Introduce Yourself Drop a comment and tell us: Your name Business name Industry Years in business Location (City/State/Province) Let us know if you’re joining us for LIVE networking on March 17 (more details below) The more context you share, the better connections you’ll make. 🙌 Pro tip: Search your city or state in the forum to easily find other pros in your area. 📅 Want to connect LIVE? We’re hosting a virtual LIVE Industry Networking Event on March 17. If you’d be interested in joining, make sure to let us know in the comments! 🤝 Culture of this space Think of this forum board like a room full of peers who understand your world. Share what’s working. Ask real questions. Talk through challenges. The goal is to power your success and raise the standard of home service industries together. 💬 Looking for conversation starters? This space works best when conversations are industry-specific and experience-based. You might jump in with something like: “How are other [your industry] pros pricing this service right now?” “Is anyone else seeing this shift in their market?” “What’s been working for you when it comes to ____?” 🤔 Why are industries grouped together? We’ve intentionally clustered similar industries to keep conversations active and relevant. These groupings reflect shared business models, operational challenges, and pricing conversations so you can learn from peers who “get it,” even if they’re not in your exact trade. If your question applies to all home service businesses, feel free to post in our broader forum boards. Pro tip: Check out the industry tags to get even more specific Looking forward to seeing this space come to life. 🚀Electrical SOP's Built into Jobber Forms?
Hey guys, here is our "end of the day check list" we also have a few SOP's built into job forms. 1 for EV chargers and one for hot tub installs including common rules and inspection fails. What are you guys doing? Anything similar or something I haven't thought of?
Software
We own a general contracting company which uses Jobber but we will be starting a separate electrical contractor company this year, the previous electrician we're bringing on used Joist for his CRM/Invoicing. His "price book" was all in his head since he owned the business and did all of the invoicing himself. We would like to create or set up a price book and use flat rate pricing. We did a demo with Housecall Pro and we liked the ability to integrate Profit Rhino as well as mark up/down as needed. It does not look like Jobber has this ability so we might not set up the new company with Jobber. I saw we can import a CSV file with our products but Housecall Pro seems to be able to update prices/costs automatically all within the system. What other software have you electrician companies used that provides this service? If you have used Housecall Pro, any downsides we should keep in mind? The CEO/owner of the GC company was sitting in on the demo for Housecall Pro and really liked the Pipeline feature, which Jobber also does not have. So we're thinking about switching both companies over to Housecall Pro. All back-end accounting will be handled by QuickBooks Online so mainly need to worry about CRM/invoicing and tracking job progression from lead to completed job.Do Electrical Contractors own a business or job?
A lot of guys say they “work for themselves.” But when I ask who controls their schedule — it’s the customer. When I ask what happens if they take a day off — the work stops. And if they stop answering the phone — the leads disappear. That’s not a business. That’s a job with more pressure. I built this visual because I lived it. The truth is: most contractors don’t own their time, they just own the stress. So I came to the conclusion: If you stop working and your income stops too… You don’t own a business ... you just own your own job. How do you guys feel about that ?How to SELL as an Electrician - Or are you just taking orders?
Most of us in the trades hate “sales.” The reality is, we are in a reactive market, we just take "orders". We wait for something to break and then we wait on a customer to choose us, out of multiple leads. What i found out, is we are no different from a Mcdonalds cashier. We are not selling, we are taking orders. So how can we change our position? Truth is, it’s not really sales focussed, what we need to do is filter out leads. Here’s the problem: We don’t get calls because people “want” us. We get calls when something is broken. That makes us reactive, not proactive. By the time they call, they’re already stressed, shopping around, or treating it like ordering a Big Mac. Even if we push maintenance packages, most customers see it as a luxury or “insurance,” not a need. So where does that leave us? Frustrated, stuck, and thinking we’re bad at sales. But that’s why I built out these Contractor’s Blueprint to sales, and we been testing it on instagram LIVE and youtube. Whats needed as Contractors: A way to filter out problem customers before they waste your time. A process that shows respect, builds trust, and educates. Actual sales scripts that help you respond when they hit you with “I need to talk to my spouse” or “that’s out of budget.” It’s about filtering who’s a real customer and who’s not. I want to hear from you, what’s your biggest challenge when it comes to sales as a blue-collar service provider?3 Lessons from Leviton for Electricians
3 Things I learned about Leviton Longevity takes vision: Leviton has been in this industry for over 100 years. That doesn’t happen by accident. It takes resilience, smart pivots, and staying relevant to the people you serve. Innovation is constant: Their origin story ties all the way back to Thomas Edison, when gas lamps were being replaced with electric fixtures. And still to this day, they’re thinking ahead, building for what’s next, For example their new Load Centers with Smart Breakers. Preparation x Planning: Learning how they plan ahead for storms, outages, and supply readiness was eye-opening. They anticipate, so when people need them, they’re ready to deliver. I’m grateful for the experience and already thinking how we can apply those same principles to Energize Us EDU.
