The
Association of Master Tradesmen understands that in recent
years the reputation of the building industry as a whole has been seriously damaged by so called “rogue traders.”
Although unscrupulous traders represent a minority within the industry, their practices get widespread public
attention. This is largely due to the fact that such tradesmen often target the
most vulnerable people in society. This
combined with the fact that a serious amount of damage can be caused to
consumers by rogue traders has resulted in widespread distrust of the industry
as a whole. This distrust is accentuated by the high level of popular
television programmes dealing with this very issue. Such programmes often give
consumers an exaggerated view of the prevalence of rogue traders within the
industry.
Building companies and related trades must understand the concerns of
consumers in the current market. Trust is a consumers main concern. Although
price, overall impression and experience plays a major role in a consumers
decision making process, trust remains the most important aspect of any
consumers decision. If a consumer does not trust their contractor then all the
other aspects they use to make a decision are irrelevant. TheAssociation of
Master Tradesmen (AMTUK) can help contractors build the trust they need.
AMTUK is an association of builders and related tradesmen.
Members of the association have agreed to a strict code of practice. This code
of practice sets out the way in which AMTUK expects its member to
conduct their business. The code centres around fairness, transparency, honesty
and quality of service.
Consumers who use an
amtuk member are asked to review the
contractor at the end of any work completed under the AMTUK reviews procedure.
These reviews help AMTUK to keep track on its members work and
helps future clients sourced through the association to better judge individual
members.
By displaying the AMTUK logo potential clients will know the contractor has gone through a rigorous
process to ensure they meet the high standards of the association. These
include reference checks, confirmation of qualifications and insurance
documentation. These checks show consumers that the contractor is pro-actively
setting themselves aside from the rogue's within the industry.
Membership in itself to the Association of Master Tradesmen can
help increase a contractors conversion rates. Helping to convert enquiries in
to clients, however AMTUK operates in a very different way than many
other associations. As well as operating as an association, in the general
sense, they also pro-actively market themselves to consumers generating
thousands of direct enquiries. The enquiries generated by AMTUK are then
passed to the associations members. This service sets the Association of
Master Tradesmen aside from other similar organisations. As well as helping
to build trust with clients sourced independently members are also offered
enquiries generated through AMTUK's own marketing efforts.
If a contractor is looking for ways to increase their level of enquiries
and consumers trust of their organisation, as a result increasing the amount of
contracts they achieve then the Association of Master Tradesmen is
seriously worth considering.