The drink driver client | 101

Some clients your sparky business attract are like drink drivers — they’ve done it wrong for years and think it’s fine. Here’s how to spot them, stop attracting them, and fix your messaging before they waste your time.

Insight: Stripped back podcast S8 E1 - Unlocking business potential with Alan Collins:

🚀 Rocket your electrical business marketing in 9 minutes 👉🏼 HERE

🤔 Questions? Ask me on Instagram 👉🏼 HERE

🤝 Work with Alan 👉🏼 HERE

Transcript

Know the one that’s had one too many? Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing.

Today is episode 101 of the Simplified Sparky Podcast — and I want to take a second to reflect and actually thank all of you who’ve been listening over the last couple of years.

Some of you are absolute legends — you’ve started on one episode and gone all the way back to the start, binge-listened, implemented, and actually made money from it.
 And I’m not even working with you — and that’s the best part.

I love that.
 I love hearing that something from this podcast helped you grow your electrical business.

Here’s a tip before we get into it — grab a beer, grab a coffee, sit down, chill out.
 Get a notepad or use the notes app on your phone.

Because knowing and not doing is the same thing as not knowing.

If you tell yourself, “I’ll do that later,” you won’t.

I learned that the hard way.

I went through a stage where I was pumping my head full of business podcasts, audiobooks, and all the rest — and my brain just hit capacity.
 Nothing stuck.
 Everything was going in one ear and straight out the other.

I actually had to step back, stop listening to so much, and only tune in to stuff I was ready to implement.

So my advice: cut out all the other noise for one week.

Go through my podcast, take notes on what you want to implement, and then next week, actually do it.
You’ve just got yourself a free mentor.

Because a lot of people listen in passing — driving, working, whatever — and they might remember something I said but not actually take action.
 So, that’s my reminder to you.

Now, before I jump into today’s topic — a quick shoutout.

I had a surreal experience last week up in Dublin, recording with Steven and Keith on the Inside Stripped Back Podcast.
It was my first live, in-studio podcast, and it was bloody brilliant.

Check it out if you haven’t — it’s called Inside Stripped Back Podcast. It’s trade-based but with a mix of everything else too. Definitely worth a listen.

Today’s Podcast: The Drink Driver Client

This came to me while recording a video for the mentorship — I was thinking, “What’s a bad client actually like?”

And then it hit me:

A shit client is like a drink driver.

Hear me out.

A drink driver goes to the pub, has ten pints, and drives home.
 He’s done it a hundred times. He’s never been caught.

So, in his mind — it works.
 “Why stop doing it? It’s fine.”

Same mentality applies to some clients.

You go to their house — they’ve got out-of-date smoke alarms, no RCDs, no surge protection — and you’re blue in the face explaining why it’s unsafe and why they need an upgrade.

And what do they say?
 “Ah, we’ve been here 30 years. Never had a problem.”

That’s your drink driver client.

You can educate, you can advise, you can quote — but some people won’t change.

So my advice?
 Put it in writing, send the quote, and walk away.

That way, if something happens, you’ve covered your ass. You’ve shown due diligence, documented the issue, and proven you tried to make it safe.

Now, here’s the kicker:

If you’re constantly getting these “drink driver” clients, it’s not bad luck.
 It’s your marketing.

Something in your messaging is attracting the wrong people.

Your website, your socials — the words and tone you use — they’re what attract (or repel) certain types of clients.

I’m obsessed with this.
 Messaging is everything.

Just this week, a guy from my email list messaged me about his website.
 I took a quick look, and straight away, I could see why he was attracting cheap, time-wasting clients.

His wording screamed “bargain hunter.”
 It wasn’t positioning him as a professional.

Cheap words attract cheap work.
 Simple as that.

He knows it now — and hopefully, he fixes it.

But here’s where it gets interesting.
 There are also drink driver electricians.

I had a guy message me recently asking why he wasn’t getting any leads.

I asked him — “Do you have a website?”
 He said no.

So I told him:
 Step one, get a website.
 Step two, get on my email list and start learning how to structure your business and your marketing flywheel.

He ignored that and went straight to asking, “How much does your website guy charge?”

So I told him.

And he said it was too expensive.

That’s when I realized — he’s a drink driver electrician.

He thinks, “Ah, I’ll just do it myself. It’ll be fine.”

Same as a homeowner saying, “Ah, it’s just an RCD, I’ll throw one in myself.”

I get it — I’ve been there.

When I started my business, I was tight. Every cent counted. But there’s a difference between an expense and an investment.

You’ll spend thousands on tools, Milwaukee gadgets, new ladders — but you won’t spend two grand on a website that actually brings in work?

That’s backwards.

Your marketing is an investment.
 It’s what feeds your business.

If your website looks like a 16-year-old niece made it, you need to be honest and fix it.

Say it’s not working. Start again.

That’s what separates pros from amateurs — knowing when to stop DIY’ing your own business and invest properly.

I’ve made that mistake myself.

I built four websites before I figured it out. Wasted money, wasted time.
 The poor man paid twice — in my case, four times.

So don’t do what I did.

If you’re curious about the Inside Stripped Back episode I did, I’ll link it in the show notes below.
 It’ll be repurposed soon for this channel too — both audio and video — if you’re more of a visual person.

All the links you need are in the bio.

And as always — I’ll catch you next week.