Checkatrade

Reproduced with kind permission from Rick, wolverhampton Locksmiths

I joined checkatrade less than a year ago and i thought I would share my experience with you all. However its impossible for me to tell you how much work can be gained from your investment with Checkatrade. The simple reason for this is that it seems very area specific. I’m friends with many locksmiths all over the country and after speaking with lots of them it seems that where you live plays a huge factor in how much work you can gain from it.

Getting Started

Getting started with Checkatrade is not as simple as just signing up with an email address and password and away you go! You do need to put a little bit of effort in, as well as money to get listed on the site.

Once you register your interest with Checkatrade you will need to meet with one of there reps, very similar to trying to get an advert in the Yellow Pages.

If after your meeting with a Checkatrade rep you decide to go ahead you are required to provide some business details for them to check over. Such as:

Proof of any qualifications

Utility Bills ie proof of address

Photo ID

Business insurance

Credit checks for limited company’s

You will also be required to provide some customers details for work you have carried out so they can get your customers feedback. This feedback also goes towards getting you your first reviews.

You also must sign some trading standards stuff and also the Checkatrade code of conduct.

Checkatrade Page

Once you get past all the checks you are then free to create your own Checkatrade page. This allows you make a nice looking landing page for you customers to view once they have found you through a Checkatrade search. You are also given your own team to look after you and a direct number to get hold of them if you get stuck.

Creating the page is pretty straight forward. Its just a case of adding text, banner image and company logo ect.

Within the page are also separate links to:

Reviews

Gallery

Services

Back ground checks

All of which help to bulk up the content customers can view on your locksmith business.

What You Get With Checkatrade

Alongside your personalised page you also get:

Included in search

Access to membership appraisal line

Free credibility reports

Access to members only area

Stickers for your vehicle

Feedback cards to hand out to customers

Members discounts

Checkatrade are also partnered with Payatrader to make it easier to take card payments. I previously wrote a post called Is Payatrader any good for locksmiths? which you can read to find out more info.

Member Benefits 

The benefits change occasionally but at the time of writing this the benefits consist of discount on:

Mercedes Vans

Esso Fuel Cards

Public Liability

Phone Tariffs

Various Work ware Deals

Web Design And Development

Service Level

So far so good! I’m quite happy with the service level offered from Checkatrade. The staff seem really friendly and always really easy to get in contact with. I’ve not yet come across an issue that they haven’t been able to rectify immediately. From time to time they even call you to make sure everything is OK and to see if you need help with anything or have any questions.

Hope this gives you a bit of an in site into Checkatrade. Please feel free to share this post but please give credit via a link back to The Locksmith World or link directly to this post.