Why Most Brisbane Electricians are Working Too Hard for Too Little
If you’re an electrician in Brisbane, you know the drill. You spend half your evening quoting jobs, only for the homeowner to go with a guy who’s fifty bucks cheaper. It’s frustrating, it’s exhausting, and frankly, it’s a waste of your time.
Most sparkies think the only way to win more work is to lower their prices. They think the market is "tight" or that people in the suburbs like Carindale or North Lakes are just stingy.
I’m here to tell you that’s rubbish.
I’ve worked with dozens of local tradies, and the data shows a different story. People aren't looking for the cheapest price; they are looking for the least amount of risk. When you price yourself at the bottom, you aren't just losing money—you’re actually telling the customer you aren't that good.
If you want to stop chasing your tail and start charging premium prices, you have to stop making these common marketing mistakes that make you look like every other "man with a van."
Mistake 1: Being a "Invisible" Expert
You might be the best fault-finder in South East Queensland, but if Google doesn't know you exist, you’re stuck waiting for word-of-mouth. Word-of-mouth is great, but it’s slow and unreliable. You can’t build a premium business on "maybe the phone will ring today."
When someone has a power outage or needs a switchboard upgrade, they go straight to their phone. If your business doesn't show up in the top three results on the map, you don't exist to them.
I see so many electricians spend thousands on a fancy logo but zero on making sure they actually get found. To charge premium prices, you need to be the obvious choice. That starts with improving your online reputation so that when people find you, they see dozens of other Brisbane locals singing your praises. A business with fifty 5-star reviews can easily charge 20% more than a business with three reviews. It’s about trust, and trust has a dollar value.
Mistake 2: The "Jack of All Trades" Trap
If you tell the world you do "all electrical work," you are a commodity. Commodities are bought on price.
Think about it: if you have a heart problem, do you go to a General Practitioner or a Cardiologist? You go to the specialist, and you expect to pay the specialist more.
Electricians who charge the most are usually those who pick a lane. Maybe you’re the go-to guy for EV charger installations in the Western Suburbs. Maybe you specialise in high-end architectural lighting for renovations in Paddington.
When you specialise, your marketing becomes much easier. You aren't just another sparky; you’re the expert in that one specific thing. This allows you to stop wasting money on ads that target everyone and start focusing on the high-value jobs that actually move the needle on your profit margins.
Mistake 3: Your Website Looks Like a 1990s Business Card
I see this all the time. A Brisbane electrician has a great reputation, a clean ute, and a professional team, but their website looks like it was built by their nephew in 2005.
Your website is your digital shopfront. If it’s messy, slow, or doesn't work on a phone, people will assume your electrical work is messy too. Premium customers—the ones who pay on time and don't haggle—want to see professional photos, clear contact details, and proof that you’ve done this work before.
If your website isn't ringing, it’s usually because it doesn't give the customer a reason to trust you. It’s not about the "algorithm"; it's about the human being on the other end of the screen who wants to know you won't burn their house down and that you'll actually show up when you say you will.
Mistake 4: Failing to Show, Not Just Tell
Stop telling people you do "quality work." Everyone says that. It’s a meaningless phrase in 2024.
Instead, show them. Premium prices are justified by the details. If you’ve just finished a neat switchboard upgrade where every wire is perfectly combed and labelled, take a photo. If you’ve installed outdoor feature lighting that makes a home in Ascot look like a resort, take a photo.
Data shows that customers spend 40% more time on websites that feature real photos of local work compared to those using stock images of some American guy in a hard hat. Real photos of your team and your work in Brisbane suburbs prove you are a real, local business that takes pride in the finish. That pride is what people pay extra for.
Mistake 5: The "Race to the Bottom" Quote
How do you deliver your quotes? If you’re texting a number or scribbling it on a piece of paper, you are killing your margins.
Premium pricing requires a premium presentation. A professional, itemised digital quote sent via email or a job management system shows that you have systems in place. It shows you aren't just making up a number on the spot.
When you provide a clear breakdown of the value you’re providing—including warranties, the quality of materials (like Clipsal vs. cheap imports), and your licensing—you move the conversation away from "How much?" to "What am I getting?"
The Real Cost of Being the Cheapest
Let’s look at the numbers.
If you charge $80 an hour and your overheads (ute, insurance, tools, fuel) are $40 an hour, you’re making $40 profit.
If you raise your price to $100 an hour, your overheads stay the same at $40. Your profit jumps to $60.
That’s a 25% price increase, but a 50% increase in profit.
You could lose 20% of your customers because of the price rise and still make significantly more money while working fewer hours. This is the math that most small business owners miss. You don't need more jobs; you need better jobs.
How to Transition to Premium Pricing
You can't just double your rates tomorrow without changing anything else. Here is the step-by-step process I recommend for Brisbane electricians who want to level up:
1. Clean up your digital presence: Make sure your Google profile is active and you’re getting reviews from every happy customer. This is your social proof. 2. Update your photos: Get decent shots of your van, your uniform, and your best work. No more blurry photos of a power point. 3. Audit your phone manner: How do you or your admin answer the phone? "Hello?" isn't good enough. "Good morning, [Business Name], this is [Name] speaking, how can I help you?" sets the tone for a premium service immediately. 4. Stop quoting over the phone: For anything significant, get on-site. It’s much harder for a customer to haggle with a professional, polite person standing in their kitchen than it is with a voice on a phone. 5. Focus on the follow-up: Most tradies are terrible at following up quotes. If you call a customer two days after sending a quote to ask if they have any questions, you’ve already out-performed 90% of your competition.
What’s a Waste of Money?
Don't get sucked into paying for "leads" from big aggregate sites where you’re competing with ten other guys for a $150 job. That is a race to the bottom.
Also, stop spending a fortune on fridge magnets or local paper ads. In Brisbane, people search with their thumbs. Spend your budget on making sure that when they search, you look like the most professional, reliable, and high-quality option in their suburb.
Seeing Results
This isn't an overnight fix. It takes time to build a brand that commands higher prices. Usually, you’ll start seeing a change in the type of enquiries you get within 3 to 6 months of fixing your online presence and your quoting process.
You’ll notice fewer people asking "What’s your hourly rate?" and more people asking "When can you start?"
If you’re tired of being treated like a commodity and you want to build a business that actually rewards your hard work with decent profits, it’s time to stop making these mistakes.
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane tradies get off the tools (if they want to) by attracting the right kind of customers. We don't care about fancy marketing terms; we care about how many high-value enquiries you get this month.
Ready to get more phone calls from customers who don't haggle? Let’s have a chat.