What's the best way to increase your electrician salary? Keep reading as our ServiceBox experts give you the best advice and tips on how to make more money as an electrician and increase your annual salary.
6 Ways to Get an Electrician Salary Increase and Earn More Money
1. Continue Your Education
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, electricians make an average of $60,040 annually (about $28.87 an hour) as of May 2021. While that's a respectable salary, there's room for improvement. One of the best ways to earn more money as an electrician is by taking continuing education courses. You may even have to take classes to maintain a current electrician's license, but regulations vary from state to state.
If you are required to attend classes periodically, the knowledge you learn will do more than just keep your license valid. You'll stay up-to-date regarding new technology, best practices, current laws and regulations, building codes, and safety requirements. Plus, gaining more knowledge, experience, and certifications will let you charge more money, help you ask for a raise or promotion, or find a higher-paying job. Think of continuing your education as investing in your future stability and finances.
2. Be On the Lookout for Better Job Opportunities
Another great way to increase your electrician's salary is to look for better job opportunities. Scour the job boards, look at online listings, or even call other companies and ask if they're hiring. You may have a chance at finding an opportunity that pays more than you're currently making. Check out websites like Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, Monster, and Glassdoor, which have thousands of job listings. Try looking for at least ten minutes each day. You never know what you may find!
3. Ask for a Promotion or Raise
For electricians who work for another company, try asking for a promotion or raise. Never approach your boss without developing a well-defined argument as to why you should get a better position or salary increase. Have you been working overtime or taking on more responsibilities? Do you work hard and always have a positive attitude? Are you a role model for other employees? How have your work or ideas helped the company cut costs or earn more money?
Essentially, your argument should explain why you're invaluable to the company and its bottom line and therefore deserve a raise. Focus on highlighting your accomplishments and avoid discussing your coworkers' shortcomings. The key is getting your boss to do most of the talking (pay attention to their specific concerns and objectives), then tailoring your responses based on that information. Speak from your heart and portray confidence. Even if you don't get a raise, you could try bargaining for more vacation days, better benefits, or paid time off.
4. Start Your Own Business
If you're currently working as a company employee and unhappy with your salary, why not become your own boss? Taking the initiative to start your own business is one of the best ways to achieve an electrician salary increase. Of course, it will require time, dedication, finances, and hard work. But, if you can pull it off, becoming a successful business owner is an incredible accomplishment that will help you realize and achieve your long-term financial goals.
5. Use Workflow Optimization Software
Let's take it a step further and say that you already own and run an electrical company, but you want to increase your annual profits. Switching to workflow optimization software like ServiceBox can help you achieve those goals. ServiceBox is a professional software suite that's ideal for business owners in the electrical industry, especially for those who need help with daily operations, administrative tasks, and revenue generation.
Whether your electrical company focuses more on large-scale commercial builds, residential service calls, or both, ServiceBox has advanced technology that will help you manage your business more efficiently. For example, you can create complex work orders with the click of a button, use simple drag-and-drop scheduling, and automate time cards and billing. In addition, our software reduces costly manual accounting errors and saves time that you can spend growing your business instead.
How Can ServiceBox Help You Make More Money?
We designed ServiceBox to help our clients manage their business, stay connected with their employees, streamline operations, and generate more revenue. ServiceBox software offers a range of different tools to help electricians, including:
- Automated quoting and estimates
- Interactive work orders
- Safety checklists
- Location tracking
- Customer maintenance alerts
- One-touch billing and invoicing
- Scheduling and dispatch
- Inventory management
- Special feature requests
- Two-way communication syncing
With so many advanced workflow tools at your disposal in one cloud-based app, it becomes easy to manage all the factors that go into running your electrical business. For example, our one-touch billing and invoicing features help our clients get paid faster. Don't just take our word for it—try a demo of ServiceBox for free for one month, and we promise that you'll love the ease, efficiency, and order it brings to your business.
6. Invest in Marketing Your Business
Another excellent way to increase an electrician salary is by investing in business marketing. Set aside some money for advertising and consider hiring a digital marketing agency specializing in local SEO (search engine optimization) that can help you expand your electrical business into new markets and gain greater visibility online. If you don't have a website, make one immediately. Successful marketing will help you reach your target audience, snag new customers, earn more business, and make more profits.
Don't know where to start? Try doing some research online and explore how to create an effective marketing strategy for small business owners. For example, here is a quick list of the most common marketing techniques for a service-based business like an electrician:
- Content marketing (blogs, social media posts, etc.)
- PPC marketing (pay-per-click advertising like Google Ads or Facebook Ads)
- Radio or billboard advertisements
- Professional vehicle wrapping
- Video marketing (start a YouTube channel with how-to videos)
- Customer service and referral marketing
- Reputation management and online review generation
- Call tracking and re-targeting potential customers
All six of the tips we just gave you will help you make more money as an electrician and increase your annual salary. At ServiceBox, we're dedicated to helping small, service-based businesses grow, expand, and succeed. With our workflow optimization software, you can streamline your daily operations and manage your business more efficiently. Call ServiceBox today at (855) 314-0895 or reach out online to schedule a demo and learn how our software can help your electrical company increase profits.
