Try to keep the name manageable, memorable and professional.


This also applies to your website. Hire an expert in this field to help set up your site. You need excellence. Most clients will look at your website even if referred to you by word of mouth. Do not try to hash your own site with poor dialogue, photos and display. Your goal is for excellence. You want to be the best in your field. Unless you are a computer technical wizard, outsource this and concentrate on being an excellent surveyor.


The next step is networking. This is the most critical step. The move that will either make your business or destroy everything you have been working toward.


Networking for myself, meant travelling to every brokerage, hard stand and boat yard, insurance offices, and boatbuilding factories that I could. There I would briefly outline my business, my areas of expertise, and hand over my details all printed on a nice, precise business card. Because of the industry, most businesses will use older, established names, so this period will be difficult. But persevere, and keep showing your face. Always smile, be polite and presentable. Do not be brash, loud, and boasting of your abilities. And when you do start getting the odd survey, outline what the client can expect from you, your price, and then over deliver.


Also contact established surveyors. Most surveyors are great, reasonable people, and realize that at some stage new opposition will appear on the scene. They may even be prepared to help you. I have a fellow surveyor, who did his due diligence when starting his business, contacted myself and simply made an introduction. From that, we now talk daily, bouncing ideas off each other, updating on different clients and boats, and continuously pushing each other towards surveying excellence. Hand on heart, we both realise how much this has improved our standards and our benefit over fellow surveyors. This in turn, has resulted


into two, very successful, profitable surveying businesses.


I will quite often over quote, and still charge fairly, whilst making a tidy profit. However, if you charge the client slightly less than what you did quote, he will always remember the fact, and promote you as the surveyor to employ.


Look at what your competition provides to their clients. A lot of survey companies only send out email copies of the reports and invoices. I do both, sending by email and, sending out hard copies. And my clients have often commented on their nice, bound, copies. Ok, this is an extra cost for your business, however, this is included in the cost. Why not stand out and be known for the fine details your business provides for its clients? Remember, you are striving for excellence. Excellence takes time and effort, but the end result is well worth the effort. Printing and binding my client’s surveys probably take an extra ten minutes per job. Time to let the water boil and make a coffee. As mentioned previously, what will you charge for your services? How do you find out what your competition charges? One way, be it slightly cheeky, is to cold call your opposition and ask for quotes. Why not? It has been done to myself and fellow surveyors. Or if you have good relationships with other surveyors, simply ask them. They do not want you to over charge or under cut them. A similar rate across the industry is beneficial to all.


One personal mistake I made in my first few years of business was undercharging at my hourly rate. I always thought because of my lack of experience compared to the older, established surveyors, I should charge less. Big mistake. My experience was actually more in some regards. I had built modern vessels, and installed modern systems, had technical savvy, and could work harder. After two years of this, I increased my rate equal to, if not more, than other surveyors and,….absolutely no clients complained. My revenue increased by ten to twenty percent for the same amount of work.


After quoting, the client may not like what he hears. Simply move on. If they are complaining at the quoting stage, how hard will it be for them to pay your invoice?


Another added bonus of increasing your rate, is that you get rid of the dead wood. Some brokerage firms are irreputable, and will sell anything that floats. If they see a surveyor charging low rates, suddenly you will be getting a lot of work from them. They’ll be your “friend” and you’ll be promoted by them as the “best surveyor around”. Sure, you will be inundated with work. You will have so much work that you will consider yourself as successful and an excellent surveyor in the highest regard. But beware. You will be working hard at a low rate, and unfortunately, the probability of ending up in court will also be very high. Sure, you may be a good surveyor, but, surveying such low-quality boats for these brokers, you will, one day, miss an obvious defect and become liable. I’ve seen this happen many times, and have been involved in court cases against other surveyors who fell into this trap. I was not worried in court. I was the expert witness telling the clergy the faults of the surveyor and their reports. Be warned. Court is not a pleasant place to be in.


The excellent surveyor will think “Quality, not quantity”. Charge more, deal with high-end brokerage firms and clients, and survey quality vessels. The author now inspects more high -end quality vessels, than what he used to survey poor quality vessels.


The excellent surveyor charges a standard or above rate, performs the highest quality survey available in comparison to his contemporaries, and is recognized for such in his field. Thus, these standards attract high quality clients. They expect the best, get the best, and pay the best. Once this process begins, these clients will talk to their friends with similar wants and needs. You will survey better vessels, travel to exotic locations, and sometimes project manage the vessels you have surveyed. This all comes down to the successful surveyor providing quality.


The Report • March 2020 • Issue 91 | 99


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