TrustMark benefits for members
The PCA work with several partners and industry leading organisations to help better support our members and grow our sector - all aimed at providing industry insights and support for you to better run all aspects of your business.
One organisation we are proud to have a long-standing partnership with for over 17 years is TrustMark. As a TrustMark scheme provider, we offer our contractor members with TrustMark membership and together we are working to raise-up standards across the industry and improve the protection offered to homeowners when having work done.
This guest blog sees TrustMark’s Membership Director, Nicola Waller, share how your membership of the PCA and TrustMark can help you run your business and support your customers.
Consumer Protection and Good Trading Practices
I’ve worked at TrustMark for over eight years now and head up the membership team. During that time, TrustMark has grown and changed in many ways. We are the only UK Government-Endorsed Quality Scheme for home improvements carried out in and around the home. We started back in 2005, and the PCA has been one of our long-standing schemes and supporters.
As a not-for-profit-social enterprise, TrustMark’s mission is to work with our scheme providers, including the PCA, to support our Registered Businesses, work with experts in their fields to raise standards across the industry and enhance consumer protection. This means that money is continually reinvested back into TrustMark to support continuous improvement that benefits registered businesses and the consumers that use the services.
TrustMark Business Portal - Only 25% of PCA members have currently claimed it
Last year, both the PCA and TrustMark worked hard to take our organisations profile to the next level with the development of new websites.
PCA members that are also TrustMark Registered can benefit from our newly created Business Portal, which is unique to your business. This includes:
- A free platform to promote your business and manage communications with your customers
- If you don’t have a website or any social media platforms, this is a perfect free resource to promote your business, show examples of your work and manage your chats with customers in one convenient place.
Following the launch of our Business Portal, homeowners have been using our website to search for a business in their local area. Dampness, waterproofing and invasive weed were among the top 19% of searches.
Our Business Portal also gives you an insight into how your business is performing and how customers are coming across your profile, which in turn will help you acquire more work as a TrustMark Registered Business.
You will be able to view the following statistics via your dashboard:
- How many times you’ve appeared in customers’ search results
- Your overall feedback rating
- Top 10 most searched keywords that sees your profile appear for customers.
The Business Portal will also inform customers how long you have been with TrustMark, allow you to upload your logo (if you have one) and write a description of your business to highlight your quality and expertise. You will also able to share your social media links and link to external platforms you may have a presence on, such as Rated People and Which? Trusted Traders.
Currently only 25% of PCA members have ‘claimed’ their Business Portal and, of these, only one third have uploaded their logo. You can learn more about the Business Portal, how to use it and how it can benefit your business here or, if you have any questions or need help, please get in touch at [email protected].
More information
Webinars, templates and more to support your business
We are constantly reviewing our templates and the support we can offer PCA members to make their lives easier. Once your Business Portal have been activated, you have easy access to a number of resources including contracts, policies, brand guidelines and exclusive offers and discounts including:
- Save money on business breakdown cover with the AA
- Protect your tools with ARMD
- Save up to 10p per litre on fuel with Fuel Card Services
- Save money on a car or van with Europcar
- Discover cost-effective vehicle leasing options with Octopus Electric Vehicles
- Save 10% every time you shop with Wickes TradePro
- Improve customer confidence further by becoming Trading Standards Approved.
More information
PCA and TrustMark working together
TrustMark has a fantastic relationship with the PCA and everything we offer complements the work the trade association does.
We have worked with the PCA for over 17 years to support their members and we hope you have found this guest blog useful. We thank the PCA for the opportunity to feature on their blog.
If you have any questions about TrustMark membership, please email [email protected].
Contact TrustMark