Horley Locksmith

Planning your day is hard as you never know when you might get an emergency call. However, it does provide flexibility around my family and creates a great work/life balance. 

As a family man and people person, I find these are two really important attributes as a locksmith. It shows commitment and care and enables me to quickly build trust with my customers. After all, you are inviting me into your property to change your locks, so trust is an important factor from the customer’s side. 

However, there is something quite exciting not knowing how your day is going to start and finish. One thing I do know is that sorting paperwork and business development will feature somewhere. I dedicate time each day to keep on top of this and continually strive to think of new ways I can promote myself and to show the range of work a locksmith can undertake; window mechanisms, door adjustments and door/lock servicing, in addition to getting the lock open when you are locked out. 

A new service I’ve just invested in is a mobile key cutting service. As it’s mobile, I can visit customers at home or their place of work to get keys cut at a time convenient for them. Plus is gives them the advantage of trying out their new key in real time to check everything works to their satisfaction. 

Social media is key for the growth of my business, and this requires a lot of my time to keep this updated. I try and post photos of the type of work completed for my customers so that it showcases the range of work I do. This can often prompt people to get in touch if they have a similar problem. 

Then I get a call! This may be right on my doorstep or up to ten miles away – I cover Surrey and Sussex - so I’m always prepared for whatever situation and location I’m heading to. I find out ahead of my visit what the exact problem is so I can take the appropriate locks and materials.  

New and repeat customers are always amazed at the speed I sort out their locks and get them back into their property. During my visits I offer free advice in case I notice something glaringly obvious that may improve their home security. All part of the service. 

It’s worth highlighting that people aren’t paying for my time spent at their house, but my experience and time I spend practising and learning about locks when it comes to opening them and fixing the problem. To me a customer isn’t just a job; they’re a life-long customer, so my standard of customer service is really important to me. Hence why always receive 5-star Google and Facebook reviews. 

I return home from my call out and get prepared in case another call is imminent. It’s not unusual to get a call at 2am so late nights just aren’t an option! 

In fact, even on Christmas Day last year I was called out at 12.30am to a family who couldn’t access their property due to a faulty lock. Similarly, this year started off with a local hotel getting in touch to open a faulty fire door. The door was fixed at 1am and I managed to reassure staff that they could get their guests out in an emergency situation. 

Aside from preparing quotes and sending out customer invoices, the life of a local locksmith keeps me busy, especially as the business continues to grow and expand. No job is the same, no day is the same, but the rewards of helping people in an emergency situation is exactly why I chose to work in this profession.