Alliance with Master Builders
Service Central and the Master Builders Association of Victoria have come together to form an alliance. Service Central’s constant flow of jobs and Master Builders quality members combine to create a winning formula for the online services marketplace. Read on to learn more about the alliance.
It is not very often that a genuine win-win opportunity presents itself. However, in the case of Service Central and Master Builders Association of Victoria an alliance has true benefits to both parties.
As the Service Central marketplace grew and grew over the years we have always had difficulty keeping up with the demand. We’d find a good builder, a great renovator or a quality tradesperson and quickly fill him or her up with work. They’d win a big project and be unavailable for 3-6 months. They’d do a great job for a customer and fill up with forward orders from repeat business and referrals. We have some great businesses registered with Service Central and there’s no doubt that when people find out about you, you’re in demand!
Consequently, the team at Service Central are constantly on a drive to help improve the efficiencies and effectiveness of your business so that you can grow and expand and of course take on more work. Similarly, we’re always on the look out for good quality tradespeople and service providers to keep up with the growing demand.
The Master Builders Association of Victoria had a different dilemma on their hands. As a result of the global financial crisis, members were reviewing how they go about finding work in modern times. The construction industry had been growing year and year struggling to keep up with demand before the global financial crisis hit. It had been many years since the last recession and it had become evident that the world had changed dramatically over those years.
The biggest change of all had been the continual growth of the internet. Over the last 10 years the internet had grown from a sideshow to the main hub of commerce throughout the world. With the invention of Google, Ebay, Facebook and Twitter Australian’s were now spending more time on the internet each week than any other form of media including television, radio and reading newspapers. Even more significant, Australians were now turning to the internet as their primary source of finding tradespeople and services.
Recognising this dramatic change, the Master Builders Association of Victoria looked into how people were finding and buying from tradespeople online. They found Service Central. Over the last 5 years Service Central had grown to become Australia’s largest online marketplaces for trades and services. Over 200,000 job requests had been listed online and over $600 million of work had been generated for tradespeople and service providers.
With this information at hand, Service Central and Master Builders Association of Victoria commenced discussions. Service Central wanted the extra capacity created by bringing on board Master Builders’ 8.500 members across Victoria. Master Builders’ wished to provide extra value to their members. After months of negotiations a deal was struck and an alliance was created.
As of February 2010 members of the Master Builders Association of Victoria are invited to join Service Central as a Jobs Board member with the standard Jobs Board lead fees payable. As a member of Master Builders’ the standard $299 registration fee for the Jobs Board membership has been waived, and upon supplying all of the relevant compliance information (licence, registration, ABN, insurance, etc) and topping up their lead fee account they will be able to accept the overflow jobs off of the Service Central Jobs Board.
This alliance creates both a source of work for members of Master Builders and a safety net of capacity to take the work that the businesses registered with Service Central choose not to accept.
We welcome this alliance with Master Builders’ and look forward to working closely with them for many years ahead.
