Today, there is substantial growth in the home and commercial plumbing industry. There are also many aspects of running a plumbing business to be aware of to ensure everything is running smoothly internally so you can then offer the best customer service and experiences possible. Fortunately, you can count on plumbing management software, like Podium, to make those tasks simple and effective. From texting prospects and clients to invoicing them via mobile to setting up routes for efficiency and everything in between, quality plumbing software will help your business run smoothly from the start.
How do you structure a plumbing business?
Starting a plumbing business can be daunting at the outset. However, it’s a great way to become your boss and profit in the process through a long-standing career in the trade and service arena. It is easier to do when working with excellent management software like QuickBooks and others where you can automate tasks.
This industry is valued at $124 billion and growing rapidly with not enough service people to address many areas. As such, plumbing contractors aren’t in danger of being replaced with AI because field service requires highly specialized knowledge and expertise.
When looking at plumbing management software for your service business, it’s essential to consider factors such as QuickBooks integration and how it will work with the apps and tools you already use. These will be important as your business grows. Doing many of your administrative tasks manually leaves room for error and takes a lot of time.
To get a better idea of what it takes to start and run your plumbing business, keep reading.
Here are the first steps of setting up your plumbing business and increasing its number of working plumbers and therefore profitability:
- Get your license for plumbing. Find a local school offering skilled trades classes or an apprenticeship.
- Hire local plumbers so you can cater to more customers.
- Next, write down the goals you have for your plumbing business.
- Research your customers and target market.
- Create a plumbing business plan and an engaging presentation to attract investors, if needed.
- Get your financing secured and invest in plumbing equipment for your business operations.
- Get your plumbing company registered and insured.
- Create prices for the services your plumbing company offers.
- Start getting real-time customers and offering field service.
- Get more plumbing technicians and grow your plumbing company.
When structuring your plumbing business, make sure to create a plan that reminds you to revisit the above steps and work them day-to-day, annually, or as necessary. This is easier to do with the best plumbing software, many of which include project management features for projects and tasks. Set goals and revisit these with your team of plumbers and support staff regularly. Doing so ensures that everyone is on the same track.
Work hard at keeping your plumbing business on track with these goals. Remember, working with software for plumbers can help you stay on top of important notifications as well as work orders.
These are the fundamental bones of creating and growing your plumbing business. There are some other components you want to take into consideration. Keep the following tips and tricks in mind to make plumbing business management easier.
10 Tips & Tricks for Plumbing Business Management
1. Equip CSRs and turn calls into sales.
One of the best things you can do for your plumbing business is to give your customer support representatives the right tools. This starts with giving your CSRs the hardware and plumbing management tools they need to communicate with customers. Their first goal should be to establish positive interactions with potential customers, giving them a sense that your company can ease their plumbing worries. These interactions are crucial in driving sales and expanding your business’s customer base.
Plumbing customers and homeowners will expect top-notch phone service when they call your customer support line. It can be important to work with the best plumbing software that helps prompt you through such details as getting the customer’s name, phone number, and address.
You will also be encouraged to ask about how long they have owned their home and their credit standing, in addition to other customer data. The best software will have areas where you can access service history, so your customer support staff can add context to customer interactions.
2. Optimize scheduling and dispatching.
No matter how your pro plumbing business schedules appointments, make sure to prioritize scheduling and dispatching. When doing so, you should investigate streamlining this process. Get a system and plumbing business software that organizes your plumbing jobs so your pro techs can easily:
- Have the right customer information and the right job details on hand.
- Always stay updated on which location they are headed to and what is needed.
- Be flexible and quickly adapt when the unexpected happens.
Make sure to utilize your plumbing CRM software to keep your workflow from becoming unmanageable and improve customer management processes. Simplify upcoming jobs and organize through coordinated service areas.
3. Give techs the tools to sell your services.
You want to make sure that your plumbing service technicians have all the tools at their disposal to properly sell your services. This refers to tools that easily give your customers pricing quotes. It also means utilizing a cloud-based software solution, making job management as well as admin work easier.
Making sure they can do things like easily schedule appointments and services online as well as use their skills with software to provide the best possible services. Plumbers must understand sales techniques as the world of home services moves faster. Work with your plumbing techs to help them get a better understanding of how they can sell something as good, better, and best pricing for service calls.
When working with the right plumbing job management software, you can aid your service experts in converting more leads into plumbing service calls and product sales as well as upgrades.
4. Streamline plumbing communications.
One thing that will hinder your plumbing business from success is poor communication or poor job management. From the start, you will want to work hard to make sure you have excellent communication avenues set up. Streamline your communications from the outset.
More people are communicating through a variety of ways, including mobile devices, while they are on the go. Make sure your plumbing business can be reached through social media, text messaging, phone, and user-friendly mobile apps. Don’t forget to utilize technology such as GPS tracking to make sure you are effectively reaching homeowners and communicating areas you service accurately.
Be sure to respond quickly when a potential customer reaches out to you. This will go a long way to improving customer satisfaction and help with customer relationship management. You will also find that effective communication will also help you save money and time. Effective communication can also help to keep employees engaged and productive during their day.
5. Offer flexible financing options.
To effectively grow your plumbing business, you should offer flexible options for financing. Fortunately, with many options for plumbing software, you can control payment plans, reminders, and more for your plumbing business. This will make it attractive to a wider selection of customers.
Ideally, you can use your software to calculate payment options as well as create estimates based on customer preferences. Offering sensible financing options is an excellent way to improve customer relationships as well.
More importantly, companies have seen improved conversion rates when financing is integrated, and training is improved. When you can offer flexibility with financing on the spot, you have a better chance of increasing your sales of small business plumbing services and closing on larger plumbing jobs.
6. Invoice customers quickly.
Another key factor to growing your plumbing business is making sure your customers are invoiced quickly and have the option of paying their invoices conveniently. This is made easier when you are working with quality software built especially for the plumbing business.
Remember, if they don’t receive their work orders effectively, you will unlikely be paid quickly. If you aren’t working with software, then you are relying on your staff’s ability to pull all the paperwork together quickly and accurately, and have it delivered. Instead, work with your software and get this process automated. This reduces the chance of errors at the job site and reduces your cost in time and, therefore, money.
The same software should be able to help you with customer communications, invoicing, payment processing, and expense reports, among other necessary tasks.
7. Pay staff accurately and promptly.
There is a saying in many small business books that goes something like “Pay your staff steak while you eat hamburger.” The idea of paying your employees well and before they ask will go a long way to keeping your plumbing business working well. It can be counterintuitive to profitability, but remember your business operations are built on your employees being happy and their ability to provide excellent field service.
Make sure your work orders are efficiently routing your plumbing technicians to the right job sites.
8. Keep current with plumbing trends.
Utilizing excellent plumbing service software is one important way of growing your business. You also need to stay on top of what is happening in the plumbing industry to build a truly successful business. It takes time to educate yourself on many different platforms. Join all the Facebook groups, follow plumbers on Instagram, and visit plumbing conventions.
For instance, many consumers are now focused on integrating sustainable products and practices in everything they do. As such, it’s a good idea to switch to organic or eco-friendly cleaning products for your plumbing business.
Another important trend to stay on top of in the plumbing industry is the technology. This is because they have the greatest ability to change how you work. Combine that with new products entering the field and your plumbing business will be able to keep up with the latest changes in the plumbing industry.
9. Pursue continuing education.
As the owner of a plumbing business, you will need to continuously update your knowledge to push your business to long-lasting success. For instance, you can take management or finance classes where you can learn how to run a business more efficiently.
The same goes for your plumbers and customer support staff. There are many ways to provide your field technicians with the opportunity to learn more about their skilled trade. You can approach local plumbing associations and inquire about learning opportunities they have available. Learning about new products and their functionality will go a long way in improving how your business can relate to your customers and meet their plumbing needs.
10. Hire the right people.
Just like selecting the best field service management software to work with will make a difference in growing your plumbing business, so will hiring the right people. The right people have the skills and attitude needed to do the job efficiently, whether it’s handling customer complaints or installing toilets at a job site.
Take the time to conduct a thorough working interview with each candidate to ensure they can perform the job required of them. Do a background check and decide on the most important skills and qualities your new hire must have. These employees will be the building blocks of your business, so choose wisely.
In addition to remembering to hire the right candidates, make sure you work with the best software for your plumbing business. Focusing on these tools and applying the above tips and tricks will take your plumbing company to the next level quickly.
