Growing your plumbing business in a competitive market means driving and capturing plumbing leads and transforming them into revenue, all while delivering excellent service to your customers. Equipping service technicians with the right plumbing sales training and tools helps them provide stellar customer service and sets your plumbing business apart.
That’s where this article comes in. With 15 field-tested tips from veteran plumbers, you’ll discover proven plumbing sales techniques to close more deals, upsell existing clients, stand out from competitors, and position your company as the number one choice.
Whether you’re new to sales or want to improve your skills, this plumbing sales playbook from Housecall Pro has actionable advice to help make this your most profitable year. Ready to start growing your business? Dive in and pick up insider strategies to boost revenue.
Before Plumbing Sales Preparation Tips
Before heading out on sales calls, ensure you and your technicians are well prepared. Here are some tips that cover the key preparations to make before your next round of sales calls. Double-checking these basics can give your technicians the confidence they need to secure more business and grow your company’s revenues.
1. Change Your Mindset About Plumbing Sales
The most successful plumbing sales people view their job as helping customers solve problems, not just selling products. Approach each customer with a mindset of understanding their unique needs and providing solutions to improve their lives.
Changing your mindset about plumbing sales as a technician is essential to growing your company’s revenues. Don’t think of sales as a separate part of your job. Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to provide value and potentially sell more services.
Focus on listening to customers’ needs and offering solutions that make their lives easier. Recommend additional services when they could truly benefit the customer. With the right mindset, every call becomes a chance to strengthen your client relationships and grow your business.
2. Dress the Part & Have a Professional Demeanor
Dress the part and maintain a professional demeanor to build trust and confidence with customers from the moment you walk through the door. Wear a neat, clean uniform that identifies you as a representative of your company.
Practice good hygiene, like showering daily, combing your hair, and trimming your nails. Have a firm, confident handshake and make eye contact with customers. Use proper etiquette, such as saying please and thank you. Maintain a positive attitude and avoid complaining or gossiping.
3. Invest in Professional Branding and Marketing
Build your brand to establish yourself as an expert in the plumbing industry. Start a website highlighting your experience, certifications, and customer reviews. Create profiles on LinkedIn and other networks, posting regularly to increase your visibility.
Offer a newsletter with helpful tips and information. Combined with traditional marketing like flyers, ads, and social media, these branding efforts will generate more leads and convey your professionalism to customers.
Continuously refining your plumbing sales techniques and skills will make you a top performer. With hard work and persistence, you can achieve great success and growth. But never stop learning and improving – that is the key to progress.
4. Document Your Sales Processes
Documenting your sales processes is essential for consistently delivering a great customer experience and increasing sales.
Start by mapping out the end-to-end sales process for a typical customer. Then, document each step, identifying what needs to be done, by whom, and when. Review and update your sales process documentation regularly to reflect changes within your business.
5. Use Data to Analyze Top-Performing Sales Reps Techniques
Analyze the sales data of your top performers to determine which plumbing sales techniques and strategies are most effective. Review data points like:
- Total sales revenue and number of sales by rep
- Average sale size and frequency of sales
- Number of customer inquiries and conversions to sales
- Number of upsells and add-on sales
- Time spent with customers during sales calls
- Methods of customer acquisition that generate the most sales
Look for patterns in how your top reps spend their time, which questions they ask customers, which offers and solutions they promote, and how they handle objections. Determine which plumbing sales techniques seem to result in the highest conversion rates and revenue per sale.
How To Deliver Excellent Service During Each Sale
Providing excellent service during each sale is essential for generating repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals. Here are some plumbing sales tips to help you deliver excellent services during each of your sales.
6. Set Expectations with Clear Communication
The key to delivering excellent service during each plumbing sale is clear communication. In-app chat and messaging tools allow you to keep customers informed every step of the way. Send automated appointment reminders to ensure customers know when you’ll arrive and what services you’ll perform.
Once on-site, take the time to walk through the plumbing issue with the customer and explain your proposed solution in detail. Answer any questions they may have patiently and thoroughly. The more the customer understands the work, the more confidence they’ll have in the service.
With busy schedules and so many demands on our time, it’s easy for customers to forget about an appointment. Automated reminders are a courtesy that helps ensure customers will be home when you arrive. Send a reminder 2-3 days before the scheduled date, again the day before the appointment, and once more an hour beforehand. Politely request confirmation that the customer will be present for the appointment.
7. Educate Customers on Benefits & Value Proposition
As a plumber, educating your customers about the benefits and value of your services is key to making a sale. Take the time to walk through the specific ways your solutions will help improve their lives. For example, explain how repairing leaky faucets can reduce water bills by thousands of gallons per year or how upgrading to a tankless water heater can provide instant, continuous hot water.
Many homeowners focus too narrowly on upfront costs rather than lifetime value. Explain how your high-efficiency toilets or water filtration systems can save cash over time through lower utility bills and fewer expensive repairs or replacements.
Offering plumbing estimates with good, better, and best options at different price points allows you to cater to any budget. Present the tiers with details on each level’s specific parts and features so customers can choose what they truly need and value. Some may opt for the basic service to save costs, while others will appreciate the benefits of the premium option.
8. Invest in Modern Plumbing Equipment & Tools
Gone are the days of guesswork and trial and error. Advanced tools like digital leak detectors, pipe locators, and endoscopes allow you to quickly pinpoint problems. A leak detector can sense moisture behind walls to find leaks before major damage occurs.
Investing in technology and tools designed for modern plumbing practices allows you to work smarter, not harder. Servicing advanced water heaters and leak detection systems establishes you as a forward-thinking plumber. And keeping a well-stocked supply of standardized plumbing parts on your truck means never being unprepared at a job site.
While new equipment and inventory do require an upfront investment, the long-term rewards to your business and your customers make it well worth the cost. Staying up-to-date with trends in the plumbing industry will ensure you continue delivering excellent service for years to come.
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9. Increase Average Ticket Size by Providing Consumer Financing
Offering financing options for larger plumbing projects is a great way to increase your average ticket size and revenue. Many homeowners would love to upgrade their plumbing systems or do necessary repairs but simply can’t afford to pay the total cost upfront. By providing financing, you make these larger jobs affordable and accessible to more customers.
Offering financing won’t do much good if the application process is complicated and time-consuming. Choose a financing partner that allows customers to apply online, over the phone, or in person. The application should only take a few minutes to complete. Quick approvals, ideally within a business day, are also important.
By making financing readily available and promoting it at every opportunity, you’ll transform more plumbing dreams into realities, increase customer satisfaction, and significantly boost your average ticket size over the long run. The benefits of offering in-house financing far outweigh any costs involved in getting these types of programs up and running. It’s a win-win for both you and your customers.
10. Capitalize on Additional Service Opportunities
As a plumber, you have access to your customers’ history and job data, which allows you to identify upselling opportunities based on their needs. When providing plumbing services, look for chances to offer additional value to your customers.
In addition to emergency repairs, offer tune-ups and upgrades for plumbing systems. For example, suggest drain cleaning, pipe inspections, or water pressure adjustments. These types of preventative services will help identify any minor issues before they become big problems.
Look at each service call as an opportunity to make a good, long-term impression. With access to a customer’s plumbing history and needs, you have the insight to anticipate what additional services would benefit them most. Capitalize on this advantage to boost your sales and gain loyal clients.
How to Make the Most After the Sale
You just finished up a big plumbing job and want to make sure it results in more business down the road. Whether it was a leaky pipe, a clogged drain, or a full bathroom remodel, you put in the hours and want to see a return on that investment of time and effort.
Don’t just pack up your tools and move on to the next client. Take a few important steps after the sale to build customer loyalty and turn them into promoters for your business. Doing so takes a little extra work initially but pays off exponentially when they tell friends about their great experience.
11. Automate Service Follow Ups and Asking for Reviews
You just closed a big sale, and the customer seemed thrilled about your work. Strike while the iron’s hot and ask them for an online review right away. Housecall Pro’s review management software can automatically send a personalized email within a day or two of a completed job.
Just because a customer didn’t book you right away doesn’t mean they won’t need your services down the road. Housecall Pro lets you automate follow-up emails for estimates that are 7, 14, or 30 days past due. There’s no surer way to damage your professional reputation than sending late invoices or forgetting to bill customers altogether.
Don’t let paperwork pile up. Use Housecall Pro’s estimating and invoicing tools to create professional-looking estimates and invoices quickly after finishing a job. Set automated reminders to send estimates, invoices, and payment reminders to customers on time every time. Getting paid promptly depends on efficient billing practices.
12. Offer Membership Programs and Maintenance Agreements
After closing a sale, one of the best ways to generate repeat business is by offering membership programs and maintenance agreements. These provide ongoing value to your customers while securing future work for your business.
A plumbing club membership is ideal for residential customers. For a monthly or annual fee, members receive priority scheduling, discounts on parts and labor, and one or more routine plumbing inspections per year. During the inspections, you can catch small issues before they become big problems, building trust and loyalty.
Memberships provide stable monthly income and incentivize customers to use your services for all their plumbing needs. With the right mix of membership plans, maintenance agreements, and referral programs, you’ll build a steady base of repeat customers and predictable revenue to keep your plumbing business thriving.
13. Keep in Touch with Your Plumbing Customers
Every good businessperson knows that the real money is made after the initial sale. As a plumber, the service calls and repeat business you get from current customers is where the long-term success of your company lies.
Using built-in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools allows you to stay in touch with customers through automated email campaigns, reminders, and personalized communication. One of the best ways to build loyalty is by positioning yourself as a helpful resource.
Share plumbing tips and DIY advice on your website and social media. Answer common plumbing questions. Provide useful tools like pipe thickness calculators or water pressure charts. Offer free resources such as plumbing maintenance checklists or leak detection guides.
14. Track Your Sales Performance Data
One of the most important things you can do as a plumber to improve your sales is to closely track your key sales performance metrics. Analyzing your residential plumbing sales data will provide insights into how your business is performing and where there are opportunities for improvement.
Housecall Pro’s reporting and analytics capabilities provide insights into sales performance, job profitability, technician productivity, and other key metrics that can help you make data-driven business decisions.
By regularly monitoring and analyzing these sales metrics, you’ll gain valuable insights into what’s working and what’s not, as well as where you have opportunities to boost revenue and grow your plumbing business.
15. Continuously Train and Motivate Your Sales Team
Conduct weekly or biweekly sales training to reinforce best practices and ensure your team is up-to-date with the latest products, services, and plumbing sales techniques. Use video conferencing to keep remote team members engaged. Focus on skills like objection handling, closing deals, and building rapport.
Role plays common scenarios to help your team gain experience in a low-pressure setting. Set goals and follow through on the strategies discussed to keep lessons at the forefront of your mind. Continuous skills improvement will translate to more deals and higher revenue.
In addition to a competitive base plumbing sales salary, offer sales incentives and contests to keep your team motivated. Publicly recognize high achievers to encourage friendly competition and morale. Incentive programs give your plumbing sales team tangible targets to work toward and a reason to push themselves.
Reach Your Plumbing Sales Goals with Housecall Pro
As a plumber, consistently increasing your profits and growing your brand recognition is key to long-term success. Housecall Pro’s innovative plumbing software was designed with plumbers in mind, giving you powerful tools to streamline operations, boost sales, and scale your company.
The first step to improving your sales numbers is setting concrete goals and benchmarks to work toward. Maybe you want to increase sales by 20% this quarter or close 5 new commercial accounts. Whatever your goals, Housecall Pro lets you track key metrics so you can monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed.
Every service call is an opportunity to increase the value of the transaction. Train your technicians to be sales professionals by recommending related products and services to customers, like water heaters, water softeners, or plumbing fixture upgrades. Housecall Pro gives techs the ability to add items on the fly and get customer approvals, allowing for real-time upselling.
By following these useful plumbing sales tips and utilizing Housecall Pro’s innovative software, you’ll be hitting your sales goals and building a thriving plumbing business in no time. Consistently improving your processes is the key to sustainable growth and long-term success.
