How To Grow Your Plumbing Business in a Competitive Market

A competitive market means you need to do your utmost to make your business stand out, which can include optimizing your online presence, targeting your advertising, and improving your business's organization to better manage customer information and customer service. 

Here are some modern ideas for how to grow your plumbing business in a competitive market.

Pick a Specialization

If there are many plumbing businesses in your area that claim to do it all, you may benefit from not being a jack of all trades. Instead, you may want to pick a plumbing specialization so that you can become an expert in your area. When you have a specialization, customers may be more likely to pick your business because your specialization will indicate that you have special expertise in that area of plumbing.

A plumbing specialization could be anything from plumbing for commercial buildings to sprinkler systems. Consider picking a niche where you can truly shine. This could be anything from:

• Eco-friendly plumbing and water conservation
• Commercial building systems
• Luxury building plumbing infrastructure
• Emergency 24/7 repair

Regardless of what your specialization is, when you pick a specialization, you should be sure to build a team with expert skills in this area of plumbing. The more expertise your team has, the better your work will be, and the more your customers will trust you.

Use Geo-Targeting With Ads

It's a good idea to use geo-targeting for your advertising efforts, as it makes it more likely that customers will find you. Geo-targeting can help with search engine optimization, so customers in your area will find your business before other plumbing businesses. Geo-targeting can also work offline, such as through traditional mailing campaigns to advertise specials to people in your selected mailing code.

Google Local Service Ads (LSAs) have become the most effective lead generation channel for plumbers. These ads appear at the very top of search results with the Google Guaranteed badge, and you only pay per lead—not per click.

Optimize Your Website

Instead of turning to a phone book to find plumbers in the area, most customers will pull up their favorite search engine and look for plumbing businesses in their zip code. When a customer finds your website, it's best if it leaves a good impression. Many customers will judge the skill and professionalism of your business based on a split-second judgment about your website.

You should have a professionally designed website with a modern edge. A professionally designed website can help your business stand out, particularly when navigation is easy and the design is streamlined. A major part of optimizing your website is making it easy for customers to contact you for a quote.

Use Video for Social Media

Video content builds credibility faster than any other medium. TikTok and YouTube are filled with plumbing professionals gaining massive followings by sharing satisfying drain cleanings, troubleshooting tips, and behind-the-scenes content.

Content ideas: Before/after transformation videos, "What your plumber wishes you knew" tips, day-in-the-life content showing professionalism, and seasonal maintenance reminders. Keep videos short (under 60 seconds) for social media. Longer educational content works well on YouTube and can rank in search results.

SharkBite Plumbing Example

Improve Your SEO

In addition to geo-targeting your search engine efforts, you can also improve your SEO in other ways. When designing your website, include strategies that optimize it for search engines. When SEO is at the forefront of all your advertising efforts, you are more likely to achieve success and attract your target audience.

Consider a Referral Program

You may also want to consider a reliable standby for business advertising, such as a referral program. Referral programs may seem old-fashioned, but they remain highly effective. A referral program incentivizes current customers to refer friends, family, and acquaintances to your business in exchange for a reward, such as a discount on upcoming services.

Reviewing Pricing Structures

As you grow, one way to ensure you’re growing profitably is to revisit pricing. Regularly reviewing your pricing structure is key to keeping up with rising costs, especially when areas like additional labor can be so expensive. 

Here’s a simple way to do it:

1. Analyze Costs: List all your expenses, including overhead, salaries, and growth investments. Ensure your pricing covers these costs.
2. Evaluate Competitors: Research what others in your industry charge, especially those offering similar quality or specialization.
3. Assess Value: Identify unique benefits your service provides and determine if your pricing reflects that value.
4. Test Adjustments: Gradually increase prices for new customers or introduce tiered pricing to see how the market responds.

Review KPIs Quarterly & Adjust

Ready to supercharge your growth? You can't improve what you don't measure! To grow effectively, you need to keep a close eye on your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Here’s how to make it happen:

•  Capture Your Data: First, make sure you're capturing the right information. Use your field service software to track everything from job start and end times to customer feedback. This is your goldmine of insights!
•  Set Up Dashboards: Create a simple, visual dashboard that displays your most important metrics in real-time. This makes it easy to see how you're doing at a glance!
•  Schedule a Quarterly Review: Block out dedicated time every quarter to dive deep into your KPIs with your team.

Here are some essential metrics to track:

•   Average ticket value
•   Customer acquisition cost
•   Technician efficiency and billable hours
•   Customer satisfaction scores

If a KPI is off track, don't worry! This is your chance to shine. Brainstorm with your team, adjust your strategy, and test new approaches. Being flexible and data-driven is your key to incredible long-term success.

Recommended Resource: Maximizing Efficiency and Profitability: Integrating Sage 300 with ServiceBox

Make Internal Communications Flow

As you grow, communication can become a bottleneck. If your dispatchers can't reach your technicians, or if billing information gets lost in translation, your customer service suffers.

You need to ensure your internal communications flow smoothly. This minimizes errors and keeps everyone on the same page. This is where using great software becomes non-negotiable (more on that in a moment!). When your team communicates well, your business runs like a well-oiled machine.

How ServiceBox's Drag-and-Drop Scheduler Saves Time for Plumbers  

ServiceBox’s drag-and-drop scheduler is designed to simplify communication between teams and jobs for plumbing businesses. Easily assign jobs in seconds and make real-time schedule changes without the need for lengthy back-and-forth updates. Plumbers can instantly view their updated schedules on their mobile devices, eliminating confusion and saving time. Office staff can quickly adjust appointments, track job progress, and share updates, ensuring everyone stays on the same page. With ServiceBox, your team stays organized, efficient, and focused on delivering great service to your customers.

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ServiceBox’s Drag and Drop Scheduling Tool

Build Brand Both Online & Offline

A strong brand presence is important for standing out from the crowd and connecting with your potential customers. Building a brand can be done both online and offline. Here’s how.

Online Focus

Building your plumbing brand online is all about your website, social media presence, and other online profiles. This includes areas such as SEO and your Google My Business Profile, as well as profiles on Yelp, HomeAdvisor, and more. 

Offline Focus

For offline branding, some of the best ways are to sponsor local events and join networking groups, like a local chamber of commerce. Together, these efforts can help to make your brand resonate when you drive by or are working in the neighborhood.

For example, you can have the AI Agent nudge you if you or the team hasn’t follow-up from a lead in a few hours. Or, use it to summarize potential RFPs if you’re working on government quotes.

UpLevel Customer Service

Providing better customer service starts with understanding your clients' needs and exceeding their expectations at every opportunity. 

Actively Listen

Listen actively to their concerns, and make it a priority to offer clear, empathetic communication throughout the entire process. 

Follow-up

Follow up after a service call to ensure everything is functioning as expected and to address any lingering questions or concerns. 

Loyalty Perks

Additionally, offering loyalty perks, such as discounts for repeat clients or referral bonuses, can encourage long-term relationships. Investing in regular training for your team to handle customer interactions effectively can also pay significant dividends. 

Review Service & On-Going Maintenance Contracts

Cash flow volatility is a chronic challenge in plumbing. Subscription-based maintenance plans—covering annual water heater flushes, sump pump checks, and priority emergency service—stabilize your income and keep you top-of-mind.

For example, you could offer tiered plans (basic, premium, VIP) with increasing benefits. 

Pro Tip: Use field service software to automate billing and appointment scheduling.

Use AI To Help

Artificial Intelligence isn't just for tech giants; it can be a game-changer for your plumbing business, too. You can use AI tools to help handle basic customer service inquiries, like email, ensuring no lead falls through the cracks. 

Recommended Resource: Leveraging Preventive Maintenance Software for Long-Term Client Relationships

How to Create Your Growth Plan

The best way to get started is to sign up for the free ServiceBox demo. This gives you a chance to see how the program helps you to keep your customers happy, attract new leads, and scale your business. Once you understand how home service software works, you can develop a comprehensive growth plan that includes hiring the right employees, offering subscription services, and optimizing your pricing.

Create a Scalable System

Scaling your company is hard if you're already operating at full capacity and struggling to keep up with your admin tasks. 

Home service software helps you to create a scalable business model. ServiceBox allows you to manage all your employees' schedules, communicate with workers and customers efficiently, and easily add new team members. The program works well for businesses with over 10 employees, but it can also accommodate teams of 100+ people. This means that you don't have to switch to a different program once your team has grown.

Carefully Choose Your Employees

You can't build a successful business without great employees. They work directly with your customers, so they are the face of your company. That's why you have to be selective when hiring new team members. Before you start the hiring process, determine what you're looking for. What are the top three qualities you want in your new employees? Do you need seasoned workers, or would you prefer to train new graduates? 

Use your network to find people. Maybe your current employees or other business owners in your area know people who are looking for a job. If there are good plumbing colleges in your area, let them know that you're hiring. There might be graduates who are interested in joining your company. Taking on an apprentice could be a good long-term option because you can train the person yourself.

Recommended Resource: Building a Successful FSM Franchise: Development Strategies

Can Plumber Management Software Help Grow Your Business?

There are a few ways plumber management software can help you grow your business. One of the main advantages of using software for a plumbing business is to more easily manage customer information. Customer information management / CRM can be integrated with professional quoting and job costing features, and may even help you schedule recurring work orders for customers who require more frequent maintenance.

Create a Scalable System with ServiceBox

If you want to grow, you have to make sure your business is scalable. This means your systems can handle more work without breaking. Scaling is impossible if you are drowning in paperwork or using whiteboards to schedule 20 technicians!

This is where ServiceBox shines. ServiceBox helps you build a scalable business model by managing all your employees' schedules, communicating with workers and customers efficiently, and adding new team members easily.

Whether you are a small team of 5 or a fleet of 50+, ServiceBox grows with you. It allows you to:

• Manage Inventory: Never run out of parts mid-job again.
• Sync Data: Create timesheets and work orders that sync directly with invoices.
• Cloud-Based Access: Access your business data from anywhere, anytime.
• GPS Tracking: Identify which technician is closest to an emergency job for faster response times.

Final Thoughts

The best way to get started is to stop guessing and start using tools designed for your success. Book a demo to see how ServiceBox supports centralized field service operations.