8 Ways to Increase Plumbing Customer Retention

What is Customer Retention?

Customer retention is the rate at which people remain customers of a business over a set period, such as a month, quarter, or year. It is a vital metric that every company must monitor.

Plumbing customer retention refers to how often plumbing clients become repeat customers of the same company. The higher your customer retention rate, the more loyal your customer base is, and it is a good signifier of a healthy, successful business.

Why is Customer Retention Important for Plumbing Businesses?

Customer retention is vital for plumbing businesses because it focuses on turning your existing customers into repeat business, easing the pressure on you to constantly find new customers. 

Retaining customers is often easier than winning new ones, as existing customers already have a connection with your business. As long as you provide excellent customer service, you can begin building a loyal customer base. 

The benefits of a high customer retention rate include:

• Creating brand advocates: Plumbing customers who continuously book you for their plumbing needs and receive good service every time are likely to refer you to their friends and family.

• Better upsell opportunities: Thanks to the trust you’ve built with your existing customer base, it’s easier to upsell them with higher-quality parts or jobs in their best interest. This adds value for the customer and increases your project value. 

• Improved profits: Let’s say your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $40, and your average project value is $60, so you make an average profit per new customer of $20. 

With existing customers, you have a far lower CAC (if any), meaning you receive more profit from each job they book.

• Lower costs: Retaining your customers costs five to seven times less than acquiring new customers.

How Can Plumbing Contractors Calculate Customer Retention?

To calculate your plumbing customer retention rate (CRR), you deduct the number of customers acquired in a period (N) from the number of customers at the end (E). Then, divide that number by the number of customers at the start (S) and multiply it by 100.

For example, if you had 30 customers at the start of the year, 45 at the end, and acquired 27, the calculation would be ((45-27)/30)x100, giving you a 60 percent CRR.

How Can You Increase Plumbing Customer Retention?

Increasing plumbing customer retention will help your business grow. You can boost your retention rate by providing consistent, excellent service to every customer and ensuring customer satisfaction through a good experience.

Eight tips to increase plumbing customer retention include the following:

1. Make each customer feel unique

Customers want to feel valued, and showing them that they are at every interaction and touchpoint is an excellent way to increase your retention rate.

With ServiceTitan’s Call Booking Software, your customer service representatives (CSRs) have access to all of a customer’s information before they pick up the phone, meaning they can greet them by name.

This helps to build stronger relationships and makes the appointment booking process faster, providing an excellent customer experience.

James Beyer of Beyer Plumbing in San Antonio likes the technician tracking feature because it lets his customers see when their technician will arrive, just like Uber.  He says: “I love that because that holds our guys accountable, and then also as a homeowner, you know exactly when (we’ll arrive).”

2. Don’t sell too hard

Nobody likes being aggressively sold to, and it’s a surefire way to make customers uncomfortable. While an upselling strategy is essential, you don’t want to come across as pushy or too ‘salesy.’

Instead, you should try to understand each customer’s unique needs and preferences and offer them parts or services that will provide more value. 

For example, if they call about the same leaky bathroom tap for the second time in six months and you see they opted for a low-budget part last time, offer them a more high-end part that will last longer this time. This provides more value and improves customer satisfaction.

ServiceTitan’s Field Service App offers an even more straightforward checkout process. It lets you create price estimates for different budgets. The technician simply puts the ServiceTitan mobile app in presentation mode and hands it to the customer to review the quotes.

3. Make it easy for customers to reach you

It is vital to ensure your customers can reach you via their preferred communication method. Many people are uncomfortable speaking on the phone, so providing an online booking system and SMS communication options can help ease their fears.

ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience Software comes with two-way texting. Your front-of-house team can send a text message to confirm appointments, and customers can text you to reschedule or ask questions ahead of time.

You can also set up automated text message reminders and create sequences for routine maintenance.

Furthermore, you can add a Web Scheduler or Chat to Text widget to your website so customers can easily book an appointment or text you straight from your website.

4. Help plumbers arrive fully informed

Keeping your plumbers up-to-date and informed on the details of their upcoming jobs is crucial for ensuring customer satisfaction. It also helps your staff look professional and can prevent awkward customer interactions.

The ServiceTitan Field Service App has a mobile app that syncs with the front-of-house phone integration, so your plumbers automatically have all the information collected by the CSR at intake. They can even access a call recording if needed.

The app also provides a fully detailed job history through the customer profile, so plumbers can quickly determine whether customers are loyal and what services they’ve received in the past. 

You can also upload all the required forms to the app and automate them to appear at different parts of the project cycle, ensuring everything is noticed and remembered.

When HM Plumbing joined ServiceTitan in 2019, vice president Karen Hill was amazed by how easily she could find customer records, job histories, and more.  She said:

“When looking into a location, I can see right there what I need to find out about the work we’ve done there. Other software had that look, but ServiceTitan had more bells and whistles that I knew I could use to help benefit my business.”

The app also shows details about the customer’s property. This can help your technicians provide a better, more thorough service, avoid equipment clashes, and spot upsell opportunities.

5. Arrive on time

Your customers are likely to need to take time off work for their appointments, so you don’t want to keep them waiting. To keep your customers happy, ensure your plumbers arrive on time.

ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience Software features technician-tracking capabilities so your customer can track their plumber on a map and know exactly when they will arrive.

Plus, with ServiceTitan’s Dispatch Software, your customers can confirm their appointment via text. The confirmation is sent to your dispatch board, reducing the likelihood of no-shows. According to our research, nearly 89 percent of consumers prefer to confirm appointments this way.

6. Assign the right tech to the right job

Sometimes, your plumbers must tackle tough plumbing challenges, so you want them to be prepared. Ensuring your crews have the correct number of experienced plumbers and tools for every job reduces delays and helps get the job done on time, increasing customer satisfaction.

ServiceTitan’s Service Scheduling Software lets you see your schedule weeks in advance to book complex jobs when you know the right plumbers are available.

Furthermore, with Dispatch Pro, users can optimize route planning using machine learning. The tool uses recent sales performance, skills, and proximity data to decide which tech to assign to the job. Plumbing companies like Interstate AC loves this key feature of ServiceTitan.

Kitty Dunn, the company’s integration specialist, said: “(Dispatch Pro) helps you track trends with your technicians. If Tech B was your all-star, and then you start seeing that he’s not being sent to the all-star jobs, it can give you insight into if there is something going on.

“(On the contrary), maybe you thought Tech D was just a C-level technician. But based on historical data, they're one of your better techs. So Dispatch Pro will bring those quiet technicians who really don't say a lot and go about their jobs into the limelight and recognition.”

7. Ask for customer feedback

Requesting feedback from your plumbing customers about the service they received at every touchpoint provides invaluable data about your business operations. You can find out where you and your staff did well and where you could improve.

Additionally, it gives customers a chance to share their insights about their experience, which shows you care about them and their business. This, in turn, fosters customer loyalty and contributes to strong customer relationships.

With ServiceTitan’s Reputation Mangement feature, businesses can automate feedback requests and gather more reviews.  This tool helped Vines Resotration, Plumbing, HVAC get over 1,000 five-star reviews.

Howard Bromberg, general service manager, said: “ServiceTitan makes it easy to gather the Google reviews, because we can send it right out in the post-call text, and we can send the link. ServiceTitan helps us send a text with the (review request) link. We’ve made it very available for them.

8. Tailor each contract to each customer’s needs

Each customer and each job is different, so your contracts should be different, too. Tailoring the contract to each customer’s needs can improve the customer experience and boost satisfaction.

ServiceTitan’s Service Agreement Software helps you win more bids by customizing each contract to better suit each client. You can include specific equipment, location details, and pricing information and automatically generate a professional proposal in seconds.

What Factors Affect Customer Retention in Plumbing Businesses?

Several factors can influence your customer retention rate positively or negatively. It’s essential to be aware of them to ensure your CRR trends upwards. Some key factors include:

• Service quality: Providing a professional service and ensuring the job is done well with high-quality parts and fixtures will satisfy your customers. Failing to complete a job promptly, using sub-par parts, or doing a bad job will have the opposite effect.

• Customer service: Ensure every interaction your customer has with one of your staff is excellent, whether they’re office staff or technicians. Offer training to plumbers who may not be as experienced in customer service as your CSRs to avoid any unpleasant interactions.

• Pricing: Offering competitive pricing and loyalty discounts helps keep your customers happy and makes them feel valued. Research your competitors to ensure you stay competitive and avoid overcharging and damaging your reputation.

• Communication: Clear, straightforward communication about the job and any issues that arise is vital. Customers don’t like to be lied to or kept in the dark, so always keep them updated—even if something goes wrong. 

• Employee training: Ensuring every team member is properly trained for their role can help avoid awkward situations. If a new staff member is being trained, communicate that to the customer so the trainee doesn’t appear unprofessional.

Over to You

Customer retention is vital for securing business growth and building a loyal customer base. You can achieve it by providing an excellent customer experience throughout each job’s lifecycle and ensuring that every customer walks away satisfied.

ServiceTitan’s suite of features can help you boost customer satisfaction at each stage from booking to job completion, contributing to better customer retention.

ServiceTitan is an all-in-one home services software solution that helps plumbing businesses streamline and improve their customer service, front office, and business management processes. It is trusted by over 100,000 contractors nationwide.