In today's competitive digital era, it's not enough to be good at what you do.
As a plumbing business owner, you might be skilled in changing tankless hot-water heaters and plumbing repairs, but if you are not reliable and efficient for your customers, you're not going to hold them for long.
You need a holistic approach that combines knowledge, innovative tools, and excellent customer service.
If you're wondering what good plumbing customer service looks like, this article is for you. It covers:
Why customer service is important for plumbing businesses
Top customer service challenges plumbing businesses face
Actionable tips to improve your plumbing customer service
» Want to grow your plumbing business? Click here to get a demo.
Why is it Important to Provide Top-Notch Plumbing Customer Service?
Good plumbing customer service is important because it helps you build customer loyalty. Clients are much more likely to return if they have an efficient experience with your plumbing company.
What is more, more than six out of 10 consumers say they will stop buying from a company and switch to a competitor after just one poor customer service experience.
Another reason to have a customer-centric plumbing business model is that it grows your customer base.
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According to a study, 36% of consumers will share both good and bad customer service experience.
Since word of mouth looks like a double-edged sword, you want to make sure you are on the customer service path that drives your business forward.
To do that, you must first learn about the most common customer service challenges in the plumbing industry and how to overcome them.
Common Customer Service Challenges Plumbing Businesses Face
Customer service challenges in the plumbing industry can range from technical issues to communication problems. Here are some of the most common customer service challenges plumbing businesses face.
Challenge #1: Understanding what customers expect
Customer needs and expectations differ. Being able to understand and address those needs and expectations is an essential and often challenging aspect of good customer service.
To eliminate the guesswork, ServiceTitan's Customer Experience software allows customer service representatives (CSRs) to use proven scripts to better understand the customer.
ServiceTitan ensures automated scripting experience, where real-time suggestions are based on sentiment analysis and can change the call booking interaction for customers.
Challenge #2: Handling real-time requests
The digital era is busier than ever, and customers expect quick, effective services.
Handling real-time requests is a challenge for many plumbing business owners. They must ensure they have enough resources to effectively offer their clients emergency services.
Fortunately, ServiceTitan provides two features that will help you overcome this challenge.
The first one is ServiceTitan Phones Pro, a modern, cloud-based phone service fully integrated with ServiceTitan. It lets CSRs spend less time reclassifying abandoned calls and wrapping up job bookings and more time providing exceptional customer service.
The second one is ServiceTitan's Scheduling Software. With this feature, if a contractor has an emergency service call in a tech's area, dispatchers can see where each tech is in the job cycle in real time. That way, they can easily queue up new jobs for techs finishing up their current call.
Challenge #3: Exceeding customer expectations
Exceeding customer expectations in the plumbing industry can mean providing flexible payment services to your customers or extra maintenance tasks.
With the help of ServiceTitan's digital solutions, going the extra mile gets much easier. ServiceTitan Payments helps you streamline your accounting tasks and allows customers to make faster payments from anywhere.
More exactly, customers can add their credit card information in ServiceTitan’s customer portal or pay via our mobile app. Moreover, customers can also use cash or checks to make their payments. Either way, transactions are secure and streamlined for a seamless customer experience.
ServiceTitan knows that closing higher-ticket jobs can be challenging. So we have created a solution for that. Customers can easily apply for various financing options, select their preferred plan and desired loan amount, complete a brief application form, and get their response in just a few minutes.
Darius Lyvers, chief operating officer at F.H. Furr Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning and Electrical, talks about the importance of providing financing support for customers:
“When you talk about integrated financing, it’s not just whether they finance or not,” Lyvers says. “It opens the door for the customer to afford all your products, and they may buy something they otherwise wouldn’t have if you hadn’t presented financing options.”
Another ServiceTitan solution that enables plumbing businesses to go the extra mile and deliver high value to customers is ServiceTitan's Customer Experience software.
Our CRM solution was built to support the hallmarks of a positive customer experience: being heard, valued, and appreciated.
With Customer Experience software, service techs have complete customer information (customer name, job history, etc) before arriving on the job site. This helps CSRs provide highly personalized customer experiences that make customers feel cared for and, ultimately, generate more business opportunities.
ServiceTitan’s Customer Experience software also makes it easy to create and manage customer memberships.
To create a new membership, you can start with a basic membership template that you sell to customers.
Then, you can add membership type basics such as membership name, tags, duration, and billing frequency details. At this point, you can also set locations and discounts.
Challenge #4: Training CSRs
Training staff is another challenge faced by plumbing companies. Building a solid customer service department will consume time and resources.
Unless you use ServiceTitan, which has features that offer scripts, property data, and even opportunities to provide CSR coaching.
For example, our Call Booking Software lets contractors record every incoming call to review what a customer said over the phone. In this way, new customer service representatives can learn much more easily what it takes to address a water heater issue, faucet repair, drain-cleaning complaint, etc.
To access call recordings, administrators and office employees need to click the agent’s scorecard to listen to a phone call.
To assess an agent’s performance, click on the agent’s profile.
If you’re looking for a specific call. Select the call and the call type in the search column.
These are the most significant customer service challenges for plumbing businesses. Now for some top tips for overcoming these challenges and creating outstanding customer service experiences for your plumbing customers.
Tip #1: Answer the Phone (and Be Proactive!)
42% of consumers prefer phone calls when it comes to resolving customer service issues.
Whether you're based in the San Francisco Bay Area or New York, your customers want to interact with a human being to discuss leaking faucets or drain clogs. Pick up the phone, improve your call booking rates and you’ll level up your customer service.
With ServiceTitan’s Call Booking feature, you can do that and more.
ServiceTitan personnel Bill Powers (senior industry advisor) Chris Hunter (principal industry advisor) and Angie Snow (principal industry advisor) all feel that a 90% phone call booking rate is attainable.
“The faster a business can get to a dedicated call taker, the faster they will grow,” Powers said. “And sometimes it’s an investment that people have to make and are afraid to make. But if they want to grow, that’s the first step.”
According to Kevin Dagner, branch coordinator at Black Diamond Plumbing & Mechanical, his booking rate secret lies with ServiceTitan’s Call Booking software.
“I think what ServiceTitan does is really lets you take your mind off of navigating the software or navigating the environment that you're trying to book the call in and just lets you book the call,” Dagner said. “There's a whole lot less making sure you're getting things right.”
Tip #2: Be Accurate With Your Estimates
It can be difficult to create quality plumbing estimates when you're using manual processes. You're so busy responding to emergency plumbing service requests that you fill out inaccurate estimates.
But remember, wrong estimates can take their toll on your customer service reputation.
The quickest and easiest way to avoid this is to automate some parts of your estimating process.
ServiceTitan Pricebook Pro software allows plumbers to simplify and redefine their estimating experience. With Pricebook Pro, you can create multiple estimates (with pictures and descriptions) at different price points to let clients choose what fits best for them. This type of personalization makes them feel taken care of and will definitely improve the customer experience.
Tip #3: Be Transparent with Your Customers
There's nothing worse than working from home in your pajamas, and suddenly, the plumber is at the door, one hour earlier than expected.
Superior customer service in home service businesses requires transparent, streamlined communication. You need to make your clients comfortable and aware of what they should expect next.
ServiceTitan helps boost customer satisfaction, offer your clients peace of mind, and facilitate communication. Through its Customer Experience software, ServiceTitan provides:
Full service history for clients' addresses, allowing CSRs to be informed about the customer, the property, previous repairs, and more, from the time they click the green call button.
Technician bios delivered to make homeowners more comfortable with people coming into their homes.
Technician tracking and estimated arrival time information to ensure customers won’t be caught off guard.
Chat-to-text integration to facilitate communication.
Online booking service (Schedule Engine) that allows customers to book services and repairs without human interaction.
Transforming the way you relate and interact with your customers is a huge step toward more complete customer service.
Tip #4: Follow Up
Plumbing jobs aren't done when technicians leave the customer's premises. It's critical to follow up to check if everything is working properly and whether the customer is satisfied with the result. Plumbers can even leave their phone numbers so customers can call them in case they need advice.
Follow-up on unsold estimates is also a good customer service strategy that can help you reconnect with potential customers and close more deals.
Adopting a customer-centric approach will help you retain more clients and learn from their feedback. You can grow your business considerably just by listening to your customers.
Chris Hunter, ServiceTitan’s new director of customer relations reveals: “We spend so much money and time and effort to get leads. Leads are hard to get. Be very committed to following up, so you get the job.”
Tip #5: Consider Different Customer Needs
Successful plumbing business owners know that different customers have different needs, and they go to great lengths to meet those needs.
As a plumbing company, you know how to solve your customers' plumbing issues. Leaky faucets, water heater repairs, drain cleaning—you've got it all covered.
But what if customers need regular plumbing checks to make sure small issues don't turn into serious, expensive problems?
Service and membership agreements are a great way to offer extra value to your customers while ensuring a steady stream of revenue for your business. By providing the option to pay for memberships, you give your customers peace of mind that their plumbing systems are regularly inspected and maintained.
To help manage new and existing contracts with customers, ServiceTitan’s Service Agreement Software provides key features that simplify contract management and add value to your customers.
Regular maintenance becomes clear, trackable, and efficient with features like:
Recurring services. Manage prepaid maintenance services, add them to your existing schedule, and provide outstanding customer service for all customers.
Renewable contracts. Renew contracts wherever it’s the most convenient for you and your customers: out in the field, in the office, or via membership renewal estimates generated in ServiceTitan.
Discount management. With ServiceTitan, creating and managing membership discounts becomes easier. Techs don’t need to calculate anything on the spot, and customers gain visibility over their invoices savings.
Tip #6: Don’t Leave Any Clutter Behind
If there's one rule in providing plumbing home services, it’s this: Leave the place cleaner than it was when you got there.
Whether you’ve installed a tankless water heater, repaired a bathroom faucet or a garbage disposal, make sure you don’t leave any clutter behind.
This best practice is part of going the extra mile and exceeding customer expectations. You'll gain valuable customer service points and differentiate your plumbing business from competitors.
ServiceTitan’s Required Forms feature reminds and prompts technicians on every task, from start to clean up, to ensure every job is running smoothly. Users can create custom forms with cleanliness reminders or a cleanup checklist for the technician.
Tip #7: Train Your CSRs
What makes customers stay loyal to a brand? According to a study, 94% of customers reveal they would continue to buy from the same brand if they provided positive customer service.
Are your CSRs comfortable to talk to? How do they deal with customer complaints? And what can you do to prepare them to handle such situations?
According to Angie Snow, ServiceTitan’s director of customer and product training, it all comes down to "maintaining control of the call."
“My CSRs are consistently seeing over a 90% booking rate throughout the year because of some of the things we're doing in our company to maintain control of the call,” Snow says. “If you can maintain control of the call, you can get them to book the call.”
Investing your resources into training your CSRs can help retain more customers and improve your customer service.
Now Over to You
The plumbing industry is a competitive business field. To stay relevant and on top of the game, you need to provide high-quality, on-demand customer experiences.
These actionable tips, if used correctly, will get you there. However, if you want to dig deeper into what it takes to build successful, long-term customer relationships, these resources can help:
Try ServiceTitan’s Plumbing Software and grow your plumbing business!
ServiceTitan is a cloud-based field service management solution that enables commercial and residential contractors to streamline office-to-field operations. ServiceTitan provides comprehensive plumbing business software to help companies provide fast, digitalized, and on-demand customer experiences.
