An Untapped Pipeline: Expanding a Plumbing Business in Rural Areas

Moving from Las Vegas to rural Wyoming, Aspen Mountain Plumbing owner Lance Ball quickly discovered the night-and-day differences in how service-industry companies related to and communicated with customers.

 In Wyoming, clients were used to hearing, “This is your problem, this is what it’s going to take to fix it,” Ball says.

Rarely were options presented to customers. That didn’t sit well with Ball. 

“I'm someone [who] likes to give my customer a choice,” he says. “I like them to take some of that power back and have control of their home.” 

It’s not a radical idea in the big scheme of things. But it wasn’t how things were done before Ball arrived on the scene.

His method became well-received. 

“I think that people love the [feeling] of being taken care of,” Ball says. “They genuinely know when a person really knows what they're talking about and really cares about their home.”

Ball started as a one-person team. After a decade, he’s established a well-respected brand and is in the process of franchising his good name.

He’s careful to look for individuals who reflect his own customer-comes-first attitude.

“Talk less and say more,” he says. “What I mean by that is [that you] listen to what they're saying [and] adapt your options based on what the customer is telling you.” 

You know you’re hit on the winning formula when customers are telling you to come back again, and again.

Lance Ball recently joined ServiceTitan’s Jackie Aubel on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Ball’s thoughts on:

• [01:50] How Ball got into the trades

• [11:48] How the desire to deliver good customer service accelerated growth

• [17:41] Challenges that Ball faced and how he overcame them

• [24:26] Creating an appropriate logo for your brand

• [28:56] Key lessons for business owners

To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.