I recently returned from a seminar focused on building an incredibly successful drain cleaning business, put on by the Service Roundtable and the Service Nation Organizations. It was taught by expert trainer Matt Smith of Rooter-Elite.  Matt has tremendous experience teaching and training large plumbing companies about sales.  His specialty, so to speak, is helping plumbing companies go from just doing good to being great.  It was a truly interesting experience for a small owner/operator like myself to hear how the top performers in our industry are set up and what strategies they use to keep growing.  This experience really made me step back and take a look at a number of things in my own business.  How so?

In today’s business environment, our companies must constantly grow and adapt in order to stay successful and competitive.  Even when I look back over the past 30 years of my business so much has changed.  Yes I still dig ditches, but beyond that my business has completely changed… for the better.  Let me review just Three profitable tips of many that I learned at the seminar. These are the kind of things that Matt keeps in front of our industry’s leaders.

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1. The Importance of Coaching

The plumbing sales stars in our industry always invest in lots of coaching.  Why?  Everyday there is an opportunity to improve in some area of business.  Coaches help spot those opportunities.  But what if you’re like me, and can’t necessarily invest $1,000’s to have a coach come out to you.  My answer is pretty simple.

Coach yourself!   After each call or customer interaction, go over what things you did correctly and also what things you could improve on.  You need to take a moment to analyze what worked and what didn’t work.  Once you start actively thinking about this process, you will improve.

2. Write Things Down for the Customer

When you or your tech begin a sales/service call do you ask the customer to describe their problems?  Every homeowner has major and minor issues with their home after all, all you need to do is listen.  When they open up, write these things down!   Call this the “To-Do-List” or a “Future Improvement List”.  Basically write a list of everything you are going to do for the customer that day and then include other things that need to be addressed at that visit or could be in the future. Let the customer decide.

Lets say you are called out for a drain clean, and in the process notice that the home’s water line is made out of the infamous “Blue-Poly” piping.  Write that down!  Maybe you are called out to fix a dripping T/P valve on a water-heater and notice some other older valves that should be replaced.  Write that down too!

We need to do this on every call, for every customer.  When we leave a copy of this list with the customer it gives them a mental checklist of things to fix and chances are they will call you to fix them or even have some of them done at that visit.  Even if they forget about that list, you won’t.  When your work slows down, that stack of lists could be a gold mine of work.  Call those customers up, surely a few will need something done!  This is an extremely positive step in keeping and retaining customers.

3. F.A.B. (Features – Advantages – Benefits)

A few years ago I was talking to a great friend of mine who has been a very successful car salesman for the last 30 years.  As long as I have known him (and bought cars from him) he has always been a very honest and ethical car salesman. So naturally I was curious as to how he did it in an industry with such a bad reputation.  His answer was simple. F.A.B.  Features, Advantages, and Benefits.

What features are you offering that your competitor may not?  What are the advantages to using you over your competitor for your customer?  What benefits will your product or service bring your customer?  Use F. A. B. on every sale.  Every sale!  It lets the customer decide what is best for them.  And who better to sell a customer something, than the customer?

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So there you have it!  Three tips and Strategies that work for me and Mr Smith coaches successful plumbing companies to keep doing.  Why not give them a try and see how they work for you!  Thank you for reading and staying in touch!

Your partner in your profitability,

 

Frank Taciak