Five ways to grow your plumbing business
Contributed by Charles Freedman , CEO , ServCraft .
BUSINESS AND TRAINING 17
Running your plumbing business is hard . Growing it is harder . Finding time to work on the business ( strategy ) as well as do things in the business ( operations ) can be tricky when you only have so many hours in a day .
I ’ m privileged to speak to hundreds of installation businesses every month . When I ask them how they ’ re growing their business , many look at me blankly . Turns out that for lots of business owners in our industry , their approach to growth often involves staring helplessly at the phone and hoping it will ring .
In considering how you are hoping to grow your business , it is important to accept a simple truth – the time you spend on growing your business directly translates to how it grows . If the story above sounds familiar , don ’ t worry . Instead , let ’ s explore what you can do differently today that can help you grow your business tomorrow .
1 . Ask your customers When thinking about growth , it is new customers that spring to mind . But did you know it can cost up to five times more to acquire a new customer vs retaining an existing one ? An average ServCraft installer has 700 customers on their database . Do you know how many are on yours ? Imagine you could find out if there ’ s something you could do for them ? You can – just ask !
A WhatsApp broadcast list holds 256 people . A group holds 512 . It takes less than 30 minutes to get your customers into multiple lists and then you can easily talk to them . Marketing automation companies like mailchimp . com ( USA ) or everlytic . com ( SA ) allow you to send personalised emails and texts to your customers and offer cheap or free versions to get you started .
Whether you ’ re checking in , asking for referrals , sharing a promotion or offering a new product or service , asking your existing customers is the quickest ( and cheapest ) way to find new business . Do it now !
2 . Outsource lead-generation When something breaks or people are looking to upgrade , often the first place they go is Google . Getting to the top of a search is both an art and a science and trying to get there yourself isn ’ t easy ( or recommended ). Lead generation companies like bark . com , snupit . co . za or localpros . co . za specialise in being at the top and converting clicks into leads . They send you leads you can quote on and only pay a fee if you win the work . Easy .
Winning on these platforms requires being on top of your leads . Often , you will be competing with other companies , so the quicker
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Charles Freedman .
you can get a quote out , the higher the chance of winning the work . So , whether it ’ s you or someone in your team , making sure you ’ re ready to respond when the lead comes through is essential to getting the most from this channel .
3 . Invest in digital marketing Digital marketing can be wildly intimidating – websites , social media , pay-per-click , SEO . The more you learn about it , the more you realise how little you know and how complex it can be . Don ’ t panic . Starting with the basics can be enough . Make it easy for customers to find you . Make a good first impression . Share what problems you can help them solve . Make it easy for them to connect with you .
Building an awesome website isn ’ t as hard as it used to be . You can choose to build your own with platforms like wix . com or squarespace . com , or you can google local partners to help you out – often at very reasonable prices . Social media pages are even easier to create and maintain . Have a look and see what competitors or companies in other industries are doing to find inspiration .
January 2024 Volume 29 I Number 11 www . plumbingafrica . co . za