1) Make Use of Customer Referral Program

Kickstarting your plumbing business with a customer referral program is a great idea, especially if you want a headstart. Incentives in exchange for referrals work very well if your service is exceptional.

The strategy works great if you have a small customer base. Ask your customers to refer your service to their friends, relatives, and colleagues. But make sure your quality of service, punctuality, and other aspects of the job are on point. Otherwise, you may be preparing to shoot yourself in the foot. 

In exchange for referrals, you can offer your customers free service and assessment, discounts, etc. 

Include a signup form for your referral program on your website if possible. 

2) Join Hands With Complementary Businesses

This is a win-win strategy. Developing a good relationship with complementary businesses such as builders is the first step. 

Shortlist the best complementary businesses in your region and meet them in person. Tell them how your services can complement theirs and vice versa. 

Provide them a competitive price list for your services in exchange for referrals and leads. 

The best thing about working with complementary businesses is the guaranteed steady stream of leads.

Pro Tip: Ensure both parties understand the terms and conditions well. Cases between plumbing firms and parties involve a lack of understanding. 

3) Deliver Excellent Customer Service

Train your workforce to be polite and friendly with the customers. There is nothing better than Word-of-Mouth marketing. The more a customer is happy and satisfied with your service, the higher the chance he or she may want to hire you again.

Excellent customer service translates into recurring customers. This has been proven time after time by many businesses. 

For the data buff, here is a study result: 50% of the customers continue to use the service of a company if they had a positive experience with it. 

Likewise, 67% of the study respondents said they were ready to pay a higher price if they got a better customer experience. 

4) Optimize for local SEO

Many businesses fail to do this. Some do it incorrectly. There is a whole lot of difference between Traditional SEO and Local SEO. 

Google says four of five consumers use the search engine to find information about local businesses. Local SEO gains significance here, as plumbing is a hyper-local business.

For example, assume that you are an Arizona-based plumbing company. You care a lot less about customers outside your state. 

Quick Fact: Every month, Google experiences over 2,50,000 searches for the keyword ‘Plumbers’ from the United States. If you consider other keywords such as ‘local plumbers’ and ‘plumbers in Arizona, ‘ the numbers will skyrocket. 

5) Ask For Reviews

Today’s customers are more evolved and choosier thanks to online reviews and feedback pages. For example, a recent study shows over 94% of customers choose businesses with more than 4-star ratings. Sites like Yelp allow customers to rate businesses. 

As a local business, you can take advantage of this fact and ask customers to leave reviews on Yelp, Facebook, and Google Business. 

The more positive reviews you get, the higher the chances of attracting new customers. Dedicate a space on your website to showcase your customers’ feedback. Add their pictures to the feedback to instill trust among the website visitors. 

To encourage your customers to leave reviews, you can give them rewards and discounts. 

Pro Tip: If a customer leaves a negative review anywhere on the web, address the issue with a solution. This act will dramatically improve your image among the visitors. 

6) Join Local Communities

A local business needs local collaborations. Visit local events and meetings and meet people who run the game. 

You can organize events in the happening neighborhoods/gated communities for promotions. 

Explain how you can benefit the residents and how your brand awareness multiples. 

You can also partner with residents’ associations by providing services at industry-best prices. If they like your job, you may even get to sign contracts for a long-term partnership. 

7) Add Value Through a Blog

Not everyone can do plumbing. One must undergo training or watch DIY video materials to do simple plumbing tasks. 

“When you fill this gap using a blog, you will get noticed by your potential customers”, says Clark from Red Houston SEO Agency

The challenge is creating digestible posts with info on how to perform plumbing works. 

This is a time and energy-consuming task as you have to create how-to-do videos for most of your content. Remember that videos regarding DIY tasks are inseparable from blog posts. 

Make your SEO game strong for blog posts that do not need videos. Keep your blog posts simple and easy to follow through. Go with titles like ‘How to Unclog Drain in 5 Minutes.’

8) Sign up for Google My Business

This strategy goes hand in hand with local SEO. Being a local business, customers outside your core business area are insignificant to you. 

As a local company, you must know how online searches are done for local services. Firstly, many searchers use terms like “plumbing services near me” and “best plumbing companies in Ohio” to find local services. 

Secondly, Google’s search results differ for local searches and global searches. This is where your Google My Business (GMB) listing comes into the picture. 

People will find you easily if your GMB has a description, operating hours, a call to action button, and reviews.

FAQs on Attracting New Customers to Your Plumbing Company

1) Can I Try Door-to-Door Marketing?

Of course, you can. Door-to-door marketing is a straightforward marketing technique. It gives you hands-on experience on how people view companies that reach out to customers. 

Be polite and dress well while meeting people at their houses. Pamphlets, flyers, and visiting cards work well for this marketing. 

Choose your target areas wisely. Based on your service rates, target either upscale neighborhoods or low-income ones. 

2) Does Discount for First-time Service Work?

Yes, it works like magic all the time. Let us accept that everyone loves free goodies in physical or service form. 

Offer a complimentary plumbing service once to customers to amplify your brand awareness. While doing free service, give your business card, flyer, etc. 

There is an interesting psychological factor behind companies offering freebies. People, when offered freebies, are emotionally obligated to repay it somehow. 

If your free service is exceptional, there is every chance for the customer to hire you when a plumbing need arises. 

Portals like Kickstarter operate around this model and generate thousands of leads. As a local company, you can replicate it and taste success. 

Maintain a customer relationship management tool to avoid misusing the offer.

3) Does Call-only Ads Work?

Yes, it works very well for industries like plumbing. Think of yourself as a commoner. We don’t need a plumber every single day. You only think about a plumber when you face a plumbing issue.

If the issue needs immediate attention, you don’t sit in front of a computer and research to find the best plumber. This is where call-only ads come into the picture. Call-only ads take a tiny real estate on your web page as it only has the company’s phone number and a one-line description.

These ads only appear on devices that can make calls. A call is automatically placed from their device when someone clicks the ad. Since this ad is designed to make people call your business, you get more qualified leads. 

4) What is the Use of Work Request Forms?

Unlike call-only ads, this strategy targets customers who are researching before handing out jobs. 

You must allow a small real estate on your site to implement this strategy. In the dedicated space, a customized web form will show up. Site visitors can access the space by providing their email addresses. 

Unlike phone calls, visitors to your site can place a work request 24/7. These forms are lead magnets and attract customers who are serious about the job. 

Prospects usually write a brief description of the nature of the project. To convert them into customers, you need to respond quickly with details on how you will finish the job. 

Quick Tip: Some customers may also ask you for quotations. Prepare quotations for typical plumbing works in advance. This will help you to respond quickly to those who demand quotations.