How Peterman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing grew to $10M - Interview with Chad Peterman - Plumbing Marketing Tips, Ideas & Strategies for Plumbers

How Peterman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing grew to $10M - Interview with Chad Peterman

Interviews with the nations leading plumbing businesses. Discover what marketing efforts actually work and how you can grow your business to the $1M + mark & beyond.

On this episode of the Plumbing & HVAC Marketing Podcast I had the opportunity to interview Chad Peterman on how they grew their Plumbing, Heating & Cooling business to over $10M (75 employees / 40 trucks) and are on pace to hit $14M this year. They are at almost 150% revenue growth over the past 3 years!

Peterman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing – https://www.petermanhvac.com/
Based in Indianapolis, IN serving the greater Indianapolis Metroplex & surrounding areas
Full service HVAC & Plumbing
- 60% HVAC
- 30% Plumbing
- 10% Commercial
$10M Revenue / 75 employees / 40 trucks
- Growing at over 150% over the past 3 years and on pace to do $14M this year
In business since 1986

Key marketing tips & strategies

Primary hub for all their marketing is a printed newsletter that goes out to the entire customer base
- Sent every month in the mail
- Human mesage
- Drives repeat / referral business & as a bonus employee retention
Heavy focus in online marketing via SEO & PPC
- Using Plumbing & HVAC SEO for their online marketing strategy (SEO, PPC, Etc)
- Active on AngiesList (Big in there area)
Leverage Radio – Personality based spots featuring the owners
- Unique strategy leveraging Text Messaging to drive leads via radio
  - E.G. Text “Furnace” to 555-5555 to get opt-ins
Yard Signs & direct mail to the howe owners around new installations
#1 Lead Generation Source (new leads) – Pay-Per-Click Marketing

Mindset tips & training recommendations

Find the best people possible & spend your time training / developing them
Chad & the Peterman family joined Nexstar Network 4 years ago and it has been a major driver of their growth

Please post your comments & follow up questions below! Also, be sure to subscribe for the podcast so you don’t miss any of the upcoming interviews:

Every plumber marketing his or her services wants to know what works. It’s always good when you can hear proven techniques and strategies for marketing your plumbing business from individuals who have been in the trenches and made it work for themselves. This episode features Chad Peterman, of Peterman Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing, an outstanding service provider in the Indianapolis area. In this conversation, Chad holds nothing back as he shares the Peterman philosophy, how they have grown to over $10 million, and how they have pursued a multi-layered marketing approach that has brought great results.

Plumber marketing is not about tactics, it’s about
relationships and trust

One of the first things you will learn from Chad Peterman is that marketing your plumbing business is not about tactics, it is first of all about relationships and trust. The Peterman philosophy when it comes to marketing is to, first of all, discover who it is they are best at serving, get very clear on how to reach those people, and then consistently provide value to them in whatever way they can. In this conversation Chad explains how the Peterman team uses a variety of resources, from newsletters to video, to equip people to handle the little emergencies and to build trust with them so that when the big emergencies come, they are the first company who is called. This is a great conversation full of actionable advice, so make sure you listen.

Old school plumber marketing still works – in the form of a print newsletter!

In the digital era we live in you may be very surprised to find out that one of the most effective and well-received pieces of marketing that Peterman Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing uses is an old-fashioned print newsletter. Their approach is to make it interesting to read and full of helpful information. It’s a personalized touch, featuring human interest stories and profiles of individuals rather than trying to sell new services and repairs. It’s a very interesting approach that has gained great traction. You can hear how Chad and the team at Peterman put it into practice every month and the kinds of responses they are receiving by listening to this episode.

On pace to hit $14m as the area’s premier plumbing company

Rapid growth to something all of us would love to see happen in our home services business. Peterman Heating, Cooling, & Plumbing has experienced that in spades. Chad shares that this year company is on track to hit $14 million in revenue by the end of the year and possibly even more. How does a company grow so quickly? There are many things that go into it but Chad shares that a focus on people, both customers and employees, is what has made the real difference. You can hear how they have done it and the amazing advice Chad has to share with other plumbing & HVAC companies, on this episode.

It’s not about marketing. Find the best people and create a platform where they can be their best

To wrap up this conversation Josh asked his guest, Chad Peterman, what advice he would give to others out there who are struggling to grow their home services business. Without hesitation Chad said that in spite of all the questions he gets about various marketing practices and techniques, success really isn’t about those things. His experience has proven that finding the best people to be a part of your team is the first step towards success. Then your job is to create a platform where they can be at their best for the sake of customers. That approach to business will give you the ability to serve with quality and excellence and open the door to the opportunity you need to actually do it.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE

[1:22] Kayla is the marketing coordinator with Pole Star Heating and Air Conditioning
[5:05] How can a business owner hand off the marketing to someone else?
[10:40] How do they train that many people?
[14:26] How important is social media to their market?
[19:45] Keep your technicians happy
[25:07] How important is it for the owner to be involved?

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE

If you are ready to take your Plumbing, HVAC or Home Services Business to the next level and drive more leads & sales…we’d like to offer you a FREE LeadFlow Acceleration Session. Click below to schedule a time now.