Running a plumbing business, as with all businesses, requires that the general public know you exist. Getting the maximum possible number of people to hear of you, know what you do and where you do it, how long you have been doing it, how much you do it for and whether or not you can provide a solution for their plumbing problem involves marketing.
Marketing, in the plumbing (and every other business) is much more than just advertising. Marketing is finding out what people want and supplying it at the right time, in the right place at the right price.
When a customer rings you and the telephone is answered by a 2 year old who says Daddy is in the bath.....It is not good marketing. When you are late for appointments, or a job is delayed for reasons the customer is not made aware of.....It is not good marketing.
These are just two of the reasons our many thousands of users have "fed back" to us about why they will never use a certain plumber again. Your market looks for people it can trust and rely on to come into their houses and solve their problems.
If you are one of the thousands of plumbers who say they rely on word of mouth for their work, then you need to be presenting an image which is inkeeping with the job you say you are going to do. What customers say to you, and then say about you, are different things entirely !
The first thing any business must do in today's world is get a website. Get a good, professional website and not one your mate down the pub can build for you. He can build you the prettiest, newest fangled, highest spec website in the entire world, but if he does not know how to get it to the top of google, he has wasted his time, and more importantly....Your time!
Get a website built by someone who knows what they are doing. A website which will earn you money.
Next, get onto Twitter, Facebook, Dig, Delicious and as many other Social Media sites and Blogs as you can and tell everyone what special offers you have this month. YES - SPECIAL OFFERS !
Search these sites for users that are local to you
The public look for bargains in every field. Part of marketing can be creating a need where one may not have existed before.. If someone sees that you are offering to install a pair of new taps for £80.00 instead of £120.00 they might just remember that their basin taps are getting a bit dull and give you a call. If your adverts say generic things such as:
FROM A TAP WASHER TO A NEW BATHROOM
It is going to get ignored, just like every other advert of its kind. People know that is what plumbers do..........The public are not silly, they want something that inspires them.
Contact every one of your old customers and ask them if they will send you a small testimonial. Put these on your website. Why? Well imagine Mr Jones needs a new shower installed and he (as 76% of people do) goes onto the Internet to look for a plumber in his area. There are hundreds, so he narrows it down by choosing the ones with web sites because then he can see from the site how professional the plumbers look. Half of the websites have been built by mates down the pub, so he crosses those off his list.
He is now left with some good professional websites. Which one does he choose?
If your testimonials are good.......The choice is made for him by your old customers. These people that you have already worked for are the best marketing tool you have.
Always remember one thing when you work for other people. Just because the transaction is complete, it does not mean the relationship is over.
