4 Best Sales Strategies For Plumbers

The plumbing service industry is extremely competitive with hundreds of digital marketing and sales strategies to choose from. However, if there is not a coordinated online marketing plan, your plumbing business will suffer. Many small business owners try to do it all and see cost per lead constantly increasing. This is no way to sustainably grow your plumbing business. Ultimately, the best marketers know that reduction in lead cost comes down to coordinated sales tactics and proper messaging deployed to the right audience. 

1. Google Call Only Ads For Plumbers

For most plumbers, calls directly to their phones are extremely valuable. Fundamentally, home-service professionals are always on the move. Therefore, it can be cumbersome to constantly reply to questions through forms, Facebook chat, etc. However, calls directed to your mobile phone can be handled on the road, on a job, or at the office. A huge aspect of winning the sales battle is being first to serve your client. Through direct calls, you can give quotes and schedule visits before the prospect can look for other businesses. This is a big reason why plumbers love Google My Business, an online business listing site.

The best call-only ads in the market are based on the Google Ads platform. The structure of a Google Ads campaign is straightforward. The first step is to set your campaign goal. In this case, your campaign goal is Leads. From there, you will pick Search as the campaign type. This will ensure your ads are only serving on the search network. The last major campaign setting to decide on your reach options. Google will allow you to use a plumbing website, phone calls, store visits, app downloads, or lead form submissions in this section. For the Call-Only ads, only select phone calls and type in your primary sales number. 

After you have created the foundation for your Call-Only campaign, the rest of the targeting settings are like any other search engine campaign. Decide on your target keywords (plumbers, plumbers near me, emergency plumbers, etc.) and list them in your ad groups. Once relevant ad groups are formed, you can physically create your ads. For Call-Only Ads, ensure you have a strong call to action to drive the user to call your ad. For example, Call For Estimate, Talk to a Plumber Now, and Call For Free Quote will all work as great calls to action for your ads. 

At this point, your call-only ads are set up and ready to go. There are a few optimization suggestions to follow if you want to see the best results. First, you can record your calls and listen to them on the Google Ads platform. This is a great tool to measure your sales team and track performance. Go to account settings and turn on the call recording. Once call recording is set, you can find a record of all calls in the reporting tab. 

Second, set a budget that will drive ample traffic to your ads every day. If you are only getting one or two clicks a day, this ad type will not work well. You need to be top of mind for 30%-40% of all plumbing mobile searches in your area. If you are not sure how much you are showing up compared to competitors, pull an auction insight report to see your impression share for your keywords. This will show if you are dominating the search results or losing the bidding war. If you are losing the bidding war, improve your ad quality and increase your bid by at least 25%. All in all, call-only ads are one of the best plumber marketing tools out there to increase engagement in your business.

2. Video Marketing For Plumbers

Understanding a sales funnel is essential for the success of any video-based plumbing marketing campaign. The goal of the sales funnel is to drive users with no knowledge of your brand, through awareness, interest, decision, action, and loyalty. For most consumers, if they see an ad for a plumbing company, they will go to their website and research the brand. The user transition from awareness becomes generally interested. From there, the users will look at videos, read blogs, and sift through reviews. This information will guide the person to make a final decision on your company. If they view your brand as reputable, they will likely book you for the job when they need the service. 

Once the action has been set, it is up to you to deliver the product your consumer is expecting. If so, you will create loyalty and re-occurring business will come from this one person. As you see, it is vital to create awareness among your customers. With this said, your future customers do not need your services right now. They may not even need your services for another year. Instead of becoming a part of the interest and research phase, along with all of your competitors, create awareness of your brand today. This can be achieved through video ads on TV, YouTube, and Facebook. 

Your first video ad should talk about your brand authority and services. For example, talk about how long you have been serving the community and your highly rated business. Consumers will subconsciously view your brand as an authority when they see your ads later in the consumer journey. You can target your ads on TV, YouTube, and Facebook. If you target your users on YouTube or Facebook, you can collect users that have watched more than half of your ad. This is a great way to drive this interested user down the funnel a little quicker. From there, you can create more low-funnel ads with discounts, free quotes, etc. 

How-to videos are another effective video type for your marketing efforts. At the end of the day, your videos should give value to the people watching. There is nothing more valuable than complicated topics simplified by industry professionals. By sharing your knowledge, consumers will view your company as experts. The reality is simple, most homeowners cannot fix basic plumbing issues and will give you a call once they know you are reliable. 

While the video is not the first marketing tactics a plumber will utilize, the big brands in the area understand the value of controlling their sales funnel and will invest in long-term video ads accompanied by lower funnel ads that will drive the sale. 

3. Email Marketing For Plumbers

Email marketing is a powerful plumbing sales strategy. Furthermore, the power of email marketing comes from your client database. Updating, organizing, and backing up your customer database is the first step to email marketing. Sift through your business contacts and separate them into three columns: past clients, prospects, and partners. This will allow you to easily toggle between audiences when you need to craft a specific message.

Your database can live in your CRM. With that said, we highly recommend you have your database backed up on a separate server or two. From here, you should update your backed-up database every three months. This will give you a level of protection if your CRM data is ever deleted or corrupted. Once you have your data organized, you can develop separate messages for all three of your audiences. 

Your first email will focus on transforming your prospects into clients. Chances are these prospects do not know enough about your brand to be a customer. Therefore, this messaging should showcase your reviews and local authority.

Inversely, your past client list is already familiar with your brand. Therefore, your messaging here can range from simple maintenance tips to flash spring sales. Ultimately, your past clients should yield business throughout your career. Therefore, stay in contact, provide value, and let them know you are a call away from service. All your emails should have a specific goal that leads to a stronger relationship or immediate action.

Additionally, you can use email marketing as a way to seek additional service opportunities post-visit. More specifically, when you send your client an initial email quote, add other services that could benefit them. This will showcase your expertise, build trust, and increase your profits on the job.

Lastly, your partner database will be less of a hard sale, and more of an exchange of goods. Most of your partners will be a referral relationship. Therefore, do not forget to send a referral to your partners if you have not in a while. This will not only remind them that you are here but shows that you bring them value. This will almost always strengthen the relationship and bring referrals back to you.

All in all, email marketing has many uses and can be used dynamically on your customer database. Organize your database, write effective emails, and monitor the success.

4. Print Marketing For Plumbers

In today’s fast-paced digital world, the way we utilize print marketing is changing. While people are constantly consuming media through phones, computers, and televisions, there is still a place for targeted print marketing campaigns. Similar to email marketing campaigns, you need to organize your target audiences and create messages accordingly. In this example, you can use print marketing for current customers and prospective customers. 

 In the current customer strategy, you can utilize print marketing on your daily service calls. If you have a regular maintenance job, leave a sales flyer behind showcasing all your services at a discounted price. This can be an exclusive customer discount that is used on all your jobs. This customer service-based flyer will create loyalty between your clients and turn one-time customers into lifetime ones. In this marketing tactic, print can be used as a personalized sales strategy that enhances business with each of your clients. 

Inversely, the next print marketing strategy is meant for potential customers. Create full-length pamphlets that showcase your services, reviews, and local authority. This will be used to create interest in your brand and drive consumers down the sales funnel. Once the pamphlets are created, place them at local realtor and mortgage offices. Ask the real estate agents and loan officers to kindly hand out the literature to people that may ask about local plumbers. The goal of this campaign is to find where homeowners are and be front of mind with your custom pamphlets. This word-of-mouth marketing will help grow your business to a new network of homeowners. All in all, print marketing can still be used effectively for both current customers and prospective clients. 

Fundamentally, success in marketing comes down to consistency. Build a marketing plan based on these plumbing sales strategies and work at it daily. Before you know it, your business will be flourishing with leads coming through multiple channels.