Industry Blogs

Have a plumbing business and looking for effective ways to attract more customers? Below are just a few marketing strategies that are worth trying to help boost business.

Build an attractive website

A website is essential for generating customers and making your business look official. This needs to look professional in order to build a sense of trust. Make sure that information like contact details, services you provide and credentials are clearly visible on the homepage. You can also display testimonials from happy customers. There are lots of cheap and easy ways to build your own website. Alternatively, you can always hire a web design company to make one for you.

Get on social media

Social media is another great tool for connecting with customers online. You should create a Facebook business page at the very least. Post content on your page regularly – this could include updates, promotions and plumbing-related tips. Boost posts to help them reach a larger audience.

Encourage positive online reviews

A lot of customers like to look at online reviews before deciding whether a business is trustworthy. Encourage every happy customer you work with to leave a positive Google review. This will help you to encourage more customers by showing that you’re a company people can depend on.

Invest in SEO

SEO (search engine optimization) is a marketing strategy that can help to boost the rankings of your website. This can lead to more people visiting your site – and consequently more customers. SEO relies on using various tricks such as using keywords on your website and boosting the page of your site. It’s worth hiring an SEO company to do all this for you as it’s not something you can easily do yourself. 

Print off some business cards

There are many types of marketing to try beyond online marketing. Handing out business cards is a simple and effective way to get business offline. If you meet someone who may be looking for a plumbing service, you can quickly exchange contact details and make yourself look more professional by handing out a business card. You can also post business cards through letterboxes and pin them up on public notice boards.

Consider taking part in local marketing events

There may be local events that you can sponsor – this involves putting some money into the event in exchange for being able to display branded posters and banners at the event. There could even be a local trade show worth entering – by renting a 10×20 trade show booth and showing up with some flyers, you may be able to generate some business. 

Invest in branded vehicle wrapping

Your car or van could be used as a form of mobile advertising. Using a vinyl wrap you can easily promote your company name and contact details on the side of your vehicle. This will make your business look more professional, and you could generate some extra business from it. There are companies that specialize in producing these vinyl wraps. 

Propane CHP units offer resiliency, efficiency, and environmental protection

Driven by the rising costs of electricity and increasing frequency of power outages, homeowners across the country are searching for energy solutions that are affordable, efficient, and reliable.

When it comes to efficiency, there’s no doubt that micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) beats electricity supplied over the grid. No longer limited to industrial and manufacturing applications, high-efficiency CHP systems have been making their way into more project types—including residential homes—through smaller micro-CHP units.

The basics of CHP and micro-CHP systems

The concept behind the micro-CHP system is simple: The unit replaces a traditional furnace or boiler and water heater with a single appliance that produces both hot water and heat as well as electricity for use in the home. Because the unit runs on propane and many units can start without power from the grid, it offers resilience and energy independence in the event of a power outage without the need for a standby generator.

Suppliers and builders who work with the technology say it can add up to considerable savings over time based on factors such as home size, location, and local electricity costs, but the value of CHP and micro-CHP units can be found nationwide.

Available in a wide range of capacities, CHP systems are ideal for single-family homes, apartment buildings, small businesses, utility power, and large commercial and industrial applications. For example, 1-3 kW units are ideal for 1,800-2,500 square foot single-family homes, 3-10 kW units work well for single-family homes with greater heating loads (like pool heating) and multi-family commercial and light industrial applications, and 10-50 kW units can power residential apartment buildings and commercial buildings (like restaurants).

Micro-CHP systems offer unmatched efficiency

A propane-powered CHP and micro-CHP unit’s total efficiency far outpaces the efficiency of traditional heating or water heating systems, providing operational savings from even the most efficient boilers.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the electricity that comes to a typical single-family home in the U.S. is only about 33 percent efficient. That’s because the heat used to generate it in a coal- or gas-fired power plant is lost, as is some of the electricity during transmission over high-voltage power lines.

Compare that to micro-CHP, which uses an on-site gas- or propane-fired engine to generate electricity while capturing the engine’s heat to produce hot water. These systems are typically 60 to 80 percent efficient, with some systems nearing 90 percent efficiency, according to the EPA.

CHP units are clean and environmentally friendly

Propane-powered combined heat & power (CHP) units produce significantly fewer harmful emissions, making it a better option for everyone—including customers. And as construction professionals know, environmental considerations continue to grow across the residential market.

Notably, the micro-CHP unit can reduce a home’s carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 50 percent, or 4.2 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Additionally, propane models reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 13 percent compared with natural gas and 50 percent compared with electric.

To determine if propane is the right fit for your next residential project, visit Propane.com.

Bryan Cordill is director of residential and commercial business development for the Propane Education & Research Council. He can be reached at bryan.cordill@propane.com.

The terms employee and team member have become almost interchangeable in recent years. But it’s important to understand the real difference between the two words because it’s more than just terminology.

A team reflects one kind of company culture — accountable, engaged and goal-oriented — and an employee/employer relationship represents another kind — transactional and uninspired. One of these cultures supports growth and innovation; the other leads to mediocre results and stagnation.

Which one describes your company?

Employees vs. team members

The difference between an employee and team member is subtle. But it’s a crucial distinction and essential knowledge for leaders in the skilled trade industries, where acute labor shortages keep recruiting and retention intensely competitive.

Employees

• Go to work for a paycheck.
• Do exactly what’s expected of them — but no more.
• Don’t invest their own ideas or initiative.
• Won’t positively reinforce your brand outside of work.
• Likely to frequently leave one job for another.
• Overlook details and lack accountability which can lead to major oversights.

Team members

• Recognize they are part of something bigger than themselves.
• Get paid to do what they’re passionate about.
• Foster new ideas and drive innovation.
• Serve as ambassadors for your brand with customers, friends and family.
• Create institutional continuity and act as positive role models for other team members.
• Work together toward a single goal and usually get more done in less time with fewer mistakes.

It doesn’t take long for the differences to add up. The costs to your company come in many forms, with rollbacks, dissatisfied customers, damaged reputation and missed opportunities among them. When an employee leaves your company for a $1 an hour raise across town, you’re left with the cost of hiring and training their replacement.

Building your team

When it comes to recruiting and developing team members vs. employees, it isn’t as simple as just switching out one job title for another. Team members need a team. It’s up to you to build your company with a solid mission that gives prospective team members reasons to join and stick with you. Here are some key concepts to incorporate at your company in building and transforming your team:

• Communication: This goes both ways. Keep lines of dialogue open so team members can share their ideas. It’s also important to communicate clearly with team members so they know what’s expected and what goals they’re working toward.
• Celebration: From a quick shout-out when you see small things done the right way to bonus pay, don’t let superior performance go unrecognized. Build in big incentives for motivation, take time for regular call-outs and encourage team members to cheer each other on.
• Culture: Don’t let “team” be a buzzword at your company. The people who work there know the difference, no matter what you call it. When they feel valued at work it gets passed on to customers. When they don’t feel valued, that’s passed on, too. Create an authentic team concept by intentionally investing in your team and the resources they need for success.

Put it all together

Teamwork is no longer an option for contractors. With the emergence of Generation Z and the deep economic impact of COVID-19 paired with other supply chain and labor issues, a passion and dedication for team culture is required for success in home services.

A real team is built on vision, values and mission. If you’re committed to living all those every day and being accountable, the people around you recognize it. Talk to your team, encourage them to buy in and you’ll see the difference.

Chris Koch is Head Coach and Trainer for Business Development Resources – the premier provider of business training and coaching to home service contractors across North America.

As a leading global construction company, Tidhar’s success relies on the company’s reputation for quality and customer satisfaction. The dynamic international real estate group employs a unique combination of entrepreneurial, planning and execution capabilities, advanced management concepts, and uncompromising quality and service to develop, build and operate residential and commercial projects around the world.

Challenge: Unfortunately, Tidhar, like many other construction firms, has been frequently challenged by leaks and water damage on jobsites. The company’s management was determined to put an end to the costs of property damage and remediation, the delivery delays and the impact of water leaks on customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the company sought tools to support its commitment to enhancing sustainability in the construction industry. Reducing water waste on building sites not only helps Tidhar save customers time and money; it also offers opportunities to incorporate long-term sustainability measures and establishes Tidhar as a pioneer in the evolution of sustainable construction practices.

Tidhar needed a solution that would mitigate damage from water leaks and even eliminate the risk altogether. The ideal solution would detect leaks, alert staff, and automatically shut water off to prevent damage. It would need to function during all project phases and continue operation regardless of any communication or power infrastructure failures at the site. It had to be adaptable, robust and modular so it could grow with the site as construction progressed.

 Solution: WINT is passionate about preventing the hazards and costs associated with water leaks, and about preventing water waste to reduce consumption and ongoing costs. Utilizing the power of artificial intelligence, signal processing, smart auto-shutoff valves and advanced IoT technologies, Water Intelligence units provide an all-in-one solution for organizations looking to eliminate water-leak damage and to reduce ongoing water waste. WINT’s customers include commercial facilities, construction projects and industrial facilities including the world’s leading construction and real-estate companies, facilities management organizations and prominent buildings.

WINT’s advanced solutions track water flows, learn usage patterns and behaviors and identify anomalies in real time. When an issue is detected WINT alerts staff and can automatically shut water off to prevent damage.

The WINT cloud, portal and mobile application provide maintenance staff with the tools required to manage water on the facility, track usage and control water flow and usage throughout the facility. WINT’s AI-based systems are installed at multiple locations at a site, with devices added to newly constructed areas and floors as the project advances. When the system detects a leak, it alerts staff and can instantly shut off water to the affected area.

Supervisors have the option to choose automated shutoff or an alert-only policy. Site supervisors and managers can remotely view related water-flow data from their mobile devices, and immediately shut-off or activate water flows in real time.

WINT systems can even communicate over the cellular network and be powered by battery, so they can be deployed even before Internet and electrical infrastructure has been installed.

 Result: Over the past two years, Tidhar has deployed the WINT solution at over 40 construction projects. These include residential high-rise buildings as well as large, million-square-feet high-tech commercial facilities.

Over this period, Tidhar experienced six shutoff incidents with flow rates up to 500 gallons an hour across its portfolio. Disruptions could be attributed to a defective fitting, a broken hose and a running tap. In each case, WINT technology identified the issue, shut off the water supply and alerted staff, saving the sites from massive damage and delays.

Since deploying WINT, Tidhar has not suffered a single water damage incident. In fact, the company has established WINT as a mandatory standard for all of its construction projects; any exclusion requires formal CEO approval.

“Water damage at construction sites is one of those things that keep construction executives up at night,” said Tidhar CEO Tal Hershkovitz. “The physical damage can be huge and the project delays a nightmare. WINT has made this one less thing to worry about. We sleep better knowing that WINT has an eye on water at our sites.”

Learn more at https://www.WINT.ai or email sales@wint.ai.