PlumbingBossPro Blog — Running a Plumbing Business

The Customer App as a Retention Tool for a Plumbing Business

Plumbing customers have a habit of disappearing. They call when something breaks, you fix it, and then they forget your name until the next emergency, when they search again and call whoever answers. A customer app gives them a reason to keep your company on their phone, and that is worth more than most advertising.

Retention Beats Replacement

Commercial accounts, covered in Winning Property Manager and Restaurant Accounts for a Plumbing Business, stay because of service and simple billing. Homeowners stay for similar reasons, and the customer app makes both easier.

Every customer you keep is one you do not have to win again. Winning a new customer takes ads, listings and luck. Keeping one takes a good visit and staying in touch. The customer app handles a lot of the staying in touch for you.

What Customers See

The PlumbingBossPro customer app gives each customer a place to:

• See today's route. A live map showing where they are in line, like “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.”
• Choose their alerts. Night before, when they're next and when the tech arrives.
• Request service. Without calling and waiting on hold.
• Sign up for services. Like a yearly water heater flush plan, at your prices.
• See and pay invoices. Online, any time.
• Update their card. When it expires or changes.
• Rate and refer. Tell you how the visit went and send friends your way.

Why the Live Map Matters

Waiting for a plumber is stressful. The customer has taken time off work or rearranged their day, and they have no idea whether the van is five minutes away or two hours away. Seeing their place in line on a live map takes that stress away.

It also takes calls off your office. Customers who can see the van coming do not call to ask where it is. That is time your office spends on booking work instead of answering the same question.

Service Requests Without Phone Tag

When a customer can request service from the app, they do not have to search for your number or wait until business hours. The request comes to your office, and the office books it. Customers who find it easy to book you are more likely to book you again instead of trying someone new.

Sign-Ups Build Recurring Work

The customer app is one of the easiest places to sell recurring service. A customer who just had their water heater flushed can sign up for next year's flush from their phone. A landlord can sign up for flushes across their rentals. Each sign-up becomes recurring work that comes due on the Waiting List on its own.

This is where retention becomes predictable revenue. A customer on a yearly plan does not disappear, because you are already scheduled to see them again.

Payment and Card Updates

Billing friction drives customers away. Paper invoices get lost. Customers forget to pay and feel awkward when reminded. Expired cards cause declined charges.

In the customer app, invoices are always visible and payable online, and customers can update their card when it changes. That keeps your card-on-file billing working and cuts down on declined charges, which are covered in Declined Cards and Past-Due Accounts: Collecting What a Plumbing Business Is Owed.

Ratings Tell You Who Is at Risk

Customers can rate their service in the app. A great rating is a chance to ask for a public review. A poor rating is a warning: call that customer, find out what went wrong and fix it before they leave or post about it. Watching ratings is one of the simplest retention habits an owner can have.

Get Customers Using It

An app only helps if customers use it. Mention it at booking. Have plumbers mention it at the door. Include the link in reminder texts and invoices. Once a customer has seen the live map once, most keep using it.

Show it to the crew as well. A plumber who can tell a customer at the door, “Next time you can watch us coming on the map in the app,” turns the app into part of the visit. Customers who use it once tend to expect it from then on, and that expectation is something the company down the road with a paper invoice pad cannot match.

Stay on Their Phone

The customer app keeps your company in front of the customer between emergencies, makes booking and paying easy and turns one-time callers into recurring customers. For more on keeping plumbing customers for years, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing business software page.