PlumbingBossPro Blog — Running a Plumbing Business

Getting Reviews and Referrals for a Plumbing Business

People do not trust a plumber they have never heard of. They trust a plumber their neighbor used, or one with a page full of reviews from people who sound like them. Reviews and referrals are how a small plumbing company competes with bigger ones without matching their ad budget.

Reviews Are Local Marketing

Your online listing, website and vans, covered in Local Marketing for a Plumbing Business That Runs a Few Vans, get people to look at you. Reviews are what convince them to call.

A homeowner choosing a plumber in a hurry reads a few recent reviews and looks for two things: did this company show up, and did they treat people fairly? Every review you earn answers those questions for the next customer.

Earn Them First

The surest way to get good reviews is to give people something worth writing about. That is not complicated:

• Show up when you said you would, and text when you are on the way.
• Explain what you found and what it will cost before doing the work.
• Protect the floor and clean up.
• Send a clear, correct invoice.
• Follow up if something goes wrong.

Most customers expect plumbers to be late, messy and vague about price. Beating that expectation is what turns a routine visit into a five-star review.

Ask at the Right Moment

The best time to ask for a review is right after a good visit, while the customer is still relieved. The water is back on, the drain is draining, the shower is hot. That feeling fades by the next morning.

Teach every plumber a simple ask: “If you were happy with today, a review really helps a small company like ours.” Then make it easy. A short follow-up text with a direct link to your review page, sent the same day, gets far more reviews than a vague request.

Customers can also rate the service in the customer app. Pay attention to those ratings. A low rating is an early warning to call the customer before they post their frustration publicly.

Reply to Every Review

Replying shows future customers that a real person runs the company. For good reviews, a short thank-you that mentions the job is enough. For bad ones:

• Reply calmly and quickly.
• Do not argue in public.
• Offer to make it right and give a way to reach you.
• Then actually call them.

Photos and notes on the job help here. If a customer says the plumber never checked something, the job record shows what was done.

Make Referrals Easy

A referral is a review delivered in person. Happy customers refer friends when someone asks them, “Do you know a good plumber?” Your job is to make sure they remember your name when that happens.

• Stay in touch. Maintenance reminders and yearly flush visits keep you in their memory.
• Make it easy to share. Customers can refer friends from the customer app.
• Thank people who refer. A thank-you text or a note on their next invoice goes a long way.
• Leave something behind. A sticker on the water heater with your name and number.

Record where each new customer came from, using a tag or custom field. When you see who sends you the most work, thank them properly.

Recurring Customers Review More

Customers you see every year know your company better than one-time callers, and they are often happy to write about it. A customer on a yearly flush plan who has watched your plumber check the anode rod and test the T&P valve year after year has a real story to tell. Building that base is covered in Building Recurring Work in a Plumbing Business With Yearly Flush and Service Plans.

Never Fake It

Do not write reviews for yourself, pay for fake ones or ask friends who never used you. It is dishonest, the review sites remove them, and customers can usually tell. Real reviews from real customers, earned slowly, are worth far more.

Steady Effort Wins

Read your reviews as feedback, not just marketing. If several customers mention the same plumber by name for being polite and careful, tell him. If several mention long waits, look at your scheduling. Reviews are customers telling you, for free, what to keep doing and what to fix. Owners who read them every week usually find the next improvement there.

Reviews and referrals add up one job at a time. Do good work, ask every time and reply to every review. For more on growing a plumbing company through happy customers, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing business software page.