A plumbing business gets steady calls by being easy to find at the moment of a leak, and easy to trust when a homeowner is deciding on a bathroom or hot water system. Those are two different jobs for your plumbing marketing. Urgent calls are won on the map and the phone. Booked work is won on the quote and the follow-up.
Urgent calls and booked work are different
Many plumbing businesses run both, and the mix decides where your effort goes.
- Urgent. A burst pipe, a blocked drain, no hot water. The homeowner wants someone today. They do not compare. They ring the first business that looks close and answers.
- Booked. A hot water replacement, a new tap set, bathroom rough-in, a gas appliance. The homeowner can wait a few days, asks for two or three quotes and reads reviews.
- Builder and renovation work. Rough-in and fit-off for builders. This comes from relationships, not ads.
Urgent work is quick money but can crowd out better-margin booked work. Decide how many urgent jobs a day you will take, and let the rest go to booked slots. Your website and ads should say which you want.
Plumbing marketing on the map: listing, reviews and ads
For urgent searches, the Google Business Profile does most of the work. Google’s guidelines say a business that travels to customers can list as a service-area business and hide its street address, that virtual offices are not eligible, and that the name should be the real-world name customers know without taglines or keywords added. Read the Google guidelines before you change anything, because a listing that breaks them can be suspended.
Reviews help most when they name the job and the suburb: “replaced our hot water on a Saturday morning in Mount Lawley”. Ask for them while the job is fresh. Never write your own or pay for them. The ACCC says fake or misleading reviews are against the law (ACCC advertising and promotions).
On ads:
- Search ads on “blocked drain” or “burst pipe” work only if someone answers. Pause them when no one can.
- Booked work does better on a page for the job, such as hot water replacement, with what you check and how you quote.
- Do not run ads into a home page that lists fifteen services.
More on running these in your own account: ads for trades.
Repeat clients and referrals
Plumbing has a built-in reason to contact people again that most trades lack: things wear out on a schedule the homeowner has forgotten. A hot water system, a tap you fitted, a bathroom you waterproofed.
- Keep a list of past jobs with the date and what was installed. A spreadsheet is enough.
- Send a short text a year later: “Hi Sam, it is Dan from the hot water job at Cedar Street last year. Everything still running well?” That is a check, not a pitch.
- Ask each happy client for one named referral. Neighbours and landlords are the usual sources.
- Real estate agents and property managers book plumbers repeatedly. Be the one who texts back with a time.
Answering the urgent call
The business that answers wins urgent work. If you are under a house with a wrench in hand, you cannot. Two fixes work without hiring someone.
- A text that goes out automatically to a missed call: “Sorry, on a job. Is this urgent? Reply with your suburb and what is happening and I will ring you within 20 minutes.” The guide on missed call text back for tradies has working wording.
- A person or service that answers on your behalf and asks the same four questions every time: what is happening, is water still running, suburb, best number. Virtual receptionist services covers what to check before you sign up for one.
Whoever answers should tell the caller how to stop the immediate damage if they can do so safely, then give a time you can be there. On urgent work, speed counts for more than polish.
Quoting and following up booked work
Bathrooms, hot water replacements and renovation plumbing are quotes, not call-outs. The homeowner asks three plumbers and chooses on price, trust and who got back to them first. Many quotes go quiet because nobody follows up.
- Quote in writing, with the full price. In NSW, Fair Trading says that you cannot state a partial price in an ad unless the single full price is also clearly stated, and the same habit protects you on a quote.
- Say what is and is not included: removal of the old unit, making good, any gas or electrical work another trade must do.
- Follow up once after two days and once after a week. A line such as “Did the quote make sense? I can change the scope if the number is the problem” gets answers. More wording in follow-up email after a quote.
If you would rather have quotes on booked work followed up for you, see how PreBuild follows up quotes.
Licence number rules in advertising
Plumbing licensing and its ad rules sit with the state. Here is what two regulators say on pages we opened. The rule belongs to that state only.
- Queensland. The QBCC says all advertising must show your licence name and licence number. Trading names are allowed only alongside the licence name. Its key-information guide says advertising for building work valued over $3,300 must include the licence number, and that for plumbing and fire protection work the number must be included irrespective of value. It lists websites, social media, vehicle signage, business cards and online directories as advertising. Sources: QBCC advertising and the QBCC key information guide.
- New South Wales. Fair Trading says the licensee’s name and licence number, with the correct category of work, must be shown in all advertising, plus a business phone number. It lists plumbing, draining and gas fitting as specialist work needing a licence at any value. Source: NSW building trade advertisements.
For other states, use your own plumbing regulator’s page. Put your number in your website footer, on landing pages, vehicles and quotes. Not legal advice; check the regulator for your situation.
Common questions
How do plumbers get more jobs?
Answer the phone, keep a complete local listing with real reviews, and follow up every quote. Repeat clients and agents fill much of the rest.
Are plumbing ads worth it?
For urgent work, they can be, if someone answers every call. For booked work, a page for the job plus a quick quote follow-up usually does more than extra spend.
Do I need my licence number in my ads?
In Queensland and NSW, yes. Queensland applies it to plumbing work irrespective of value. Check the regulator in your state.
Do I need an answering service?
Not at first. A missed call text and a fixed time to ring back fixes most of it. An answering service helps once you miss calls every day.