For plumbing companies, the phone line is a lifeline. Every call represents a potential job, revenue opportunity, or chance to build customer loyalty through great service. Yet, surprisingly, many plumbers struggle with missed calls, poor call handling, and other communication breakdowns that frustrate customers and affect the bottom line. Implementing better call management procedures is crucial for success.
Always On-Call
Plumbing emergencies can strike anytime, including late nights, weekends, and holidays. You need a way to reliantly capture and respond to every call every hour of every day. Otherwise, you risk losing that business to a competitor. Being available around-the-clock signals true professional commitment.
Seamless Routing
When calls do come in after-hours, they should not just hit voicemail. You need a system to instantly route them to on-call techs based on their schedule. Customers expect to reach a live person for urgent plumbing issues. Missing those calls is unacceptable.
Prioritize Emergencies
From the very first ring, your call management strategy should be able to identify and prioritize true plumbing emergencies like burst pipes over routine requests. This ensures the most urgent situations get addressed with maximum speed.
Professional Call Handling
When customers call your plumbing business, the very first impression counts. Calls need to be answered promptly in a friendly, capable manner, not by flustered, stressed techs or office staff juggling other tasks. This level of polish builds trust.
Reliable Messaging
If it’s not an emergency, callers should easily be able to leave detailed messages describing their plumbing issues. And you need a reliable way of accessing and routing those messages to the appropriate techs first thing each morning.
Easy Dispatching
Once a job call comes in, the clock is ticking on getting a tech dispatched quickly. Call management software integrated with scheduling, GPS routing, and your team’s mobile devices facilitate fast, efficient dispatching.
Appointment Booking
Have a straightforward process for scheduling estimates, routine maintenance, or other pre-planned plumbing appointments while the customer is on the call. Eliminate back-and-forth hassles.
Call Recording
Misunderstandings happen. But with call recording, you have a record of exactly what the customer requested and what info was provided. Recordings protect your business and resolve potential disputes.
Call Analytics
Using an advanced call management system provides invaluable data on call metrics like volume fluctuations, hold times, and service levels. Analytics help optimize staffing and processes.
Disaster Recovery
If disaster strikes your office, traditional phone lines could go down, along with your ability to receive calls. But cloud-hosted call management provides robust redundancy and automatic fail-over to minimize disruptions.
Expand Reach
Once reliable 24/7 call management is in place, your plumbing company can easily and affordably open new phone numbers to expand into other towns and geographic markets.
The Benefits of a Plumbing Answering Service
For many plumbing companies, contracting with a dedicated plumbing answering service like Apello checks all the boxes for better call management. As trained professionals, they will:
- Answer all calls 24/7 with a consistent, polished presence.
- Gather detailed request info and route it properly.
- Prioritize and dispatch urgent jobs.
- Schedule appointments seamlessly.
- Provide reporting, analytics, and more.
Conclusion
From improving customer satisfaction and loyalty to capturing more job opportunities and revenue, the right call management strategy will transform your plumbing business. With proper call management processes and tools in place, you will present a consistently professional, responsive image to customers at all times. Investing in optimized call management pays off through a better customer experience, increased efficiency for your staff, and ultimately higher revenue for your plumbing company. It’s an investment that will keep your operation steps ahead of the competition.
