Plumber Leads: 5 Ways to Get More Customers Fast

Fixing a busted pipe is one thing, but what do you do when your sales funnel has sprung a leak?

If your plumbing leads have slowed to a trickle, you’re not alone. Creating a steady stream of leads is a constant challenge for any contractor. But if you’re ready to learn how to get more plumbing leads year-round, you’ve come to the right place. 

Learn the quickest ways to generate leads, improve your SEO, and build your customer base with referrals and reviews by following the tips for plumbers below.

Why Plumber Leads May Be Slow

While slow leads are sometimes seasonal, the time of year probably isn't the biggest threat to your plumbing company. There's a good chance that you have poor brand positioning. 

This means:

• Your competitors are coming up before you in searches

• People in your service area don't know your name

• Your customers aren't referring you to other people

• You're wasting time and money chasing cold leads

• Leads who aren't ready to make decisions are wasting your time

You can get out of a lead rut caused by any of these issues by identifying which area(s) you need to work on. Here's how to get more plumbing leads.

5 Ways to Get Plumbing Leads Fast

If you’re looking for more plumbing jobs, you’ll need to get comfortable with marketing and advertising. 

Plumbing advertising means creating paid ads that showcase your specific services. Plumbing marketing, however, is a more holistic strategy that builds brand awareness and customer engagement.

1. Lead Generation

Using professional plumbing lead generation is the fastest way to receive leads actively looking for a plumber. 

Lots of plumbers try to generate their own leads because they assume it's simple. This usually means spending tons of time and money on cold calling with a very low return on investment.

With paid leads, you're skipping right to the point just before the finish line. You just need to bring your "A-game" to close the deal.

Angi Pro is a great way to get steady plumbing jobs in your local area. Angi delivers leads who have already shown interest in your services. This means you're talking to someone who is in "decision mode" more often than not.

The obvious pro of paying for leads is that you're going to increase your booking volume. The only con is that you may need to learn how to pace bookings to ensure you give every job the time it needs as you adjust to a busier schedule.

2. Referrals

Referrals are great for building up word-of-mouth business. The big advantage here is that word-of-mouth customers are often loyal customers.

The downside is that it takes time and commitment to build up referrals. If you're focusing on customer referrals, motivate clients to recommend you by creating a simple referral program.

Keep it simple with these ideas:

• Offer refer-a-friend discounts

• Leave magnetic business cards behind

• Text leads/past customers your business card

• Follow up and thank clients who give you referrals

3. Discounts or Upsells

Offering discounts can help sway a potential customer to book with you. And upselling can help you increase your profit. 

Here are a few tips for effective upselling:

• Upsell items you can install quickly, like in-line, whole house water filters, showerheads, faucets, and toilet seats. 

• Upselling can be as easy as saying, “I noticed your showerhead is looking a little rusty—would you like to look at some replacements?”

• Keep small items in your vehicle that you can easily store and upsell while on the job.

• Try to stock items in the mid-price range: Customers are more likely to say no to a very cheap or very expensive upsell.

• Keep a few more expensive but novel items in stock, like Bluetooth-enabled showerheads or heated toilet seats.

Here are few effective discounting strategies:

• Bundle individual services together and highlight the savings.

• Offer ad-hoc discounts if a job takes a little longer than expected.

• If you offer maintenance service packages, entice customers to sign up by offering the first month free or discounted.

• If a customer orders a more expensive service, throw in a freebie that adds value and makes them feel they’re getting their money’s worth.

4. Geo-Specific, Hyperlocal SEO

Using keywords that capture what people in your service area are searching for is a great way to be seen before your competitors. Pairing "broken toilet" with "Cleveland" in headers and meta descriptions can be far more effective than trying to impress clients with lots of technical jargon. 

Here are a few steps to make sure you’re doing effective SEO on your website:

• Make sure the title tag for your homepage include the primary category, location, and name of your business, like “Plumbing Services in [City or Area] | [Business Name]” 

• Include a meta description with appropriate keywords, such as, “[Business Name] offers professional plumbing services in [City or Area]. Call [Phone Number] now to get your plumbing problem fixed quickly.” 

• Make sure your headlines include the type of services you provide and your city and state. For example, “Broken Pipe Repair in [City, State]”, or “Leaky Toilet Repair in [City, State].” 

5. Testimonials

Customers trust and rely on testimonials when making decisions. When they view your website or Facebook page, they only have a few seconds to form an opinion. This is why featuring real testimonials and reviews is such a great strategy for finding plumbing jobs without paying for ads. 

Make it easy to get satisfied customers to leave reviews with these steps:

• Send customers a follow-up email to ask for feedback after a job is done.

• If the response is positive, send the link to your Facebook or Angi Pro profile and ask for a review. 

• Ask questions to encourage customers to go into detail. For example: “What did you appreciate most about our service?”

Get Plumber Leads All Year Long

If you haven’t seen the amount of leads you want lately, it's time to get serious about marketing. There are plenty of plumbing jobs in your local area—it’s up to you to ensure potential customers know about your company.

One of the fastest ways to see a spike in leads is to sign up for your Angi Pro account today. Angi delivers qualified leads who already want and need plumbing services in your area. Sign up for Angi Ads today.