There are so many plumbers—especially one man shows and small firms—who rely on their cell phone and voicemail for all incoming calls. That means your cell phone is the only point of contact for every new, potential client as well as all of your existing clients. You could hire someone to answer your calls, sure, but that's not very cost-effective.
And look, we're not here to knock the way you work—sometimes you've got to work with what you've got. Plus, as an answering service that's been taking calls for plumbers all over the USA for decades, we know how busy things can get for you.
But if you're a plumber looking to fix those communication leaks without breaking the bank, a plumbing answering service is what you need.
How? Let's take a look at the three biggest ways that a plumbing answering service will improve your communications. Then we'll take a look at how much they cost and how they charge you for their time.
In general terms, all plumbing issues fall into two categories: water is flowing where it shouldn’t or it’s not flowing where it should. And when either issue arises for the homeowner or business manager, it always results in them needing to connect with you, the plumber, fast!
If you're busy on a job during business hours and you can't answer your phone, should you let it go to voicemail?
No. Why? Well think of a time you've called a business who didn't answer. Did you keep trying or did you just try one of their competitors? I know I do. Wouldn't your callers do the same?
With a plumbing answering service, all your calls will be taken by a real, human answering service agent. Dependent on the answering service, they'd also be well trained to be familiar with your business. They can quote rates and availability, schedule repairs, set appointments for quotes, and answer basic questions. It all really depends on the script you provide them, and that's fully customizable!
And once you're done with your awesome job, you'll have a list of names from the answering service. More jobs, more money.
Unfortunately, you're always going to get calls once you're off-the-clock. You can thank Murphy's law for that. What you can control, however, is whether you get notified for every call that comes in after hours.
Why would you not want to be? Well think of all the routine calls you get after-hours.
You may think, "If it isn't a plumbing emergency, it can wait!"
(Obviously, that may not be the best thing to say to your callers). Which is why you get a plumbing answering service. The answering service agents can field these calls while making your callers feel like their issue will be handled ASAP with confidence.
Your callers feel heard which grows their trust with your company and you get to finally sleep a full night. That sounds like a win-win, doesn't it?
While most plumbers let their customers determine what constitutes an emergency, sometimes callers need a bit of coaching.
Like we said, you don't want to be disturbed at night for routine requests. But for emergencies? A plumbing answering service will notify you right away. With the right answering service, the agents would have had plenty of training in handling emergencies for home service companies. So, they'd be able to dispatch you or your team immediately without any hiccups.
One cool thing to add is that the answering service can actually contact whoever your on-call is, whenever you update it. Some answering services actually do this for free! That way, if you're not the on-call, you won't be reached for the emergency.
And if it is routine, well you know the drill. Callers may want to wait until normal business hours when the hourly repair rate is lower. Your answering service can let your callers know of this and screen them accordingly.
If you've made it all the way here, you may be wondering, "Okay, lay it on me...how much does it really cost?". The short answer: between $200-400 per month.
The long answer:
It depends. (Of course). But it really does! Think through the following questions:
How many calls do you get a month? Do you want your answering service to integrate with the software you currently use? Do you need bilingual support for your callers?
If you want the details on how much answering services cost today, click here to learn about this in detail. But if you want all your information on this blog, we get it. Here's the run down:
Firstly, all answering services charge you based on work time. Essentially, however many minutes it takes to handle your calls, patch callers to you, or call you directly is counted by the minute. These answering services typically have pricing plans, with every excess minute being billed separately (like $0.85 cents/excess minute).
To know how much a plumbing answering service costs, you'd have to have a rough idea of how much minutes you'd need. Luckily for you, we've got a blog to help you figure out how many answering service minutes you'd need.
We've also looked at the average price for answering services within our industry, based on the answering services we trust, and came up with these averages:
|
Minutes Included |
Monthly Cost |
|
100 |
$150-250 |
|
250 |
$300-400 |
|
500 |
$600-700 |
|
1000 |
$1,076-1,175 |
|
2500 |
$2,675-2,775 |
You may ask, "Why do some answering services charge more than others?" It's hard to say exactly, though there are a couple of reasons:
For one, some services hire only U.S.-based agents, which can increase costs but often leads to better communication and cultural understanding. Additionally, higher prices might reflect more specialized training or enhanced quality control measures to ensure agents meet strict performance standards.
More than anything though, it's important to remember that an answering service is going to cost you less than an in-house receptionist. We cover the cost difference between an in-house receptionist and an answering service here.
Well, if you found yourself nodding along the issues we brought up earlier and never want to experience them again, a plumbing answering service is certainly right for you.
You may ask "How do I know if you're the right answering service partner for me?". (Great question, by the way). If you'd like to know the answer to that, we recommend checking out our page discussing who we're a good fit for!
But, if you're considering an answering service now, but aren't ready to commit to any yet, we get it. Check out the resources below!
How much does an answering service cost?
How many answering service minutes will my business need?
What are the pros and cons of hiring an answering service?
They're meant to help you navigate purchasing an answering service, even letting you know what to avoid! And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us today! We'll be more than happy to point you in the right direction if we aren't a good fit for each other! That's what business is all about to us.