Being a plumber can be a sweet gig. If you need proof, just ask Bradd Conn.
Conn, owner of American Rooter Plumbing in Omaha, Nebraska, contacted me by email in mid-January after reading my column on what motivates you to be a plumber. Conn shared with me how he founded his company.
“We are the sweet plumber and built our culture around working that way,” Conn says in the email. He then explains what he means by “sweet.”
S — Self-improvement.
W — Wow experience.
E — Educate clients.
E — Encourage one another.
T — Transform lives.
If Conn and his crews aren’t following SWEET at each and every job they take on, they are doing a disservice to their customers. It’s an acronym that every plumbing company should adopt.
Going Through SWEET
As a plumber, you want to see yourself improve on each job. Treat each job as a learning experience because you’ll be running into different situations on each — PVC pipe versus copper, different valves, different setups from other plumbers, etc.
You want to provide your customers with that “wow experience.” Giving them a great experience will get you those callbacks when they need your services again. They’ll remember if your crews went above and beyond what was expected of them, or they’ll remember how nice they were or how well they cleaned up after a job.
Educating clients should be done at every job as well. It’s easy to do. Give the customer tips on what to look for if they suspect a leak, how to do little fixes like changing out a wash machine hose (yes, there are some customers that will call a plumber to do that). Explain how a filter might be useful for some customers if they have hard water. There is plenty that you can give customers information on.
Going to the second “E,” you have to encourage one another. Yes, I mean talk to each other in the plumbing industry. Attend trade shows and other industry events and talk to plumbers across the industry. Get their input on how you could do business differently, or communicate on social media to get tips on how to handle a certain job. It will help you grow, and who knows, you could be helping someone across the country do the same.
Finally, you need to transform lives. It doesn’t need to be a huge transformation, and it doesn’t take very much to do this. You could be saving someone if you go into a house to fix a leak and avoid any mold from developing. You’re not only there to fix pipes, you’re there to help improve quality of life at every home you work in.
SWEET Examples
There are several examples of plumbers following the SWEET acronym in this issue. In our First Responders feature, Texas-based contractor Biggs Plumbing was hired to install a backflow prevention valve in a high-rise building in Austin.
Some of the technicians on this job had never done that type of work before, so they grew by working with experienced co-workers. They also gave the customer a “wow experience” by unclogging a drain prior to starting, which wasn’t part of the original work order.
H2NO Leak of Miami is another company that follows SWEET. The company, profiled in this issue, has shown self-improvement since first entering the industry and has learned different methods in leak detection. The company also educates its customers by walking them through the leak detection method as the technician is doing it.
Are You Sweet?
How do you follow SWEET at your company? Let me know different ways your company follows this acronym. Email me at editor@plumbermag.com.
Enjoy this issue!
