We surveyed 1,151 people across the United States, asking them about the most common plumbing problems they encountered. Their responses can help you do business more effectively.
Running a plumbing business is fundamentally about solving people’s problems. The more you know the problems your potential customers are regularly encountering, the more solutions you can create to help them. The more you help people, the more revenue you make and the more loyal customers you create.
Of course, this raises a difficult question: how can you know the most common plumbing problems people are encountering?
In order to help you, we surveyed 1,151 people across the entire United States. We asked them to identify the top plumbing issues that they faced on a regular basis. We then gathered the results, sorted them, and present them here for your analysis.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
Finding the most common plumbing problems
A few brief observations about the following data.
First, the most common plumbing problems affecting people are fairly pedestrian. Clogged sinks, dripping faucets, clogged toilets, and running toilets make up the lion’s share of the problems. In some ways, this should encourage you if run a plumbing business. People are constantly encountering small plumbing problems and there will always be a need for individuals who can fix them.
Second, given that these smaller jobs generally pay less (since fewer hours are involved), you may want to consider developing small upsells that can supplement the revenue you make from the jobs themselves. For example, if you unclog a sink, you could also offer to sell the customer a liquid enzyme they can pour down their drains to help keep them clean (a tactic utilized by Roto-Rooter).
Third, consider how you might customize your marketing so that it addresses the most common problems customers encounter. For example, in your marketing messaging you could talk directly about clogged sinks, dripping faucets, and running toilets. You could discuss the potential costs of not getting these problems fixed, as well as offer discounts or free estimates using plumbing quoting software on these services.
Finally, given how often these problems occur, you could consider bundling related services together. For example, if you’re fixing a dripping faucet, you could offer to also check the toilets and pipes for any potential problems. This could lead to additional services being required, which results in more revenue for you.
Final thoughts
The data above is by no means exhaustive. Plumbers certainly encounter many more problems than those listed here. But knowing the most common problems people encounter allows you to see things through the eyes of your customers. It allows you to speak to the common pain points they experience and to devise ways to effectively solve those problems. It also enables you to be more effective in your marketing efforts and ultimately make more revenue.
So put this data to use in your business plumbing software. Your customers and your bottom line will thank you.
