Opportunity Knocks

Contractors protecting their customers’ long-term interests find that a drain-cleaning service call often leads to more work to correct the root causes of stoppages

There’s no better time to remind customers of all your capabilities than when you’ve opened a drain line and can talk about a problem straight to the customer. While some operators seem to consider “upselling” a dirty word, others see opportunity in pointing out other issues that might soon require another visit while the pipe is exposed and the technician is on site.

Without taking advantage of people who are already dealing with a problem, savvy contractors recognize the chance to increase their value in a customer’s mind by explaining what other problems are lurking in the plumbing. Most operators seem to take a natural approach to suggesting extra services, pointing out the potential cost savings in avoiding repeat service calls. They also depend heavily on modern technology to back up their recommendations.

“When we do any work, we want the homeowner to be there, so they can make decisions themselves,” says Barbie Dawson, owner of Crowe Inc., Roanoke, Va.

“We have the homeowner right there seeing what we’re seeing.

“We pride ourselves on our honesty, and the fact that nothing is done unless the homeowner authorizes it. So if we unstop a line and then camera it and find something that’s causing the stoppage, we want the homeowner to see it.”

Crowe serves half residential and half commercial customers. Technicians encourage commercial customers to be on hand for televising. They then explain what the problem is, what’s causing it, and what it will cost to repair.

“If it looks like the whole line’s bad, they have the options to replace just that part or replace the whole thing,” Dawson says. During the process, technicians identify any collateral issues, but Dawson says the service call is intended mainly to address the original problem, not to look for others.

“Our technicians’ first concern, of course, is to open the line and take care of the problem that the customer initially called for,” says office manager Maridee Dukett. She takes some of the calls that come in to AALCO Septic & Sewer Inc. in Knoxboro, N.Y., which provides grease trap and graywater pumping and drain cleaning.

“But once they’re in there and see that maybe the line has a lot of grease or a particular problem, then they’ll tell the customer how they can address that long-term. They may recommend waterjetting to get all that gook out of the line. They might find a low spot in the line while they’re using the camera equipment, and ask the customer if they’ve experienced recurring problems.” If so, they’ll explain how the low spot could cause the issue, and what it would take to fix it.

“Typically, one of the first things they do to find out what’s wrong is clean the line. If they come across a place where they find a root or a large amount of grease, it’s a fairly simple upsell to a waterjetting service, because that’s what needs to be done to take care of the problem. It’s really what’s needed to keep it from recurring as opposed to cable cleaning, which just clears a path instead of removing the stoppage.”

Dukett says upselling isn’t a company policy so much as it’s the way the technicians are trained to deliver real value to clients.

After 15 years working for plumbing companies, Johnny Menser, owner of Tri-L Enterprises, in Nebo, Ky., decided it was time to make more money for himself and went out on his own. He likes being able to call the shots about the way customers get treated. Although he doesn’t intentionally set out to upsell, customers often sell themselves on extra work because they can clearly see it needs to be done.

“After I go out and hear them say that they’ve had a problem four or five times, I access the problem, then take my cable and try to unstop the pipe,” says Menser, who works in northwestern Kentucky.

“Then I talk to my customer about actually seeing where the problem is in their line.” He asks the customer to be present for televising – he finds their presence helps him make the sale.

“I drop my video camera in, run it down there and show them where it’s broken, or collapsed, or where roots may be intruding,” he says. “Then I suggest that we replace that part of the line.” The video is convincing, and he burns a DVD of the inspection that the customer can keep. That helps remind them of the value of his work.



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