emergency service?

[huggytree]

should I say on my new website that I offer emergency service even though 1/2 the time I wont be able to do it?

I am wondering if my definition of emergency service is the same as the general public...im questioning it

is it something like a leaky water heater than can wait a day or 2....or is it water spraying, I need help in 30 minutes?....im questioning whether many emergency calls are truly emergencies or am I missing jobs I could do in a day or 2 by not advertising for emergency service....I really cant see that many circumstances that I would consider a true emergency, but to some homeowners a water heater leaking or a garbage disposal that died May be a emergency.

I notice all of my competitors offer emergency service and I dont list it...

on my slow days I could handle a extra job or 2....some weeks I only have 4 hours of work in the middle of winter....id be available for it....but in the middle of summer im typically booked 7 days out and while I still may be able to squeeze some extra work in at the end of the day I would NOT be able to drop everything and run with 30 minutes notice

so should I advertise for something that I can sometimes do? when a homeowner calls and I say 'sorry im too busy today' will that do any damage?

should I advertise for it in the winter months and then take it down once late spring comes?

when I do get emergency calls I get the idea the homeowner has already called multiple plumbers, so im pretty sure many plumbers who advertise it cant always do it

I can only think of 2 or 3 large shops that have guys sitting waiting for calls...they also charge 2-3x what I do because of it....most plumbers are small 1-3 man operations and there is little chance someone is waiting for the call and will be there in 30 minutes

just wondering if there's a downside to advertising something that you cant always do (and my competition most likely cant do either)

[Freelancier]

The question is: do you want to have to answer the phone in the middle of the night when some insomniac notices that their water heater is dripping?

If you do want those calls, then cut a deal with another plumber or two that you know -- and who want to be ready to go in the middle of the night -- to refer calls when you're overbooked and get a cut of the sale for the referral.

[Steve B]

I like Freelancier's idea. I also would add that I don't see it doing any damage to your reputation if you can't always respond to an emergency call.

[huggytree]

I also would add that I don't see it doing any damage to your reputation if you can't always respond to an emergency call.



that's what im thinking....it can HELP me, but I don't think it will HURT me

I will just turn my ringer off when I go to sleep....the phone is in the basement recharging anyways and I rarely hear it from the 2nd floor

I am not interested in subbing out the work....but it is an interesting idea...that's what I like about this forum...always something new to think about!

[tallen]

Some ideas:

(1) a hospital with an emergency room in our area was recently downgraded to an Urgent Care Center (open from 8 to 8) because the powers-that-be decided that it wasn't feasible to keep the ER open 24/7 -- so maybe if you advertised your service as an "urgent care" kind of thing as opposed to emergency. Whatever you do, don't say 24-hour service (if you don't want to be woken up in the middle of the night).

(2) the veterinarians in our area take a rotation with their colleagues/competitors to be on-call for after-hours emergencies. In other words, if your dog gets sick in the middle of the night and you call your own vet, your call gets re-routed to whichever of the area vets happens to be the one that is on-call that night. In your situation, though, Freelancier's idea (sort of a variation on this) might be better.

[Patrysha]

My boyfriend does provide 24/7 service as a small town Locksmith...even in his profession middle of the night calls are rare...maybe one every six months or so that's a real middle of the night.

[KristineS]

I don't see how it can hurt you and it might bring in some extra work, so I'd say why not try it. If you find that people are very put out when they call and you can't be there right away, you can always change things back to the way they were, but I'd say it's worth a try.

[huggytree]

I added it to my website along with a few other bullet points.

thanks for the advice....I did the change myself....im now a wordpress expert!

WaukeshaPlumbing | Plumbing Experts (http://www.waukeshaplumbing.com)

[Wozcreative]

Interesting.. it looks like the bandwidth on your website has been exceeded. This is huge if you are trying to get traffic. If someone goes to your site and sees that the site is down, they will not go to it again. You need to call your developer in an emergency and demand that he get it up ASAP.

Keep in mind he may also try to pull a fast one on ya and say something like "You may want to purchase a bigger package of $$$ extra dollars per month for bigger bandwidth".

Here is the error:

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

[huggytree]

yes I just noticed this one.....nice

whats the possible causes? is this a reason for me to host it somewhere else?

any recommendations where to host it?

[tallen]

The cause is all of the forum members here going to check out the changes made to your site, all at once...

[huggytree]

problem fixed.....I also tweaked the new bullet points

WaukeshaPlumbing | Plumbing Experts (http://www.waukeshaplumbing.com)

[Richt]

Offer the Emergency Service and Charge 2x your normal price, get them to call, tell them the price for an "emergency call" then let them decide if it's really an emergency or not. You can have them shut off the water to the specific problem and get there as soon as you can, do the job for your non emergency price, at least you got the call and have a chance at scheduling the job when you can do it. Even if you booked only 20% to 40% of those calls to your regular schedule that's a lot of extra business. If it's really an Emergency and you just can't do it give them the number of the big guys who do it, explain that they are most likely more expensive then you are and apologize as you are a smaller shop and booked solid right now with regular customers you need to take care of because they have to be your first priority which is only fair. All the customer will remember is you where the guy who solved their problem by recommending your competition so your a Good Guy and that your prices are better then the big guys, so next time you may have a shot at them calling you for regular work.I'd even ask for their email so I could send them my contact info for the future, As a Customer I'd give you mine if you where straight up with me and I'd most likely call you when I needed some work done and give you a shot at it because I feel subconsciously obligated, you where the guy who helped me out when I needed it even though you passed the job to a competitor, making my issue more important then your own financial interest.

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[huggytree]

ive been getting emergency calls now....not many, just a few....not bad for something I changed a couple of days ago though...the change is noticable

all have been drain cleaning and its something I don't do....I give out a # for free for my drain cleaner friend, so at least he's benefitting from my website change

[shadojake]

ive been getting emergency calls now....not many, just a few....not bad for something I changed a couple of days ago though...the change is noticable

all have been drain cleaning and its something I don't do....I give out a # for free for my drain cleaner friend, so at least he's benefitting from my website change

I have not heard of a plumber who can't do a drain cleaning. Drain cleaning is the number one reason we called out a plumber in our former home which was built in 1949 and had cast iron and galvanized plumbing. Does it have to do with local or state laws or lack of equipment?

[Freelancier]

I have not heard of a plumber who can't do a drain cleaning.
He didn't say that. He said he doesn't do it, not that he can't do it.

I don't do system administration. Doesn't mean I can't, just that I don't want to do it. Doesn't stop me from landing customers who want my other services.

[shadojake]

Okay, point taken.

So now I am just plain curious ... why do not do drain cleanings?

[billbenson]

Okay, point taken.

So now I am just plain curious ... why do not do drain cleanings?

A lot of people do business plans up front. It's a good idea at some level. But you can't think of everything in advance. So for most small business people their plan will evolve. Also, keep in mind that most small business people could occupy 24 hours a day working. They need to pick and choose.

I'm guessing that Huggy, who I know has experimented with different business models over the years has found that drain cleaning doesn't fit his model. It doesn't mean that money can't be made there, he has just found that within his business model his time is best spent elsewhere. Either that or he just plain doesn't like cleaning drains.

[Steve B]

I'll guess it's a matter of price. Drain cleaning does not require the same level of education and experience as a plumber. Therefore, the barrier to entry is lower and it allows lower price competition in the market. Huggy charges a premium for his services and wouldn't be able to make enough money at the market price. All just a guess.

[huggytree]

ive never done drain cleaning

I was trained as a rougher for new homes...ive taught myself finishing and remodeling and most service

I have no interest in working 24 hours a day...im not going to be on call at 10pm on a Friday night....that's not why I went into business...my life would be worse, not better if I chose that path.

I don't get many calls over all for drain cleaning...my first few years in business I probably got 5-10 calls total....it was something I never wanted to bother with.....its still only 1-2 calls a week for it.

ive gotten sprayed in the face with sewage(ingested) over the years...each time I was sick for 5-7 days (achy stomach and no appetite)....

a drain cleaning job will always be a 1 hour job....I don't make much of anything on 1 hour jobs....and to risk my health for that little isn't worth it to me....I don't want to swim in sewage all day long.......what I do is clean(for the most part) and pays better....

as I grow as a company im going to have to do drain cleaning at some point...ill just hire someone who has the skills for it already(I don't want the skills)

most plumbing shops in my area don't do drain cleaning.....only the service only type shops.....and im more the remodel type plumber.....


I need to decide how to handle drain cleaning now....I could ask my drain cleaning friend to just pay me $20 for every job that I send to him (which all he has to do is raise his price by $20 when a customer mentions my name)....or I could add $40 onto his charges and sub him out directly....this would mean me on the phone contacting him and also billing customers(I could have him collect the $$ for me at time of service)

I just need to decide if making $40 a few times a week is worth the bother when I average $10,000 in sales a week.....

[shadojake]

Huggy,

Thanks for your reply. I understand your position now. Here is my suggestion FWIW ... tell the customer to call "Bob Smith Plumbing" (your friend). When they call and say you referred them, your friend gives you percentage of what he collects. Yes let him collect the total fee and just send you at check for all of the work at the end of the month. You don't have to make any phone calls, you don't make the service call, your friend gets some business, and you get a piece of the pie with no work involved. Even if it's $20 per pop, that is $20 you would not have received just by turning down the call out right.

[Wozcreative]

Huggy,

Thanks for your reply. I understand your position now. Here is my suggestion FWIW ... tell the customer to call "Bob Smith Plumbing" (your friend). When they call and say you referred them, your friend gives you percentage of what he collects. Yes let him collect the total fee and just send you at check for all of the work at the end of the month. You don't have to make any phone calls, you don't make the service call, your friend gets some business, and you get a piece of the pie with no work involved. Even if it's $20 per pop, that is $20 you would not have received just by turning down the call out right.

That $20 is a lot of work. You collect it and then you have to manage the paperwork on it to send it over to whoever referred you. To me it's not worth it for that guy, and it's not worth it for huggy to make sure to collect it. That's the way I see it anyway. Huggy should just have an agreement between the guy that if theres something his friend doesn't offer.. that huggy would get first dibs.

[huggytree]

That $20 is a lot of work. You collect it and then you have to manage the paperwork on it to send it over to whoever referred you. To me it's not worth it for that guy, and it's not worth it for huggy to make sure to collect it. That's the way I see it anyway. Huggy should just have an agreement between the guy that if theres something his friend doesn't offer.. that huggy would get first dibs.


we already do that...I get a 2 or 3 jobs a year from him....and some have turned into repeat customers....its always nasty work(repiping rotten drains)....but im glad to take it

if I start sending him daily jobs I will ask for $20 also per job.....since my customers are used to paying my prices they will gladly pay his price w/ $20 added (it will still be less than I would charge)

[huggytree]

just letting you all know that adding EMERGENCY SERVICE to my website may be the best thing ive done so far..id say ive doubled my calls just from that...sure some I cant do, but ive had a few I could....just had one tonight...I talked the homeowner through a temp fix and ill be over at the end of the day tomorrow....the word Emergency DOES mean different things to different people....I think just offering it in bold letters tells people you can handle all jobs quickly

its very exciting to actually be getting calls from my website

[shadojake]

Hey, sounds great. I hope you can continue to see many calls from this, even if you can't take them all. None of us can meet all the needs of all the customers out there but sometimes we just need to stretch ourselves to see what we are able to do.