How Freezing Pipes Lead to Better Customer Relations

As a contractor working with residential customers, it’s important to keep relationships at least marginally alive, even after the work is done. Most of the time, this is accomplished with newsletters or mailers showcasing recent or current projects. The idea is to keep your company name high in your previous customer’s mind in case they need more work or, more importantly, a friend asks for the name of a good contractor. With winter about to make its yearly appearance, you have an even better opportunity to reach out to your past customers that takes little time and effort by making a simple phone call warning about frozen pipes.

Even in some of the more southern parts of California, cold weather snaps come through that can cause unprepared water pipes to freeze and burst. For the northern and mountain areas, burst pipes are even more likely and, as you well know, even a small feeder pipe breaking in the wrong place can cause thousands of dollars in damage.

For most of your residential customers, the likelihood of damage is low since they will probably be home during the cold holidays or have lived in the chillier towns for long enough to know how to winterize against popping pipes and don’t need the warning. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who have never lived in a colder climate or will be out of town during the winter and may not be aware of proper winterizing procedures.

This is where you come in. By taking the time to go through your list of past customers and making them aware of the possibility, you become a friend; a neighbor. Customers who are knowledgeable about sub-zero consequences will appreciate the personal touch of receiving a voice phone call; engendering more respect for you and your company in their eyes. These customers will probably make up the bulk of your collection.

The minority, on the other hand, will be people who have little to no experience with the damage that expanding ice can do to the inside of their house. They may be planning a month’s long sojourn to Phoenix or Miami and while they are gone, the heat will be turned off and water lines left filled; increasing the chance of returning to an unplanned basement swimming pool or skating rink. Your phone call could well be the difference between an enjoyable Christmas or a ruinous New Year.

There are contractors out there who would rather let the damage happen and swoop in to save the day with repairs that will probably be paid for by home-owner’s insurance; not exactly the most ethical of business owners. It’s certainly good for the bottom line since water damage can be fairly expensive, but if you, the ethical contractor, make a quick phone call and prevent a major disaster, the customer will thank you and be more likely to refer you to friends and family.

Don’t forget that there are those who, even after you call to warn them, will still forget and come home to water dripping down the walls. At that point, you will be the first call they make which will give you the chance to be even more of a hero and, now having done business with you twice, cements your company in their mind as the only contractor to hire. Due to this, they will actively push their friends and family to you.

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and in the case of your previous customers, that pound can be increased to equal a ton. The few hours that you, or someone in your office, spends to contact and warn residential clients about a simple matter like freezing pipes will be well worth the investment in referrals and advertising. If nothing else, you have done a good deed for your customers and can end your day feeling better.