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The plumbing franchise was built to provide a better customer experience, and this priority shines through in all facets of the system.
Founded to bring the small-town, family-owned feel to the plumbing industry without compromising the “big-city” quality of work, Plumbing Paramedics, the emerging plumbing service franchise, has built a franchise model with strong culture weaved through all aspects of the business, and this continues to be one of its largest differentiators with franchise owners and customers alike.
“It is our culture that makes us so different. I have worked with very large home services franchising systems in my career, and I can tell you without any hesitation that what we are doing here is a complete 180 degree turn from what the other systems are doing,” explained Court Aiken, director of operations for Threshold Brands. “That is not to take away from them. They are great people with great systems, but what we are doing with Plumbing Paramedics is tangibly different. Working through our discovery process, you will see that we are not theoretical — we are practical in everything we do and say.”
Plumbing Paramedics has built systems to support franchise owners and ensure customers have a great experience, and all of its current processes are built on lessons learned over the years. While founder Ryan Carpenter is still at the helm and recognizes the value of the brand’s roots, he is not married to the first iteration of the business model he developed and aims to continually grow and adapt as the business landscape changes.
One of the most frequently changing aspects of the business is marketing. This is the case in many industries as customers will change buying habits, browsing habits and when and where they engage with brands relatively frequently. In keeping up with these changes, Plumbing Paramedics pays attention to the trends, but it does not roll out new strategies to the entire system until they have been proven by the corporate team.
“We have the internal marketing support to help franchise owners figure out how to make the phone ring. That is what we do, and our marketing manager and team use the home office here in Noblesville, Indiana to test a lot of those new initiatives,” said Carpenter. “We pilot the marketing here to figure out what works and what doesn’t so we aren’t using franchise owners’ capital to say, ‘Let’s see if this works.’”
One of the more recent updates that Plumbing Paramedics has adapted to is the shift toward a bigger presence on social media. A few years ago, this wasn’t as important for businesses, but now, the team understands that having a social presence that customers can engage with is incredibly valuable.
“We did not understand that a customer who reaches out to us on social media about a new water heater really needs to be engaged with through messages. If we can do that within five minutes of getting the lead, the chances of success are even higher,” added Carpenter. “To Court’s point, we’re not functioning on theoretical strategies that we built two years ago. These are things that we continue to adapt and change on every day because we are in the business just like our franchise owners are.”
As the system adapts, franchise owners can rely on a strong foundation to guide their day-to-day operations and maintain the service standard Carpenter values.
“Our philosophy at our founding store has always been to be a hybrid between a high-commission model and a commission-free one. We pay a fair hourly rate and have a small bonus attached to technicians doing their job really well,” explained Carpenter. “That’s based on customer reviews. This is a culture-based company, and we always put the customer first. We are there to take care of them.”
“We want our technicians to educate the customers and treat them like they are one of our family members. Not forcing the idea that we have to do this repair but giving them the background information they need to understand the options they have,” added Carpenter. “That typically leads to trust developed with the customer. And our technicians typically buy into this model, too, because they didn’t get into this business to be a salesperson. That’s not the path they were on. They are fixers who want to take care of people and serve their communities.”
“We give franchise owners a platform to run a company that believes in service first, too,” said Clay Neff, franchise development manager.
The growth process of guiding a franchise owner to embody all of Plumbing Paramedics’ values starts at the beginning of the discovery process. Throughout the process, the team allows franchise owners to get an accurate, firsthand understanding of what day-to-day tasks look like, what will be expected of them as owners and the fulfillment they can gain by living up to the brand’s values. Once a prospective owner is confident that the brand values align with their own, they can begin the onboarding process.
“The consideration they do during and after discovery day culminates in coming back to Noblesville to do a week of management training where, again, they get to go back out into the field for a day with the technicians and spend time in the field,” explained Neff. “There is also a lot of hands-on training that goes on within that week. We have an amazing ‘lab’ setup with water heaters, softeners and other plumbing fixtures that everyone can practice on.”
The leadership team agreed that, while the robust and varied training process makes Plumbing Paramedics different, it’s the access to ongoing support that further differentiates the franchisor.
For example, Carpenter explained that, if at any point in their ownership journey, a franchise owner wants to return to the headquarters for additional training or guidance, they are more than welcome to do so. While some franchisors will charge additional training fees for in-person sessions, Plumbing Paramedics’ door is always open, and the only expense associated with the training is a franchise owner’s travel and lodging.
“If any franchise owner in the system wants to come back for additional training, whether it’s technical, hands-on training with a water heater, learning about new products or sitting with our general manager and discussing business practices, they can do it,” added Carpenter. “We are not charging for that. We aren’t just presenting a theory of a supportive franchisor — it’s a practical fact of our system.”
“It all comes back to that culture. We have such an amazing team here at the Noblesville office,” said Neff. “Whether they are in the office day-to-day or out and about interacting with customers, everyone here is willing to drop everything that they have going on to help a franchise owner out if they identify a need. That’s how we maintain our culture and continue to grow.”
For more information, visit: https://www.theplumbingparamedicsfranchise.com/
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