Running a small plumbing company in Business Genie
This walkthrough shows how a small plumbing company (an owner and a few plumbers, mostly service calls with some larger installs) can run its work in Business Genie, from the first call to getting paid before the truck leaves the driveway.
- 17:30–10:30Water heater
- 211:00–11:45Drain clearing
- 31:00–2:30Leak repair
- 43:00–3:45Drain clearing
- 54:15–5:00Faucet repair
A sample day. The addresses are drawn side by side along one street; the break lines leave out the drive between them.
What a small plumbing company needs
- Room for emergencies that can’t wait until tomorrow, next to the jobs already booked.
- The same price for the same common job, every time.
- A written quote, and often a deposit, for bigger jobs like a water heater or a repipe.
- Payment before the plumber leaves, because an invoice sent later is an invoice chased later.
Setting up: prices and online booking
Setting up starts the same way for every trade: a one-month free trial with no credit card, free setup with your customer list moved in by the Business Genie team, the iOS or Android app on each plumber’s phone, and QuickBooks Online connected if your accounts are kept there.
Two steps are specific to plumbing. Decide your prices for the common jobs before anyone quotes them, so every plumber gives the same number; the guide to pricing plumbing jobs shows how to work them out. And turn on online booking, so customers can book routine work like a drain clearing without calling.
$185 for each drain clearing (a sample price). Two drain clearings, one at each end of the day, both booked online, both at the same flat price.
- The line cleared
- The same price
Booking and the day’s route
Routine jobs come in through online booking or go on the schedule from the office. Business Genie’s route optimization orders each plumber’s day automatically, keeping the customer’s time window and how long each job takes, and each plumber gets turn-by-turn directions to the next address.
3.4 mi less driving than in the order the jobs were booked. Theo’s day in the order that drives least, with each customer’s window kept.
When an emergency comes in
A burst pipe at noon can’t wait until tomorrow. Add it to the schedule and the day re-routes around it, still keeping each customer’s time window and each job’s length. Jobs can be split across plumbers, so the work that no longer fits one truck’s afternoon can go to another’s. See scheduling and dispatch.
20 minutes from the call to Theo at the door. 11:50: a burst pipe 0.4 mi from Theo’s last job. It goes to Theo. His 1:00 leak repair goes to Nina, there at 1:30, still inside its 12–2 window.
- The burst pipe
- Theo’s 1:00, now Nina’s
Quoting the bigger jobs
For a water heater replacement or a repipe, send an estimate with a deposit, so the equipment is paid for before you order it. See estimates and proposals.
The water heater: Wes quoted it on Monday, the deposit came in on Tuesday, and Theo put it in this morning.
- 1Mon · WesQuoted
- 2TueDeposit paid
- 3Thu 7:30Installed
- 410:34Paid on site
Getting paid on site
When the work is done, the plumber creates the invoice on their phone and sends it while still at the property. The customer can pay by card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Cash App. See payments.
Stop 2 · 11:47The drain clearing’s invoice, sent from the driveway and paid by Apple Pay before Theo drove on. Sample day, sample price.
5 of 6 paid before the truck left. Every job invoiced before the truck pulled away. One customer paid from the link that evening.
- Paid on site
After the job
Business Genie can send automated follow-ups and a review request after the job. The customer’s history stays on their record in the CRM, so whoever takes the next call can see the last visit. Once a month, use job costing to check that your flat prices still cover the labor and parts the jobs actually take.
6 review requests sent. A review request after every job, and each visit on the customer’s record for whoever takes the next call.
- Review request
Run tomorrow in Business Genie
Free for a month, with no credit card to start. The team sets up your account and moves your customer list in, and plans start at $50 a month with route optimization on every one.