How to Get More Work as a Plumber (Without Buying More Leads)

Most advice on getting more plumbing work starts with spending money: more ads, more lead sites, a new website. Sometimes that's the right call. But for a lot of plumbers in the West Midlands, the quickest win is the work that's already trying to reach you and slipping through the gaps.

Here are the fixes, roughly in the order I'd do them. Most cost nothing.

1. Stop losing the enquiries you already get

Before you pay for one more lead, look at what happens to the ones you have.

• How many calls did you miss last week?
• How many website or Facebook messages waited more than an hour for a reply?
• How many quotes went out and you never heard back?

When someone has a leak, they ring two or three plumbers and go with whoever gets back first. If you're under a sink in Halesowen when they call, you're not in the running unless something replies for you.

Free fixes:

• Record a short voicemail greeting that tells people to text or WhatsApp you, and that you reply between jobs.
• Turn on the away message in the WhatsApp Business app. WhatsApp shows how here: How to use away messages.
• Set two short slots in your day, say 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., to reply to every enquiry.

If that's not enough, missed call text back sends the caller a message the moment you can't answer, so they don't move on to the next number.

2. Make your Google Business Profile do the work

When someone searches "plumber near me" or "emergency plumber Kidderminster", the map results usually come before any website. Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees.

Check these:

• Name: your real business name. No keyword stuffing, which breaks Google's rules.
• Primary category: "Plumber". Add secondary ones like "Heating contractor" or "Boiler service" only if you really do that work.
• Service area: list the towns you actually cover, such as Stourport-on-Severn, Kidderminster, Bewdley, Worcester or Dudley.
• Services: add each job you want more of, with a line on what's included.
• Photos: real ones of your van, your work and you. Not stock images.
• Hours: honest hours, plus whether you take emergency call-outs.

Google's own guide covers the basics: Get started with Google Business Profile.

3. Ask every happy customer for a review

Reviews help you show up in the map results, and they help the customer pick you once you do. The trick is to ask every time, straight after the job, while they're pleased.

Google lets you create a short link or QR code for your review page: Create a link or QR code to request reviews. Send it on WhatsApp with something like:

Thanks for having me round today. If you're happy with the job, a quick Google review would really help a small local business: [link]. No worries if not.

Two rules: don't offer anything in return, and don't write or buy reviews. Fake and incentivised reviews are banned under UK consumer law. The government's short guide is here: GOV.UK: publishing consumer reviews.

4. Follow up every quote

Plenty of customers who don't reply to a quote haven't said no. They've just got busy. A polite message a couple of days later gets a fair share of them back.

Keep it short:

Hi Sarah, just checking you got the quote for the bathroom. Happy to answer any questions or tweak anything. No pressure either way.

If you have a lot of quotes on the go, use a simple system, even a note on your phone with dates. (We've written a separate guide with templates for following up a quote.)

5. Be easy to say yes to

Small things turn an enquiry into a booking:

• Give a time window, not "sometime next week".
• Say what the call-out or first visit costs, if you can.
• Show your Gas Safe registration if you do gas work. Customers can check you on the Gas Safe Register.
• Reply in plain English. No jargon.

6. Get more repeat and referral work

The cheapest job to win is the one from someone who already trusts you.

• Save every customer's number with the job and date.
• Send a friendly reminder when the boiler service is due.
• Ask happy customers if they know anyone else who needs a plumber. Most people are glad to help a local trade they rate.

7. Then, and only then, spend on leads

Once you're replying fast and following up, paid leads go further, because you're turning more of them into jobs. Whether that's lead sites, Facebook ads or Google Ads depends on the work you want, but the rule is the same: the first decent reply usually wins.

Where we come in

All of the above can be done by hand, and plenty of good plumbers do. The bit most people can't keep up with on a busy day is the instant reply and the follow-ups.

That's what Speed to Lead does. Every enquiry, whether it's a missed call, your website, Facebook or Google, gets a personal WhatsApp reply in under 60 seconds, and follow-ups go out on day 1, 2 and 5 until they book. It includes a Google Business Profile tune-up and automatic review requests. It's £99 + VAT a month with no contract, and we set it all up on a 15-minute call. If it doesn't win you an extra job in your first 60 days, you don't pay until it lands.

If you're based around Stourport, Kidderminster or Bewdley, there's more on our plumbers in Stourport page. If you want a rough idea of what missed calls are costing you, try the calculator.

The short version

1. Reply to every enquiry fast, even if it's an automatic message.
2. Sort out your Google Business Profile.
3. Ask every happy customer for a review.
4. Follow up every quote.
5. Look after your past customers.
6. Then spend on more leads.

Any questions, WhatsApp me on 07856 813672. No sales pitch, and no worries if it's not for you.