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Plumber: Best Referral Sources

Who should be sending you clients, and the rooms they are already sitting in. Tell us where you are and we will send the list.

Get your list

The rooms for plumbers, the next meeting dates, and who to ask for when you walk in.

Start here

Your one-page action plan

Five partners, what starts the work for each one, and the three rooms to be in. Print it and keep it in the car.

Networking plan: Plumber

The five people who should be sending you clients

  1. Insurance Property & Casualty (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking
  2. Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo) (Two-way)
    Shared trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking
  3. Property Manager (Residential) (Two-way)
    Shared trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working
  4. HVAC Contractor (Two-way)
    Shared trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working
  5. Commercial Property Manager (They send you work)
    Shared trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking

The three rooms to be in

  1. Your city or county chamber of commerce: Your partners are in this room: P&C insurance agents, community association managers, and residential property managers.
  2. IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management): Your partners are in this room: residential property managers and commercial property managers.
  3. Supply house counter days & contractor breakfasts: Your partners are in this room: HVAC contractors, septic and drain companies, and electricians.

Don't confuse this with networking: PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors). Learning and supplier access, not referrals.

The people

Who should be sending you clients

Ranked by what starts the job, not by who sounds close to your trade. When something happens that makes people need plumbers, who else gets a call that same week?

Match strength is how much of your work starts from the same event as theirs, scored out of 100. Higher means you are more often called into the same job in the same week.

  1. 1 Insurance Property & Casualty They send you work Trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking 78 match strength out of 100
  2. 2 Community Association Manager (HOA / Condo) Two-way Trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking 75 match strength out of 100
  3. 3 Property Manager (Residential) Two-way Trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working 73 match strength out of 100
  4. 4 HVAC Contractor Two-way Trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working 70 match strength out of 100
  5. 5 Commercial Property Manager They send you work Trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking 70 match strength out of 100
  6. 6 Facility Manager Two-way Trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working 69 match strength out of 100
  7. 7 Septic & Drain Services Two-way Trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working 65 match strength out of 100
  8. 8 Attorney Real Estate They send you work Trigger: somebody buys a house 64 match strength out of 100
  9. 9 Electrician Two-way Trigger: the AC dies, a pipe fails, or something in the building stops working 63 match strength out of 100
  10. 10 Roofing Contractor Two-way Trigger: a pipe bursts or a roof starts leaking 63 match strength out of 100

Knowing the names is half of it. We will send the list with what to say to each one. Send me my list ↑

The rooms

Where those people actually are

Ranked by how many of your best partners are in the room, and how much work each one can send you. Give someone nine choices and they pick none, so we have marked the one to start with.

  1. 1 Your city or county chamber of commerce Your pick Your partners are in this room: P&C insurance agents, community association managers, and residential property managers. Chamber of commerce · Monthly · Under $500/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  2. 2 IREM (Institute of Real Estate Management) Your partners are in this room: residential property managers and commercial property managers. Your partners' association · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  3. 3 Supply house counter days & contractor breakfasts Your partners are in this room: HVAC contractors, septic and drain companies, and electricians. Vendor & supply chain · Informal · Free · ~2 hrs/month
  4. 4 Commercial contractors association (AGC / ABC) Your partners are in this room: HVAC contractors and electricians. Your partners' association · Monthly · $2,000+/yr · ~4 hrs/month Chapter finder →
  5. 5 Manufacturer training & certification days Your partners are in this room: HVAC contractors and roofers. Vendor & supply chain · Quarterly · Free · ~3 hrs/month
  6. 6 BNI One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Weekly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~8 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
  7. 7 LeTip International One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Weekly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~7 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
  8. 8 Network In Action One seat per category, so your competitors are excluded by rule and the seats around you are the partners above. Structured referral group · Monthly · $500–$2,000/yr · ~3 hrs/month · One seat per category Chapter finder →
The competitor trap

PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors)

Most plumbers join this room first. It is also the one most likely to be the wrong pick. Everyone in it does what you do. Join it for the training, the licenses, and the ties to manufacturers. Do not join it for referrals, and do not join it instead of the rooms above.

Let us be straight with you. For plumbers, a weekly referral group is not the best pick. Your partners gather in professional groups instead, so spend your time there. We would rather say that than sell you a seat you do not need.

These rooms meet on real dates. We will send you the next ones for your area. Send me the dates ↑

Your seat

Is your seat open?

Prime Time takes one Plumber per chapter. Put a South Florida ZIP into the form above and we will show you which seats are open.

Add your ZIP code in the form above to see which seats are open. Go to the form ↑

Want this as a list you can act on?

Send it to yourself: the partners above, the rooms ranked for plumbers, and the next meeting dates for your area.

Send me my list