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18 Quick Tips To Handle Busy Winters With Your Heating Business

by | Oct 16, 2024 | Doing Work, Planning & Scheduling, Technical Knowledge

For heating & plumbing businesses, winter is the busiest and most profitable season. But while all this extra work is great news for the bank account, it can make things a lot more stressful and difficult to manage. 

Scheduling challenges, long work hours, last-minute phone calls from customers who’ve just turned on their radiators for the first time this year – you’ve heard it all before. Add some family time for Christmas onto that and you’ve got a recipe for an incredibly busy few months. 

In this article, we’ll go through 18 tips from real heating & plumbing business owners on how to make the most of the heating season. 

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A quick note on seasonality:

We analysed over 6000 heating & plumbing businesses and found that heating and plumbing businesses are on average 39% busier in the busiest month of the year (October) compared to the quietest month of the year (April). 

Here’s a graph of the data:

We’ve also put together a calculator so you can calculate your own business’ seasonality. Click here to download it for free.

The tips:

Tip #1: Call your customer the day before to confirm the appointment

Communication is key in the trades. Sometimes, customers forget about an appointment or, even worse, call another company that could get the job done quicker. A great way to avoid turning up and finding out they’re not home is to give them a quick ring the day before to confirm the appointment. 

It shows the customer you’re on top of things, can help you reschedule other customers sooner, and avoids wasted time. 

This tip was submitted anonymously. 

Tip #2: Avoid committing to large projects for a flexible schedule

If you have the schedule to accommodate them, breakdowns (specifically emergency callouts) are some of your most profitable jobs and greatly help your customers. The only problem is when you’ve got a fully booked-up schedule and end up working overtime to do them. 

During the busy months, prioritising smaller jobs leaves you with a more flexible schedule. Larger jobs can mean you have to miss out on more urgent ones, which can then hurt the amount of repeat business you get in the long run. 

This tip was submitted by Peter Blake from Pipedreams Heating and Plumbing Limited.

Tip #3: Make getting paid quick & easy

When things get busy, it’s crucial to make administrative parts of the job as painless as possible. We’ve written in detail about the issue of late-paying customers in the trades, and one of the best ways to avoid it entirely is to offer a way to get paid on the spot.

Using open banking apps like Crezco (which can be integrated with Gas Engineer Software), you can provide customers with a QR code or link they can use to pay and avoid the annoying bank transfer process or having to write a cheque. This method also means much lower fees. 

This tip was submitted by Richard from Marshall Gas Ltd. 

Tip #4: Schedule jobs efficiently

A great way to squeeze some extra time out of your day is to organise your diary so that all your jobs are close together. This will help minimise time spent driving and maximise how long you actually get paid for. 

Before booking a job, see if you’re going to be in the area at a certain time. Or, if you work as part of a team, check where each engineer lives and what’s closest to them. 

This tip was submitted anonymously.

Tip #5: Save the last slot of each day for emergency breakdowns

Reserve some time each day for an emergency call so you can reliably be at a customer’s house on the same day without messing around your schedule. For example, you could book jobs in from 8am-4pm and leave the 4-5pm slot open for a last-minute job. 

If you finish early, you can also use the time to finish up some paperwork. 

This tip was submitted by Laura Eastham from Ignite Heating Services and Jason Finlay from JMF Heating and Plumbing Ltd.

Tip #6: Don’t be scared to say “no” to new customers

Repeat business is incredibly valuable and very profitable for any heating & plumbing business. If you’ve got a loyal customer base already, don’t be afraid to turn down a new customer, even if it’s just for the winter months.

New customers can take a disproportionately large amount of your time, meaning you won’t have time to help all of your current customers. 

This tip was submitted by Laura Eastham from Ignite Heating Services.

Tip #7: Send out reminders a little earlier than usual

If you have customers who need boilers serviced over winter, it can be a good idea to send your service reminders a little earlier. This gives you some extra time to schedule jobs and make sure things don’t get too hectic at the last minute.

This tip was submitted by Laura Eastham from Ignite Heating Services.

Tip #8: Avoid doing work for insurance companies

Insurance companies are notorious for being stingy and making it hard to claim money back. Especially during winter, and if you have other jobs to choose from, avoid doing work for insurance companies. They rarely pay out anything other than the minimum and it can be a hassle getting the money claimed or getting a customer to pay upfront. 

This tip was submitted by Laura Eastham from Ignite Heating Services.

Tip #9: Keep your van well-stocked with spare parts

You never know when you need a specific spare part. Keep your van fully stocked with all the parts you can so you don’t need to rush to the merchants and return another day to finish the job. 

This tip was submitted by Rob from Plumbing Heating Drainage Services.

Tip #10: Hire a virtual admin assistant

To capitalise on the influx of work over winter, you want to be spending as much time as possible on the tools. An extremely cost and time-efficient way of doing this is to hire a part-time virtual assistant to help with paperwork like generating invoices. 

You only need to pay for a few hours a week to make a noticeable difference. What’s great about hiring a virtual assistant (rather than a dedicated full or part-time one) is that you only pay for the time you need, whether that’s 2, 3 or 4 hours a week – or more.

This tip was submitted by Robin Strong from Optimised Heating.

Tip #11: Keep a kettle in your van

Warming up frozen condensing pipes can be a real nuisance. Keeping a kettle in your van means you won’t have to bother your customer. 

This tip was submitted anonymously.

Tip #12: Always show up with a smile

How you interact with your customers plays a huge role in what they think of you and your services. Friendly and happy attitudes are contagious and will rub off on your customers, and happy customers mean less stressful jobs, better reviews, and more repeat business. 

This tip was submitted by @rebel.gaming.steve on Instagram.

Tip #13: Prioritise your work and stick to a plan

When you’ve got lots to do, it can be easy to get lost and stressed out by trying to juggle everything at once.

A great way to minimise this mental load is to make a plan for the week ahead and keep a “if it’s not on the list it’s not getting done” mentality.

This tip was submitted by Emma Fisher on Facebook.

Tip #14: Set your prices for the customers that you want to work for

Everyone has their own version of an ideal customer. Different types of customers will have different price ranges they’re comfortable with, and setting your prices accordingly will allow you to work for who you want.

This tip was submitted by @jonesthegas on Instagram.

Tip #15: Reply to customer enquiries as quickly as possible

Customers love to feel valued. Replying to a message quickly gives off the impression that their enquiry was important to you and at the top of your list.

This tip was submitted by Christina Curtis on Facebook.

Bonus tips:

#16 Increase your prices

If your schedule is simply too busy to manage during the busy period, it could be a sign your prices are too low. Higher prices will naturally mean you win fewer quotes, but it’ll also mean you make more profit for your work. 

So, what and how should you charge? We’ve written in-depth articles about pricing that talk about the best pricing strategies as well as the average prices for jobs broken down by region here in the UK. You can access these here:

 

#17: Set expectations with your customers

This first tip is all about communicating with your customers. Every business owner knows that happy customers mean a happy business, but customer satisfaction is closely related to their expectations. 

Read more: Customer Relationship Management: How To Show You Care

Letting customers know that you might have a longer-than-usual turnaround time for emergency visits, or an update to your ETA can go a long way in terms of keeping your customers happy. 

Generally, people are understanding of longer wait times or late arrivals so long as it’s communicated clearly. 

#18: Leverage technology to your advantage

Job Management App Works on Mobile

Job management platforms like Gas Engineer Software are a great way to cut down on admin and save a good chunk of your time.

For example, instad of having to fill out every detail on every certificate, software can auto-fill what you already know (think your company and personal details, appliances), scan serial no. barcodes, pull readings from your FGA, and much more. There are also line item templates for quotes, which can then be converted into invoices, automated reminders to track late payers, and lots more.

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Review the season

Once the influx of work has died down a little, take the time to reflect on what went well and what could have been improved. If you find quiet periods of the year just as stressful, we’ve written a blog about how you can grow your business even when it’s quiet – check it out here.

Next steps:

If you’ve been thinking about implementing software into your workflow to save time, here’s what you can do next: