Get Your Plumbing Company a Business Coach! My Secret to Smashing Business Goals
Hey, Tyler Williams here, owner of Mammoth Marketing for Plumbers. I got back from a fantastic time at the Wealthy Plumber Convention in beautiful Pensacola, Florida. This is the group my brother runs, and I was stoked to sponsor the event and get some time on stage in front of about 100 plumbers. It’s still a relatively small event, but let me tell you, it is packed with value.
As a marketer at Mammoth Marketing for Plumbers, I deal with plumbing companies of all shapes and sizes. You guys come across my path at all different points: some of you are hitting the $5, $8, or even $10 million mark, while others are just scraping by that $500,000 threshold. You're all in different places, but as an observer from the outside looking in, I’ve noticed a huge difference between the folks who have a dedicated coach or a coaching group and those who don’t.
Now, this is going to sound a little self-serving, but bear with me. My brother's group and I have actually partnered up so that any client who comes through our world ends up getting a seat at the Wealthy Plumber. We didn't do this just because he’s my brother; we did it because we looked at our client base and saw a clear pattern. The clients who were coached, the ones who had a group or an individual to help them make crucial business decisions, experienced a gigantic, night-and-day difference in their ability to sustain their business and, most importantly, support their marketing efforts.
You see, a marketing agency often gets blamed if leads don’t book. But our job is to drive those high-quality leads right to your threshold, not necessarily to close the deal for you. That’s your team's job! And that's where the rubber meets the road—or rather, where the lead meets the lack of process. That’s why you need to Get Your Plumbing Company a Business Coach!
Stop Blaming the Marketing Agency (It’s Not Always Our Fault!)
This is a tough-love moment, but it needs to be said. Often, during my own consults with plumbers, I have to be the bearer of bad news and tell them, "Hey, you don't need us right now. We are not the problem."
I see this all the time. Business owners come to me thinking that a shiny new website and a couple thousand bucks in ad spend is the magic pill, but the reality is they have foundational business problems. I’m talking about business operations problems, sales problems, closing problems, CSR problems, and often, just plain old pricing problems.
Before you hire a marketing agency for several thousand dollars a month, you really, truly need to go and fix those issues. If your business is leaky in those core areas, you won't be able to support the high ad spends and the agency fees on top of it. You'll end up running out of runway.
What’s the runway? It’s the money you have coming in and the money you have in the tank. You need that runway to help you build more runway, so you never run out of juice while trying to launch your plane. It’s business 101: you're always building the road under you. And frankly, I don’t want people coming into my agency, spending a ton of money on marketing, and then having to stop prematurely.
Why? Because especially if you haven’t marketed before, that first year can be tricky. You need to sustain at least six months of marketing to really see traction, and it’s usually in the second year when things really start to glue together. By the third year, you’ve typically got your feet under you. If you don't have the foundation to support that sustained effort, you’re setting yourself up for a painful exit.
Two Coaches Are Better Than One: My Personal Coaching Story
I can talk about this with a clear conscience because I walk the walk. I currently have two coaches. Yes, two! And I pay $3,000 a month for all of my coaching.
Business Operations Coaching Group: This group is very similar to the Wealthy Plumber, but it's just for agencies. It helps me with business operations, like things I could be doing to serve my clients better. I love this because we implement the strategies and discoveries from this group into Mammoth Marketing to continuously level up our agency and do better work for you, the client. If you’re curious, that group is the Seven Figure Agency run by Josh Nelson.
Executive Coach: This is the game-changer that didn't fully click until I got both coaches up and running. My executive coach, a man named Kerrie Turnbow of Hope Concepts (I’ve had him on my podcast before!), used to be a therapist. He helps me make key decisions and, more importantly, helps me watch out for my head game.
Think about it:
The first coach is for What to do (strategy, systems, best practices).
The second coach is for Why I'm hesitating to do it (psychology, fear, leadership issues).
It was all about my head game—going, "Why am I having a hard time making key decisions or finishing key projects in the agency, and what’s holding me back?" That, my friends, is the psychological game. I’m a huge fan of analyzing psychology, as every good marketer should be, because that’s how the human race ticks. If you understand that, you can engineer your way into providing real, honest value to it.
The Community Shortcut: Avoiding Heartache and Mistakes
What I saw at the Wealthy Plumber group was something truly special: plumbers helping each other. Some of them were even in the same market, which is genuinely admirable. The world doesn't have to be a dog-eat-dog scenario. There is enough market out there for everyone, and you guys can absolutely help each other grow.
So, here’s what this whole rambling, spitballing episode boils down to: Coaching is extremely helpful.
It avoids costly mistakes.
It gives you invaluable shortcuts.
It provides a community that can surround you, assuming you join the right group.
The Wealthy Plumber Coaching Group is one of them, and I obviously recommend it, but there are others out there.
If you are having a hard time making yourself tick in the way that your business needs to actually work, that's where an executive coach comes in. That's the stuff that makes sure you, the leader, aren't the bottleneck.
And here’s a kicker for those of you balking at the fee. The Wealthy Plumber is only $100 a month. That is dirt cheap, guys! I pay $3,000 a month, so $100 a month is absolutely bonkers to me. If you’re hesitating at $100, trust me, that is chump change when it comes to figuring out expensive, money-making solutions for your business. The money you end up spending on coaching almost always nets you a really good return on the back end. I haven't been part of a coaching group that was a dud.
It really just comes down to how much you're willing to engage with it, how much you're asking questions, and being willing to go into it with humility. Humility is the secret sauce. You have to be willing to say, "I don't know this, and I need help."
Don’t Climb the Mountain Alone: The Loneliness of the Plumber Owner
Here’s the last spot I’ll park you with. You don't have to do business alone, and business is extremely lonely if you don't seek out the people who are in it with you.
Chances are, you went into business, and none of your friends did. There’s an immediate disconnect. You are going to have to find ways to make inroads with other people who are dealing with the exact same problems you are. You won't be able to take your business problems to the friends you grew up with most of the time. They don't quite see it the same way. That's normal, and that's okay—they can still be your friends (I feel like I'm talking to a six-year-old here!).
But you really, really need to get around the people who can be your friends in business.
So, if you’ve been on the fence, it’s time to find that community. Go plug in. It will save you so much heartache, and you will learn the fundamental business skills that you haven't yet developed.
We are here to help you get the leads, but you have to be ready to catch them and turn them into paying jobs. The best way to get ready is to Get Your Plumbing Company a Business Coach!
Ready to Launch Your Plane? Let's Talk.
We at Mammoth Marketing for Plumbers do free consults to get to know you, figure out what you need, and ensure you're in a good spot before we ever sign you up for services. We want you to be ready so we can help elevate your business and make sure you've got a solid marketing team working with you.
If you would like the Tyler Williams crew to take a look at what you need to focus on to grow your plumbing business, schedule a consultation at my website today: https://tylerwilliams.net/.
Take care, and have a good one!
