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Grassroots Marketing Pays Off For aqua-lec's Watford Plumber. September 2006

Connell Boyle from Watford is a fully qualified City and Guilds carpenter who, at 40, felt he was getting “into a groove” fitting kitchen and bedroom furniture. The increase in DIY and a fashion for flat pack furniture means more people willing to put up their own shelves and hang doors and less work for the skilled craftsman.

“People are happy to get someone in for the bigger jobs such as fitting new kitchens,” Connell says “but will have a go at the little jobs themselves. With my market becoming smaller and less interesting, most of my work was working for big contractors and fairly routine. I needed a new challenge, and a fresh start.”

Plumbing franchisor aqua-lec (part of the successful gas-elec group) offered Connell the skills and opportunity he was looking for: “The aqua-lec training gave me a variety of different areas that I can cover, from how hot water systems work to industrial plumbing, from water circulating diseases such as legionella to the weatherings on roofs. It makes quite a change from doing the routine work I was used to.”

One of the reasons Connell chose aqua-lec as a plumbing franchise is that he wouldn’t have to rely on emergency work. “I have a young family with 3 children and didn’t fancy doing 24/7 work again. I’ve done it before, you sit around all day and then just when you are putting the children to bed, a call comes. With aqua-lec I can have a proper working day from 8 to 5. I can still do emergency work for regular clients if I want to, but I’m not pushed to do so.”

Connell launched his business in March of this year with a mix of marketing initiatives that have provided a growing demand for his services in his first 4 months as an aqua-lec plumber. Armed with extensive promotional literature provided by aqua-lec as part of his launch package Connell has mail-dropped his former clients to tell them about his new skills. aqua-lec’s Customer Services has embarked on a direct mail campaign to gas-elec group clients in Connell’s area – letting agents with responsibility for hundreds of rented homes – introducing the new plumbing services available to them under the group umbrella and Connell has supported that with personal visits to those agents as well as new ones in his area who have yet to use group services! “In Watford quite a few new agents are starting up and they don’t have anybody to do their plumbing or even their gas and electricity checks so I tell them about us and leave them with my literature. It’s good PR because they are always grateful for the information.”

As part of his launch campaign, aqua-lec has paid for Connell to have a series of display and classified advertising in his local newspapers and call centre support means that sales enquiries are answered, logged and forwarded to Connell seven days a week.

Connell’s grassroots marketing has been simple but effective. As a variation to local leaflet drops he’s taken his aqua-lec vehicle to local car boot sales and handed out his leaflets along with some free and friendly plumbing advice. He’s visited local bathroom shops and put cards in local window card sites and the result of this industry has been a very satisfying, and growing, workload. He’s expecting work to level out over the holiday period but is looking forward to a buoyant autumn and winter and, for the future, a second van is part of his plan.

“In my first month the work I got was very simple – mainly leaky showers, dripping taps, some tiling. As the business has grown, so have the jobs and now I am doing bathroom suites, shower units, central heating pipes and radiators and tap changing.”

With 90% of his work in domestic houses, Connell is used to homeowners and their demands. “It’s very important to keep the customer happy. I always clean up afterwards and leave the place tidy. People appreciate that when you’ve had a lot of work done and remember you for it. And that’s what’s important.”

If you would like to retrain as a plumber and launch a business with the help of an experienced franchisor, take a look at the training, marketing and business supported offered by aqua-lec.

Regular Discovery Days at group headquarters near Heathrow mean would-be franchisees can find out all they need to know about aqua-lec, meet the head office team and visit the company-owned City & Guilds and CITB approved training facilities.

For more details call 0800 587 0666 or visit www.aqua-lec.com

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	Grassroots Marketing Pays Off For aqua-lec's Watford Plumber. September 2006 Connell Boyle from Watford is a fully qualified City and Guilds carpenter who, at 40, felt he was getting “into a groove” fitting kitchen and bedroom furniture. The increase in DIY and a fashion for flat pack furniture means more people willing to put up their own shelves and hang doors and less work for the skilled craftsman. “People are happy to get someone in for the bigger jobs such as fitting new kitchens,” Connell says “but will have a go at the little jobs themselves. With my market becoming smaller and less interesting, most of my work was working for big contractors and fairly routine. I needed a new challenge, and a fresh start.” Plumbing franchisor aqua-lec (part of the successful gas-elec group) offered Connell the skills and opportunity he was looking for: “The aqua-lec training gave me a variety of different areas that I can cover, from how hot water systems work to industrial plumbing, from water circulating diseases such as legionella to the weatherings on roofs. It makes quite a change from doing the routine work I was used to.” One of the reasons Connell chose aqua-lec as a plumbing franchise is that he wouldn’t have to rely on emergency work. “I have a young family with 3 children and didn’t fancy doing 24/7 work again. I’ve done it before, you sit around all day and then just when you are putting the children to bed, a call comes. With aqua-lec I can have a proper working day from 8 to 5. I can still do emergency work for regular clients if I want to, but I’m not pushed to do so.” Connell launched his business in March of this year with a mix of marketing initiatives that have provided a growing demand for his services in his first 4 months as an aqua-lec plumber. Armed with extensive promotional literature provided by aqua-lec as part of his launch package Connell has mail-dropped his former clients to tell them about his new skills. aqua-lec’s Customer Services has embarked on a direct mail campaign to gas-elec group clients in Connell’s area – letting agents with responsibility for hundreds of rented homes – introducing the new plumbing services available to them under the group umbrella and Connell has supported that with personal visits to those agents as well as new ones in his area who have yet to use group services! “In Watford quite a few new agents are starting up and they don’t have anybody to do their plumbing or even their gas and electricity checks so I tell them about us and leave them with my literature. It’s good PR because they are always grateful for the information.” As part of his launch campaign, aqua-lec has paid for Connell to have a series of display and classified advertising in his local newspapers and call centre support means that sales enquiries are answered, logged and forwarded to Connell seven days a week. Connell’s grassroots marketing has been simple but effective. As a variation to local leaflet drops he’s taken his aqua-lec vehicle to local car boot sales and handed out his leaflets along with some free and friendly plumbing advice. He’s visited local bathroom shops and put cards in local window card sites and the result of this industry has been a very satisfying, and growing, workload. He’s expecting work to level out over the holiday period but is looking forward to a buoyant autumn and winter and, for the future, a second van is part of his plan. “In my first month the work I got was very simple – mainly leaky showers, dripping taps, some tiling. As the business has grown, so have the jobs and now I am doing bathroom suites, shower units, central heating pipes and radiators and tap changing.” With 90% of his work in domestic houses, Connell is used to homeowners and their demands. “It’s very important to keep the customer happy. I always clean up afterwards and leave the place tidy. People appreciate that when you’ve had a lot of work done and remember you for it. And that’s what’s important.” If you would like to retrain as a plumber and launch a business with the help of an experienced franchisor, take a look at the training, marketing and business supported offered by aqua-lec. Regular Discovery Days at group headquarters near Heathrow mean would-be franchisees can find out all they need to know about aqua-lec, meet the head office team and visit the company-owned City & Guilds and CITB approved training facilities. For more details call 0800 587 0666 or visit www.aqua-lec.com	Does the central heating work? Is the gas installation safe? Do the pipes leak? Is the wiring safe?
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