Steve Stone
Contributing Writer
ShuBee

When I bought my first new car the dealership offered a 12-month/12,000 mile warranty. When you purchase a new vehicle now, dealerships offer a 75,000 to 100,000 mile warranty. On average, a person keeps a new vehicle for three to five years. Because of the warranty you receive, you will constantly have that dealership in your mind for any services or repairs. This is what we call “top of mind awareness.” When you are the first company a client thinks about when it is time to buy a car, they will use you for every problem, helping to trade more jobs, grow sales and increase client retention. You want your clients thinking of you at all times.

How does this pertain to the service industry? We were the first to offer a lifetime warranty in our metropolitan area at Steve Stone Services. The first warranty we implemented was a huge success. Our warranty was for re-piping jobs for residential homeowners. We did not include commercial property because of the size and complexity of the jobs. If there were any breaks, defects or leaks we would replace or repair it for free. The lifetime warranty means that for as long as they homeowner owns their home, the warranty is in place. The average homeowner sells their home after five to seven years. Once they sell the house the warranty expires. There were occasions where we would transfer that warranty to the new homeowner based on what needed to be done. If I could gain a new client based on a busted pipe that would take us 30 minutes to fix, I would.

Exclusions are key with warranties. You want some exclusivity to your warranty to protect your company. As stated earlier, Steve Stone Services excluded animal related issues and damages. You can always make the decision if you want to let the warranty cover the repair or charge for the service when you go to inspect the issue. My company would sometimes make that decision based on our relationship with the client. We would usually fix the problem if they were a long time customer.

You always want to include your warranties when you are giving an initial job proposal. That is huge; it should be on the ticket when you give it to your potential client, that adds more value to your proposal. Verbally express the warranty, but also write it on the proposal. You should specify to your client how long it is. Is it a 5-year, 12-year, or a lifetime warranty? It creates free advertisement in your customer’s brain. Doing this will increase your closure rate and, in the end, that’s what it is all about. You’re sacrificing really little up front. I can tell you that over the last twenty years we gave lifetime warranties and we probably fixed 8-10 leaks or repairs.

You will trade a job because of the warranties you offer. If your competition is not offering warranties, you still want to offer warranties. If your competition is offering a one-year warranty, you want to offer two years. You always want to one up your competition. When someone asks your client what plumbing company they use you want them to say, “I use Steve Stone Services, they stand behind their work.”

Warranties will also hold your techs accountable for doing their best work. It connects brain to pocketbook, making sure he will do the best work he can on an initial installation. If it’s a warranty that they traded and the damage or repair falls back on them and their bad craftsmanship, you can back charge them for that work. It improves work quality if the tech knows that he’s going to have to warranty his work.

Bottom line, you should be offering some type of warranty to your clients. Warranties are a great way to keep your client base and have your clients reaching out and calling you for everything. It adds value and keeps your company in your clients mind at all times. Warranties will also increase client retention and encourage your current clients to tell their friends and families. Lastly, you will get better work out of your technicians when they know that they are being held responsible for their craftsmanship. If you’re not offering warranties, you’re missing a large chuck of business.