These are the questions plumbing owners and office managers ask us most often. If yours isn't here, call, text or email; a senior strategist will answer it directly. The answers above cover the essentials; the sections below add context on the four topics that come up in nearly every first conversation.
Frequently asked questions
How much do the workshops cost?
Workshops run inside the Trades.Agency plans, from $1,999 a month month-to-month or $1,499 a month billed annually, plus GST/HST for your province (GST and QST in Quebec). The first 30-minute consultation is free.
Do we have to sign a long contract?
No. Plans are month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel. Annual billing is optional and lowers the monthly price.
How long before we see a change?
Most offices see whether the call flow is being used within two weeks, and whether the booking rate is moving within four to six. We don't promise a specific number.
We tried a phone training company before and nothing stuck. Why would this be different?
Most training stops when the session ends. Ours includes four weeks of weekly call scoring against a shared rubric, so you see whether the habits held and fix the ones that slipped.
Do we need to record our calls?
No, but it helps. If you record, tell callers and explain why; the federal privacy commissioner's guidance covers notice, purpose and consent. If you don't record, we sit in on live calls or use a tally sheet.
Who owns the scripts, scorecards and training materials?
You do. The call flow, desk cards, scorecard, rubric and onboarding plan stay with your company, whether or not you keep working with us.
What reporting do we get?
A weekly scorecard with bookable calls, booked calls and booking rate, plus short written coaching notes for each CSR during the coaching weeks.
Are you a plumbing contractor?
No. Plumbers.Consulting is a business and marketing consulting service. We never install, repair, inspect or quote plumbing work, and we don't give code or permit advice.
Can you work with a one-person office?
Yes. Small offices often benefit fastest, because one person's habits decide every call. Sessions are shorter and focus on the call flow and after-hours plan.
Do you also help generate more calls?
The broader Trades.Agency plans include marketing. We usually suggest fixing booking first, so new calls aren't wasted.
Do you work in French?
Scripts for Quebec offices are prepared French-first. Whether the live sessions run in French or English is settled during the free consultation.
What happens if our booking rate doesn't improve?
We tell you plainly and look for the cause. Sometimes it is the schedule, the service fee or the service area, not the phone, and we will say so.
Price and value
Our workshops are delivered within the Trades.Agency plans, so the plan prices on our pricing page are the starting point. The more useful question is whether the work pays back in your business.
A quick test: take your monthly bookable calls, multiply by a booking-rate lift you consider realistic, and multiply by your average ticket. If 110 bookable calls a month gain six percentage points, that is about seven more jobs. At $430 a job, roughly $2,800 of extra work a month. Compare that with the plan price and your margin, and you will know whether to talk to us. The booking rate guide explains each step.
Contracts and ownership
There is no long-term contract. Plans run month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel, and you keep everything we build for your team.
That includes the written call flow, the desk card, the approved price sheet, the scorecard template and the onboarding plan. We design them to be run by your office manager without us. If your team can keep scoring calls after we leave, the engagement has done its job.
Recording calls and privacy
You don't have to record calls to work with us, but recordings make coaching faster and fairer. If you do record, the federal privacy commissioner's page on recording customer telephone calls describes the expectations: tell the caller, explain the purpose, and get consent, with an alternative for people who don't want to be recorded.
Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec have their own private-sector privacy laws. Our guide to recording calls for training summarises the basics with links to official sources. It is a summary, not legal advice, so confirm your approach with your own adviser.
Timeline and what the first month looks like
Most engagements settle into a rhythm within the first two weeks. Week one is a call review and a baseline count. Week two holds the workshops. Weeks three to six are weekly scoring and short coaching notes.
You should be able to tell within two weeks whether the team is actually using the new call flow, because the share of bookable calls that end with a specific time offered will rise. Whether the booking rate itself moves usually takes four to six weeks to read, because small offices see big week-to-week swings. We look at the four-week trend rather than any single week, and so should you.
"We tried an agency before"
Many owners we speak with have paid for training or marketing that didn't change anything they could measure. That is a fair reason to be cautious, and it is why the first thing we do is agree how success will be counted.
Before any workshop, we write down what a bookable call is and record your starting booking rate. After the coaching weeks, you compare against that baseline, not against our word. If the number didn't move, you will see it as clearly as we do, and we will help you work out whether the cause is the phone, the schedule or something else. You can also walk away with 30 days' notice and keep every document we built.
Working with us
Every engagement starts with a free consultation and a look at real calls. From there we suggest one or two workshops, agree a bookable-call definition and set a baseline. Sessions run live over video in your time zone, scheduled away from your morning rush.
We work with offices in every province and territory; the areas page explains how the workshops adapt to regional seasons, languages and privacy laws. To learn who leads the work, see About. When you are ready, call, text or email with your team size and weekly call count.