Plumbing CRM software is sold with the same three words by products that differ enormously in what they hold. Some are a contact list with a plumbing logo. Some are a full property record with equipment, history, agreements and the documents produced on each visit. The difference decides whether the CRM produces the next job or just stores a phone number. These seven questions, asked on a phone during the trial rather than on a demo call, sort one from the other in an afternoon.
One to three: the property, the equipment and the history
Does the record start from the address, with people attached, rather than from a person? Can the technician add a water heater, its model and its install date from the phone while standing next to it? Does the history show every visit in order with what was done and what was invoiced? A yes to all three is a plumbing CRM. A no to the first usually means a sales CRM with a coat of paint, and the other two will be workarounds.
Four and five: agreements and access from the truck
Can a service agreement with a due date be stored against the property, and does it raise the reminder and the job when the date comes? And is all of this on the technician's phone in the driveway, offline if the signal drops, rather than on a laptop in the office? A CRM the technician cannot reach is a CRM the technician will not update, and an un-updated record is worth less than no record.
Six and seven: the document chain and the exit
Does an estimate approved on the record become the work order and the invoice without re-typing, so the CRM and the money are one system? And can the whole record set be exported, with customers, properties, history and documents, if you ever leave? The second question is the one vendors like least, and it is the one that protects the business. The free tools on this site produce the documents; the paid records are exportable by design.
What the answers cost, from the vendors' pricing pages
The CRM is nearly always sold inside a job management plan. On the day these were read, Tradify's Lite plan was $47 USD per user per month, Jobber's Core plan was $49 a month including one user with additional users at $29 a month each, and Housecall Pro's Basic plan was $59 a month billed annually or $79 billed monthly. The per-user line is the one to multiply, because a CRM only works when every technician who visits a property can update it.
Questions people ask about plumbing crm software
Is a plumbing CRM different from a plumber CRM?
No, the same product under two searches. Both mean a customer record built around the property with equipment, history and agreements on it, reachable from the truck.
Can a spreadsheet be a plumbing CRM?
For a one-truck shop with a short list, for a while. It fails at the point two people need to update it from two places, or when the history on a property gets long enough that finding last year's job takes longer than the call.
What is the most common mistake buying CRM software?
Judging it on the demo rather than the phone. Ask to add a property, an equipment item and a visit from a phone in the trial. If that takes more than a couple of minutes, the technicians will not do it, and the CRM will be empty.