Building codes, health regulations and safety standards are issues that plumbing companies must regularly address in staff meetings and with training or operations managers. Plumbing companies rarely need to keep the public updated on regulations — but when they do, it matters. While building codes may change in reaction to public safety, most homeowners will assume your plumbers are up to date on the regulatory codes necessary when they make repairs or installations.

However, when you do need to let the public know about new federal, state or local compliance issues, are you prepared to be the thought leader in your area on this subject?

Whether you’re training staff or informing the public about regulatory changes, you must be able to communicate these effectively and in a manner everyone can understand.

Since informing your team or the public of regulatory changes is an important form of communication that shouldn’t be overlooked, it’s a good idea for home services companies that have to deal with regulatory issues to make this a part of their public relations strategy.

Educating your team

As a home services company owner, you provide ongoing training for your plumbers as part of doing business. If your plumbers don’t adhere to these required changes, they not only risk harming the public, but this lack of knowledge can cost you thousands in fines or lawsuits.

For this reason, you may opt to include regulatory changes in your service team’s training curriculum. However, other members of your staff also need to be kept in the loop.

Your customer service team, lead-booking agents and marketing personnel need to be aware of new regulations so they can inform customers or develop marketing campaigns surrounding these changes.

Many business owners assume their PR efforts only target external audiences and treat them similarly to advertising. However, it can also be effectively used for internal communication. If you treat each of your company’s departments like clients who need to be regularly educated, PR can act as a bridge between each team, ensuring everyone in the company is informed and engaged.

If your company also includes investors or external partners, you have yet another group of stakeholders who need to be kept in the know. Adding newsletters or internal blogs to your PR strategy maximizes your communication efforts.

Educating the customer

If you’re like most plumbing contractors, you have some customers who want to know every little detail about the work you’re doing, and others who only want to know if the issue is fixed and where to pay the bill.

However, if updated regulations directly affect the general public, PR can help you turn boring compliance language into an opportunity to educate potential customers and provide you with an avenue to be seen as a thought leader.

A PR partner can craft press releases about your compliance efforts and pitch your expertise to reporters covering the impact on homeowners.

Building trust in your community

As a home services contractor, you know how important a good reputation is within your service area. This is the reason you fret over online reviews and even offer discounted services to customers who give your plumbing company a good Google review.

You should also know that every company is going to get a poor review from time to time — that’s just human nature. However, if you have built a positive reputation overall, an occasional bad review probably won’t hurt your bottom line.

Transparency builds the trust that drives growth and loyalty. By giving public interviews or writing about how regulatory changes will affect the public, you signal to potential customers that you are transparent about the work you do. 

A recent study noted that 81% of customers said they need to trust a company to do business with it (https://bit.ly/4pfhgkH). An effective PR strategy helps you craft your message so you are seen as helpful and knowledgeable — two traits that boost your reputation in the eyes of your community. 

If you are regularly informing your customers and other stakeholders how certain compliance issues affect their homes, safety or bottom lines, you will be seen as trustworthy.

And this is a trait that marketing alone cannot provide. l 

Heather Ripley is the founder and CEO of Ripley PR, a global public relations agency specializing in the franchising, skilled trades and B2B tech industries. She was recently named a 2024 PRNews Top Women honoree in the business entrepreneur category. Ripley is the author of “NEXT LEVEL NOW: PR Secrets to Drive Explosive Growth for your Home Service Business,” available on all audiobook platforms. For additional information, visit www.ripleypr.com.