Columnist Richard DiToma discusses the challenges that plumbing and heating contractors face in their business operations, particularly related to rising fuel costs, inflation, customer relations and profitability.

Like ancient gladiators, contractors must exhibit weapons  (technical prowess) and armor (business acumen) to succeed. Understanding true costs, pricing services properly and running a business profitably will win the day. 

Don’t be late when you promise customers that you will be at their location at a certain time. When you are inconsiderate and waste a customer’s time, it looks bad and you may lose that customer. 

Richard DiToma shares his insights on how properly stocking service vehicles with essential materials can help control operational costs and improve efficiency. He highlights the significance of having a well-structured inventory list that includes regularly used items while excluding larger or rarely used items.

Arriving at the right prices for your home services business to thrive is a matter of proper calculation, not guessing or charging a dollar less than your competitors. Wrong results are always arrived at when numbers are not properly calculated.

As contractors juggle correct pricing, fair employee compensation, and personal salaries, it’s important to know and understand their business costs and how many tech hours they must sell to ensure the company is not losing money.

When customers call with an emergency — especially after business hours — you need a system to determine if it truly is an urgent situation. If it is, how do you determine what technician to send? An option to control after-hours chaos is to give that privilege to service agreement program members.

In most encounters, the first impression is important. Contractors want to ensure that any team member communicating with clients is perceived as professional and knowledgeable. Richard DiToma discusses how this can be accomplished before and after arriving at the job site.