You didn't build a drain cleaning company (or a repiping company, or a sewer lining company) to respond to every call looking for a plumber.

You built a specialty operation because you can do that specific type of work better than most generalists. You have the equipment, the training, and the crew for it. And you've probably built your business on relationships, not big marketing budgets or funny ads. Other plumbers know who you are, trust your work, and send you the calls they can't handle.

The problem is that those relationships are inconsistent. The generalist plumber who sent you three customers last month might send you none this month. Or he might get acquired, or retire.

There's a better way to formalize what you've been doing for years.

Why specialty operators are natural receivers in a referral network

When a general plumber company gets a call for a whole-house repiping, or a sewer line inspection and lining, or a complicated drain blockage, they have three options. 

• They can try to take the job and do it poorly. 
• They can just say no and lose the customer. 
• Or they can refer it to someone who actually does this work.

Usually they want to do the third thing. The problem is they don't have a reliable, trusted operator to send it to. And there's no compensation structure for the referral, which means there's no incentive to be consistent about it.

A referral network solves both problems. The generalist has a vetted network of specialty operators to refer into. They get compensated for every referral. And you, the specialty receiver, get a steady, formalised inbound of exactly the type of jobs you want. Not random leads from homeowners who Googled you, but jobs that have already been screened by another professional who confirmed the work is real and within your specialty.

How a service network helps you succeed

You set your service parameters: the ZIPs you cover, the job types you want (drain cleaning, repiping, sewer lining, whatever your specialty is), and the price you pay per qualified referral. You only receive calls that match those parameters.

When a generalist plumber in your market gets a call they can't handle, and your profile matches the job, the referral comes exclusively to you. You're not competing with four other specialists for the same lead.

Because these are exclusive leads, the close rate on these jobs is significantly higher than anything you'd get from a consumer marketplace. The job is already confirmed by another professional. The customer is already expecting a call. Referrals turn into revenue much faster because the qualification already happened.

‍The question to ask yourself

How many jobs per week does your business need to stay busy at the level you want?

If the answer is more than what your current network reliably produces, then a formalised network is worth understanding. You've already built the reputation and the capability. Now you just need to add the jobs.

Baton connects specialty plumbing operators with generalists who need exactly what you do.

Baton is a referral network for home service companies, including plumbing. Specialty sub-operators — drain and sewer specialists, repipe companies, trenchless specialists — are natural receivers in the Baton network, and we're actively building the plumbing side of the platform.

There's no long-term commitment to start. We send a few referrals so you can see the quality before you commit to anything.

If you're a specialty plumbing operator looking to formalise your referral pipeline, we'd like to talk.

See what coverage looks like in your market at batonleads.com.