Emails every plumber should send past customers

The plumbing emails that work are tied to the job you did and the time of year. When a pipe bursts or a water heater quits, people call the name they remember, and an email about the work you actually did is how yours stays that name. A coupon that goes to everyone doesn’t do that.

Here are twelve worth sending, starting with the ones tied to a specific job, then the seasonal ones, then plans, quotes, reviews and customers who’ve gone quiet. Some go out on their own when a job closes or a quote sits. The rest go out about once a month, and the work you did decides which customer gets which.

1. The 90-day check-in

When: about three months after a water heater install or a repipe.

Subject: Hot water still keeping up?

It’s been about three months since we put in your new water heater. Is it keeping up when showers run back to back, or two at once? Any water around or under it, or new noises? If anything’s off, we’d rather hear about it now than the morning you run out of hot water.

The ask: reply, or book a callback.

Why it works: it doesn’t sell anything, and it catches a small problem before it turns into a cold-shower emergency. For a repipe, use the subject “How’s the water pressure since the repipe?” and ask whether it feels right upstairs and down, and whether any pipes bang when a faucet or the washer shuts off.

2. The first annual flush

When: a year after a water heater install.

Subject: Your water heater is due for its first flush.

It’s been a year since we put in your water heater. Sediment settles in a tank over time, and a flush clears it out. If your warranty asks for regular service, we’ll log the visit for your records. It’s a quick visit, and your repeat-customer rate is [price].

The ask: book the flush.

Why it works: it’s the customer’s own equipment, on the anniversary of the job. Use the interval in the manufacturer’s manual for that model, and leave out any promise about what a flush does for the warranty unless the warranty says so. For a tankless install, make it a descaling instead: minerals build up inside it over time, a descaling flush clears them out, and you clean the screen where the water comes in while you’re there.

3. The salt-bridge check

When: about six months after a water softener install.

Subject: Your softener’s salt tank might only look full.

You’ve been topping off salt for months by now. The thing people miss is a salt bridge: a hard crust that forms above the water in the salt tank, so it looks full while the softener can’t make the brine it needs. The giveaway is a salt level that hasn’t dropped in a few weeks. To check, push a wooden broom handle down into the salt. If it stops on a hard layer with empty space under it, that’s a bridge. Break it up gently with the handle, nothing sharp or metal, or reply and we’ll take care of it and retest your water hardness while we’re there.

The ask: reply if you find one, or if you’d like us to check.

Why it works: it teaches the customer something about their own system. Culligan, which sells softeners, describes a salt bridge the same way and warns against breaking one up with anything sharp or metal.

4. The water test after a repipe

When: about six months after a repipe.

Subject: Want us to test the water going into your new pipes?

Your pipes are new, but the water coming into them hasn’t changed. If you’ve noticed spots on your glasses, scale on your faucets, a chlorine taste or smell, or staining, we can test your water and tell you whether a filter or softener would actually help. If your water’s fine, we’ll tell you that too.

The ask: book a water test.

Why it works: the repipe customer has already put money into the house’s water, and a test answers whether they need anything before anyone quotes it. For customers on a well, swap the symptoms for orange or black staining, a rotten-egg smell, or grit in the water.

5. The root follow-up

When: about a year after you clear roots from a customer’s main sewer line.

Subject: It’s been a year since we cleared your sewer line.

Last [month], we cleared roots out of your main sewer line. Roots grow back, and a backup never picks a convenient time. A maintenance clearing now, or a camera inspection to see where things stand, usually costs a lot less than an emergency call.

The ask: book a maintenance clearing or a camera inspection.

Why it works: root regrowth makes this some of the most predictable repeat work a plumbing shop has, and the customer already knows what a backup feels like.

6. The water heater temperature check

When: any month, to customers whose water heater you didn’t install.

Subject: Is your water heater set hotter than it needs to be?

The Department of Energy suggests turning your water heater down to 120°F to save energy and avoid scalding. To check yours, run the hot water at the faucet closest to the heater for a couple of minutes and hold a kitchen thermometer in the stream. If it reads well over 120°F, reply and we’ll set it for you. If it got turned up because you kept running out of hot water, tell us that too, because the heater may be too small or wearing out. On an electric heater, please leave the small panels on the tank closed. There’s live power behind them.

The ask: reply if it reads over 120°F, or if you keep running out of hot water.

Why it works: the thermometer check is safe on any heater, and the advice comes from the Department of Energy’s home energy checklist, not from you. Don’t send it to your own install customers. Your tech already set theirs.

7. Sump pumps before the wet season

When: before your wet season, and only to customers you know have a sump pump.

Subject: Is your sump pump ready for the spring rain?

Spring rain is when a sump pump earns its keep, and it’s a bad time to find out it doesn’t work. We’ll test it, check the float and the check valve, and make sure the discharge line is clear. If you don’t have a backup pump, ask us about one. The main pump stops when the power goes out, and storms are when that happens. Reply and we’ll get you on the schedule before the rain.

The ask: book a sump pump check.

Why it works: the timing does the selling, and a failed pump in a storm is the call nobody wants to make. Slab homes usually don’t have a sump pump, so keep this to the customers who do. If your wet season isn’t spring, change the subject and the first line.

8. The freeze-up emails

When: late fall, before your first hard freeze. In mild-winter markets, send it when a hard freeze is in the forecast, and skip it where it doesn’t freeze.

Subject: Before the first hard freeze: your outdoor spigots.

The Red Cross recommends removing, draining and storing your outdoor hoses, closing the inside valves that supply your outdoor spigots, then opening the spigots so the line drains, and leaving them open. Frost-free spigots usually don’t have an inside valve, so just take the hose off and leave the spigot shut. A hose left on traps water in the spigot, and it can split inside the wall where you won’t see it until spring. If a spigot drips, leaks or isn’t frost-free, reply and we’ll swap it for one that is before the cold sets in.

The ask: reply to have a spigot checked or swapped.

Why it works: it’s a small job people forget until the first hard freeze, and the steps come from the Red Cross. It’s the first of a series: pipes in unheated spaces, the coldest nights and finding the main shutoff follow. Here’s the full winter calendar for plumbers.

9. The maintenance plan renewal

When: well before the plan ends, with a reminder close to the date.

Subject: Your plan renews next month. Here’s what it did this year.

This year your plan covered [your yearly visit, like the water heater flush and a whole-house plumbing check] and [anything you caught early]. It renews on [date] at [price]. If you’d like to change it or cancel, reply here or call us at [number].

The ask: renew, or tell us what to change.

Why it works: it shows what the plan did before it asks for another year. If they called you this year, add the priority scheduling they got. If they didn’t, leave it out, because they’ll know. Here’s what to send, when, and the rules to check. For customers who passed on a plan at the time of the job, the plan offer in our HVAC list works for plumbing too, once you swap in what your plumbing plan covers.

10. The quote they didn’t sign

When: for a planned water heater replacement, a tankless upgrade or a repipe, a few days after the estimate goes unsold, then spaced out over the next few weeks. Not for no-hot-water calls. Those need a phone call the same day.

Subject: Still thinking it over?

No pressure from us. If you’re still weighing it, here’s more on [pick one: financing; tank versus tankless; how long you’d be without water and who patches the walls; what our price includes, like the permit and hauling away the old heater]. Reply with any questions and we’ll answer them straight.

The ask: reply, or book a second visit.

Why it works: a big quote is already half sold, and a short, honest follow-up keeps it alive. Here’s what to say when they tell you they want to think about it, and the five-email sequence we use.

11. The review request

When: within a day of the job being finished, to every customer. If a return trip is scheduled, wait until the work is done.

Subject: How did we do?

Thanks for having [tech name] out. Would you leave an honest review of your visit? It takes about a minute, and it helps your neighbors find a plumber they can trust.

The ask: one tap to your review page.

Why it works: the job and the tech’s name are both fresh, and it goes out without anyone at the office remembering to ask. Send it to everyone, not just the jobs that went well. Google’s review policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews (Google), and the FTC’s guide for businesses says “Don’t ask for reviews only from customers you think will leave positive ones” (FTC). Don’t attach a discount to the review either, because Google prohibits incentives for reviews. One polite follow-up if they don’t get to it is plenty.

12. The 18-month check-in

When: after 18 months without a job, for customers who aren’t on a plan.

Subject: It’s been a while. Everything flowing okay?

We haven’t been out since [last job]. If everything’s working, great. If a drain’s been slow or the water heater’s been making new noises, we’d be glad to take a look, and returning customers get [your offer].

The ask: book a visit.

Why it works: a customer who’s gone quiet usually hasn’t left. They just haven’t needed you, and this gives them a reason to call. Fill in [last job] in plain words, like “cleared your kitchen drain in March,” not the job type from your software. Here’s how to bring them back.

Why these work

None of these is clever. Each one is tied to something real: the water heater you installed, the softener, the repipe, the sewer line, and the season. That’s the difference between a coupon and an email from the plumber who did the work.

It’s also why the data matters more than the writing. Every email above depends on knowing who had which job and when you were last there. The jobs and dates are already sitting in ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro. Details like tank or tankless, city or well water, and whether there’s a sump pump are only there if your techs write them down. Here’s how we run it for plumbers, and what we know about keeping customers in the trades.