Plumbing memberships sound beneficial on paper.
A small monthly fee. A discount. Priority service.
And suddenly you have “recurring revenue”.
But in the real world, especially in reactive residential plumbing, it often turns into a messy promise you cannot keep.
In Episode 491 of The Site Shed Podcast, Matt Jones sits down with Scott Irwin from Network Plumbing to unpack why the membership model was borrowed from HVAC, why the “discount” is often just illusion value, and what actually gets customers to call you again.
If you want repeated work, the answer is not another programme.
It is a better customer experience, delivered consistently.
Why plumbing memberships often fail in reactive service
Scott’s first point is simple. Most plumbing does not run on a predictable cycle. So the membership model gets forced in.
It usually starts with a discount baked into the pitch before the plumber even shows up. This approach creates incorrect expectations from the very beginning.
Then there is the admin.
Once you create members, you have to run the “member experience”.
You send stuff. You track renewals. You manage different service rules.
And now you have two customer programmes: member and non-member, even though the non-member might be the one who has spent far more time with you.
Scott’s view is blunt: it costs a lot to run, and it complicates what should be common-sense service.
The “priority service” trap
Priority service is one of the most dangerous promises in a service business.
If you tell someone they get priority when you’re booked for a week, you create a gap between what they think they bought and what you can deliver.
Scott calls out how quickly that turns into customers feeling jaded.
When marketing sets expectations instead of reality, trust quickly erodes.
This is why many memberships do not create loyalty. They create friction.
The real goal: customers for life, not memberships sold
One of the strongest takeaways from this conversation is Scott’s alternative:
“Treat everyone like a member. Better than a member. Treat them like family.”
That means you stop chasing loyalty with a subscription and start earning it through how you show up.
Always provide the same level of care and uphold the same standards.
Scott ties this concept back to lifetime value.
The aim is not to “sell the membership”. The aim is to keep the customer.
Matt also highlights a prevalent trend where businesses view the membership sale as the final step.
Check the box, proceed, and then no follow-up is conducted.
Scott’s view is that this is exactly how you lose the customer relationship you should be protecting.
How to stay top of mind without annoying customers
For reactive plumbing, the biggest enemy is not your competitor. It is forgetting.
Scott says customers often do not remember who showed up last time. In times of panic, they tend to dial the first number that appears. That is why recall matters.
So what works?
Scott points to direct mail as one of the better returns.
A straightforward piece of paper suffices. Something in the letterbox. It serves as a brief reminder of your existence.
He is also clear that blasting texts can backfire fast if you overdo it.
The key is being visible without being intrusive.
He recommends using natural moments and local triggers like Christmas, Easter, long weekends, and weather patterns so your follow-up feels relevant instead of salesy.
Use weather as your follow-up trigger
If you take one more thing from this episode, let it be this: Follow up based on storms and weather.
Scott explains it clearly. When severe weather occurs, people tend to panic and call anyone they can reach.
Your job is to make sure they ring you back. A timely reminder right before or during those conditions keeps you top of mind when it matters.
This is not complicated marketing. It is customer psychology in action.
Ethical upsells that do not feel dodgy
Scott also discusses upsells and the boundary that many businesses tend to cross.
Yes, you should look for other problems while you are there. But no, you should not turn a small job into a forced sales pitch.
He gives a simple script that keeps it honest: “Would you like me to?” not “I’m going to.” That small shift keeps the customer in control.
He also explains why the person you speak to matters. If you are talking to someone who cannot decide, your best suggestions go nowhere.
So, having the owner on site is helpful for the right conversation.
When a membership can make sense
Scott is not saying every membership is always wrong.
Where it can work is in scheduled maintenance environments, commercial compliance, strata, or large homes where ongoing preventative checks are expected and budgeted for.
In those contexts, the “cycle” exists. That makes the offer logical.
Why the US membership model is different
Matt and Scott also compare Australia to the US model.
In high-density markets, some businesses build the entire company around memberships.
They have tiers, phone sales systems, and staff incentives designed to sell and deliver the programme end to end.
That is a different game from an Aussie plumbing business trying to bolt a membership onto a reactive service model.
Scott also highlights a critical juncture during the sale of memberships: the desperation phase.
Someone gets a big quote, then gets offered a “membership discount” to drop the price.
Scott sees that as bad logic and a fast path to a customer who never gets proper follow-up anyway.
Actionable steps for plumbers
If you are a plumbing business owner and you want to repeat work without the membership baggage, start here:
- Choose one trigger to follow up on (storms, rain, long weekends) and commit to it.
- Use simple direct mail to stay visible, and avoid flooding customers with texts.
- Train your team to ask permission when suggesting extra work: “Would you like me to?”
- Protect trust by only promising what you can deliver, especially around priority service.
- Treat every customer like they are already your best customer, because that is how you earn lifetime value.
A better loyalty model
You do not need a membership to build recurring work.
You require a reputation for delivering on your promises and a straightforward system that ensures you remain at the forefront of the customer’s mind.
When you make customers experience the product, loyalty becomes a natural outcome.
📚 Resources from this Episode
Get in touch with Scott Irwin:
Website: https://networkplumbing.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/networkplumbing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/networktradies_/
LinkedIn (Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/network-plumbing/
Scott’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-irwin-5b413a31/
Related Episodes:
Episode 439 with Scott Irwin (Network Plumbing journey)
Episode 440 with Scott Irwin (Designing your ideal life)
Want to unlock your business's hidden potential?
Ready to build a smarter, more scalable business?
👉 Book a free strategy call – let’s design your digital operations roadmap and get you moving faster.
