Going Above and Beyond Brings Customer Referrals

Joe Procopio has discovered the best marketing tool for his onsite business is a happy customer

Going Above and Beyond Brings Customer Referrals

Joe Procopio, owner of ProSeptic

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No advertising ploy is as effective as the recommendation of a satisfied customer. That’s one thing installer Joe Procopio has learned about the marketing of a small business.

“The service provided by ProSeptic is why we have work and why customers recommend us,” says Procopio, based in Scituate, Rhode Island. “Word-of-mouth is very powerful, but even more so in a small state such as ours.”

Selling quality goes beyond installing LE41 pumps (Liberty Pumps) in systems instead of sump pumps from do-it-yourself stores. To Procopio, it means finishing jobs on time and perfectly, then owning them. “A torrential rainstorm washed out the soil around a customer’s septic tank,” he says. “Did I tell him it was an act of God and he was on his own? No. I ran out with a cubic yard of loam and repaired the damage. He was thrilled.”

Procopio believes it’s how his company handles a difficult situation that separates it from the competition. Last year, a lightning surge tripped the breaker on a customer’s pump control, causing the system to overflow. Procopio arrived with a vacuum truck, pumped the tank and reset the control panel. “The man just spent $22,000 on the system,” he says. “We can spend a few minutes fixing what’s wrong.”

For Procopio, salesmanship is as important as installing components correctly. He gives homeowners a folder with his business card, the Environmental Protection Agency Do’s and Don’ts fact sheet, and other materials, permits, as-built plan, the Eljen manual and warranty, and ProSeptic’s license number and warranty. “Most of our work is replacing cesspools,” Procopio says. “Customers like having information on the new thing in their yard.”

Even with the as-builts, some homeowners are reluctant to do yardwork and call Procopio to mark the system. “It’s easier than if they dig up the system or hit something that I have to fix as an emergency service,” he says. “I should be charging for it, but I don’t. It’s good customer relations, and it generates referrals.”

To learn more about ProSeptic, read the full profile featuring Joe Procopio in the October issue of Onsite Installer.



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