Are You Referring Profitable Sewer & Drain Work to Your Competitors?

Profitable sewer work can easily leave a plumbing company when the business does not have the capabilities needed to complete the next stage of a project.

Referrals are an important part of the plumbing industry, especially when a customer needs a service your company does not provide. However, there is a difference between referring occasional specialized work and routinely sending valuable sewer and drain opportunities to another contractor.

If your technicians regularly identify problems your company cannot solve, those referrals may represent a significant amount of unrealized revenue. Adding sewer, drain, inspection, and trenchless capabilities can help keep more of the right projects — and the customer relationships behind them — inside your business.

Understand How Much Business Is Actually Leaving Your Company

Consider what happens when a customer calls your plumbing company with a recurring backup or drainage problem.

Your team may already:

• Generate the lead
• Answer the phone
• Schedule the appointment
• Dispatch the technician
• Build trust with the homeowner
• Identify that a larger sewer problem may exist

At that point, the next step may require a camera inspection, hydro jetting, sewer repair, pipe lining, or another capability your company does not currently offer.

If the customer is referred elsewhere, another contractor receives an opportunity that your marketing and customer-service efforts helped create.

In many cases, the value of that referral may also be substantially greater than the value of the original service call.

Therefore, contractors considering sewer and trenchless expansion should begin by tracking how often this happens. It can also help to estimate the type and value of work currently being referred elsewhere.

Keeping the Work Can Help Protect the Customer Relationship

The financial value of bringing more work in-house is important. However, protecting the customer relationship may be just as valuable.

Once another contractor enters the relationship, your company no longer controls the entire customer experience.

The customer may later use that company for plumbing, sewer, drain, or maintenance services, particularly if the contractor offers overlapping capabilities.

By developing additional services, your team can remain the primary point of contact throughout more of the project.

That may include:

• The initial service call
• Inspection and diagnosis
• Cleaning and preparation
• Repair
• Trenchless rehabilitation
• Replacement when appropriate

This can also create a simpler experience for the homeowner. Instead of starting over with an unfamiliar provider, the customer can continue working with a company they already know.

Of course, this does not mean a plumbing company should attempt to perform every possible service. Strong referral relationships will always have a place.

The better approach is to identify services that are referred frequently and logically fit the business. From there, contractors can determine whether bringing those capabilities in-house creates enough strategic and financial value to justify the investment.

Track the Work You Refer Most Often

Before investing in new equipment or services, look closely at the work your company is already sending elsewhere.

Some useful questions include:

• How many sewer-related jobs are referred each month?
• Which services are referred most often?
• What is the estimated value of those projects?
• Are the same customers requesting services your company cannot provide?
• Which referred services best align with your existing team and operation?

These answers can help reveal where a genuine opportunity may exist.

For example, a company that frequently identifies damaged sewer lines may have a stronger case for building inspection and rehabilitation capabilities. Meanwhile, another contractor may see more immediate value in expanding drain cleaning or jetting services.

In other words, the services you already refer can help guide where your business expands next.

Build the Capability Before You Stop Making the Referral

Recognizing that profitable work is leaving the business does not mean the answer is simply to buy equipment and immediately accept every sewer project.

Successfully bringing specialized work in-house requires technical and operational preparation.

Depending on the services being added, contractors may need to develop capabilities around:

• Sewer inspection and diagnostics
• Drain cleaning and jetting
• Equipment selection
• Trenchless rehabilitation
• Estimating
• Customer education
• Technician training
• Production processes
• Quality control
• Ongoing technical support

As a result, expansion should be built deliberately around actual demand rather than treated as a simple equipment purchase.

Contractors should review the work they currently refer, determine which services represent the strongest opportunity, and then build the capabilities required to perform that work consistently.

In-Line Renewal Solutions supports contractors throughout that process with sewer and trenchless equipment, rentals, consumables, training, repairs, technical support, and contractor-focused guidance.

The goal is not to eliminate every outside relationship. Instead, it is to help contractors confidently perform more of the profitable work that makes sense for their own business.

Keep More of the Opportunities You Already Create

Every referral should have a reason.

If your company is repeatedly sending the same profitable sewer and drain projects elsewhere, it may be time to evaluate whether those services should become part of your own operation.

Bringing the right capabilities in-house can help the business retain more revenue, maintain control of the customer relationship, and create a stronger long-term service offering.

Our Roadmap for Trenchless can help contractors better understand what goes into building those capabilities and how trenchless services may fit into an existing plumbing, sewer, or drain operation.

Need Help Growing Your Trenchless Business?

In-Line Renewal Solutions can help you evaluate the work currently leaving your business and determine the equipment, training, support, and capabilities needed to begin bringing the right sewer, drain, and trenchless projects in-house.

Talk with the In-Line team about the work your company currently refers and where expanding your capabilities may make the most sense.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do plumbing companies refer profitable sewer work to competitors?

Plumbing companies often refer sewer work when they do not have the equipment, training, staffing, or technical capabilities needed to complete the project. While some referrals make sense, repeatedly sending the same types of profitable work elsewhere may reveal an opportunity to expand.

How can bringing sewer and drain services in-house protect customer relationships?

Providing more services allows the original contractor to remain involved from diagnosis through completion. This can reduce the need to introduce the customer to another provider that may also offer overlapping plumbing, sewer, or drain services.

What types of referred work should contractors track?

Contractors should track frequently referred services such as sewer inspections, drain cleaning, hydro jetting, sewer repair, pipe lining, rehabilitation, and replacement. They should also estimate how often the work occurs and the potential value of those projects.

Should a contractor stop referring sewer work as soon as they buy equipment?

No. Equipment is only one part of the expansion. Contractors also need appropriate training, diagnostic processes, estimating, customer education, production systems, quality control, and technical support before confidently bringing specialized work in-house.

How can In-Line Renewal Solutions help contractors bring more work in-house?

In-Line Renewal Solutions helps contractors evaluate sewer, drain, inspection, and trenchless opportunities while providing equipment, rentals, consumables, training, repairs, technical support, and practical contractor-focused guidance.