This feature in Pumper reports noteworthy conversations that take place at the Pumper Discussion Forum, an online forum for industry professionals found at www.pumper.com. Pumper Discussion enables exchange of information and ideas on septic and drainfield installation and maintenance, trucks and equipment, portable sanitation, chemical and additives and much more. Information and advice in “Overheard Online” is offered in good faith by industry professionals. However, readers should consult in depth with appropriate industry sources before applying such advice to a specific business situation.

Question

Some septic service companies won’t snake lines, leaving the homeowners still clogged. Usually customers hire whomever is available or cheapest, but then they need someone else to finish the job. What do you charge for digging up the inlet cover? How about snaking outside? Snaking inside and preventing a spill dilemma? At what point do you say, “Get a plumber to pop the toilet off?” Do you do a toilet-auger?

ANSWERS:

I have picked up many new customers over the years because they hired the cheapest company they could find to pump the tank. I got a call later the same day from them because they were still backing up. I found out the other pumping company had cleaned the tank using the easy cover to get at and had not bothered even looking under the inlet cover. Many times it was a matter of taking the inlet cover off and pushing a bar down through the clogged inlet baffle. Sometimes I would take a garden hose, turn it on, and run it back into the house until the clog let go.

If I could not access the pipe using a cover outside, I would often get a job changing the access so that I could get at the pipe from outside. I used to remove plugs in the cellar, remove toilets, or even go down through the roof vent if possible. If you take the pipe apart in the cellar and make a mess, the homeowner will probably never call you again. If it is only a matter of sticking a bar through a clogged baffle and it all comes flying out, and you do not even charge him, you will have a customer for life. I usually do not charge for digging if I do the whole job in an hour or less. I talk a lot of people into raising the cover or only covering it with a material like mulch. This does a good job of marking the tank location, making it easy to access for service.

◆  ◆  ◆

We do not dig/uncover lids for customers. Is this something most other companies do? We have been in business for 20 years in the same area with no competition. We have always asked our customers to have the tank lids accessible (dug up, lid loosened, etc.). Other companies that (for example) fill propane tanks, etc., expect the tank area to be accessible and ready for the service. I am surprised that so many pumpers dig out lids. Do you charge extra?

◆  ◆  ◆

We always dig up lids. Pennsylvania code is that lids must be within 12 inches of grade. I will dig to 6 inches below grade. Any deeper than that and I add a digging charge and also sell them on a riser.

◆  ◆  ◆

The contractors who help people will always make a minimum of triple the guy that just pumps tanks. The smart businessperson is not in the septic pumping business. He or she is in the customer service business.

Customers are willing to pay a full service company that doesn’t mind digging the tank up. The same goes for unstopping inlet pipes. We make as much unstopping inlet pipes as we do pumping tanks. These same customers buy enzymes, root treatment, have friends and family they give referrals to for people that actually help them. What it really comes down to is what you want your business to be known for and just how much money you want to make. If you want to make enough to get by, you can just pump tanks. But if you would like to actually be helpful and make more money than you could ever imagine in this business, all you have to do is whatever it takes to solve your customers’ problems!

Taking care of a customer’s problem makes you their hero for the day! I charge a premium and do not hide that fact. My customers know what they are going to spend before I do anything. I am the most expensive by far in my area – I miss a lot of jobs at first because of that, but after the cheap guys can’t or won’t fix their problem, I get the chance to make them my customer forever.

◆  ◆  ◆

We live in a very remote area, and the majority of our work is industrial septic pumping (at mines, mills, etc.) and portable restroom rentals for construction. Very little of our business is residential septic tank pumping.

Last summer we started handing out info packages to customers on how to better care for their systems and most of them joked about it, refused it, or threw it out in front of our drivers (I’m serious!). The customers we tend to deal with really just do not care. The calls we get from these people are when the septic is already backing up in their house, despite our reminder cards and calls.

I believe in total customer satisfaction as well; however, I want to be paid for any additional work we do. It’s disappointing as owners with a lot of enthusiasm and pride in our business that our customers don’t want to learn about their systems or how to care for them properly. We would offer any service possible to please our customers, but if they aren’t interested, we’re not going to do it for free.