Bill BrownFounder of ServiceTitan Hacks community (9k+ pros) | INC 5000 Contractor | Helping contractors win with AI & Automation

HVAC to Plumbing: Unlock Multi-Trade Business Growth! #shorts

9 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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1:01

Bill Brown expanded his HVAC company into plumbing after eight years by leveraging a membership base to cross-sell water heaters and other services. He stresses retention as critical for managing multiple trades. A practical tip: install water sensors in water-heater pans, under sinks, and attics to catch leaks and frozen pipes early.

Chapters

I think about that, like when I— so I added plumbing to my HVAC company, let's see, when I was maybe 8 years in and I looked at it and I was like, man, if I would have had more members, that would have been a great plumbing opportunity just right there. Now, I mean, I had the list of customers that I could reach out to, but when they're a member, it's a total different, totally different feeling, right? Or totally different relationship you have. I am looking at the— then your lifetime value of the customer increases because you add water heaters and all their plumbing and underground and everything. So that graph that I showed just goes up at a serious rate. To do multiple trades, that's again why the retention is so important.
You could take extra water sensors and add them onto it. You can put them in the water heater pans, you can put them under kitchen sinks, you can put them anywhere that there's water or has been water issues. The sensors will tell you it's about to freeze in the attic. They can tell you if it's a vacation, "Hey, it's getting cold down here. Your pipes are going to freeze." Yeah, for sure.