Plumb Smart - October 2020

Plumb Smart - October 2020

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OCTOBER 2020

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And How They Help Us Give You the Service You Deserve The Many Systems of Plumb Smart

No one wants to feel like they’re just being systemized as a customer or treated like a number instead of a person. Ironically, though, we’ve been able to use systems to give our customers more individualized attention than ever before. While those systems probably aren’t super apparent most of the time, the truth is that there’s a lot going on behind the curtain that allows us to keep the business organized and our customers satisfied with our service. Possibly one of the most important system-keeping tools we use at Plumb Smart is an app called Housecall Pro. From the time a customer schedules us to come to their home until our work is done, Housecall Pro helps us make our customers feel valued and appreciated. Through the app, I can let our customers know when we’re on our way to their property and when we’re all done with repairs, if they’re not at their home at the time. I can also use the app to record previous jobs for certain customers, which I can look up if we’re ever called out to their property again. Once our work is done, Housecall Pro links customers to another app called NiceJob, where they can leave a review for Plumb Smart.

providers provide, where technicians tell customers they’ll be out at their property sometime that day — no specifics. With Housecall Pro, we can keep our customers in the loop so they don’t have to wait around the house all day not knowing when we’re going to show up. While Housecall Pro might be our most prominent system, it’s not our only system. In order to offer the best service possible to our customers, we keep several systems running in conjunction with one another. When it comes to marketing, I have a company that does my SEO work, a private contractor who does my blog posts, and another organization that helps create this newsletter. Plus, if I want customers outside of Acworth, I can actually geotag job sites in different cities. That way, when customers use Google to search for “plumbers near me,” or something like that, Plumb Smart will appear in their search results even if they’re not from Acworth. Another system we’re constantly developing is our pricebook. Sometimes it can be hard to gauge exactly how much a job will cost before it’s finished. That’s why each time we complete a new job, we log it in our pricebook for customers to view. That way, if anyone with a certain plumbing problem wants to know how much it might cost to fix it, they can look it up in our pricebook. While some businesses might use systems to pad their bottom line and treat you like a number, at Plumb Smart, we put the interests of our customers first when we develop our systems. That’s why anytime you give us a call, you can be sure you’ll get the uniquely excellent service you deserve.

“There’s a lot going on behind the curtain that allows us to keep the business organized and our customers satisfied with our service.”

We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from customers about the communication process made possible by Housecall Pro. It contrasts sharply with the customer service many internet

–Pa u l Little

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The Best Fall Spices to Boost Your Family’s Health It’s the season of fall spices. Pumpkin spice — which is actually a mix of many different seasonal spices — is a favorite, but it’s not the only one we should try this year. Seasonal spices are a fun way to literally spice up your meals, and many of them also have surprising health benefits! properties of turmeric may also help reduce inflammation in the brain, which has been linked to depression and Alzheimer’s.

How to add more turmeric to your diet: Homemade curries are a great way to get a good dose of turmeric. You can also add turmeric to roasted vegetables or taco seasoning. Something for Your Stomach: Ginger If you’ve ever drunk ginger ale on a plane to calm your upset stomach, then you’ve already experienced the healing properties of ginger. Ginger can be used to treat nausea, including nausea due to motion sickness and pregnancy. Studies show that ginger can also offer relief to cancer patients suffering from nausea caused by chemotherapy. How to add more ginger to your diet: There are many baked goods that call for ginger. Your morning coffee or tea could also benefit from a hint of ginger.

Something for Your Heart: Cinnamon Cinnamon can actually help lower your blood sugar levels, which is especially beneficial for folks with Type 2 diabetes. The Johns Hopkins Medicine website also reports that cinnamon has heart-healthy benefits. For example, studies show that cinnamon can reduce high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, thus decreasing the risk of developing heart disease. How to add more cinnamon to your diet: Sprinkle cinnamon on oatmeal or plain yogurt for a warming boost of flavor. You’ll also find cinnamon in pumpkin spice, a seasonal favorite. Something for Your Brain: Turmeric Recent research has found that turmeric can reduce inflammation. A compound in turmeric called curcumin has been shown to help reduce the pain and swelling associated with arthritis. The anti-inflammatory

These are just a few spices that are also superfoods! Do some research to discover the secret benefits of your favorite spices.

Get 10% Off Plumbing Services This Month, and Maybe Forever KICKING OFF OUR NEW PREFERRED MEMBERSHIP PLAN

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all the maintenance responsibilities that come with homeownership? Homes are supposed to be “assets,” but unless we keep on top of those responsibilities, they will deteriorate fast. Everything on a house wears out — the roof, the gutters, the siding, the driveway, the paint, the heating and air systems, the electrical systems and the plumbing systems. It’s a lot to stay on top of! That’s where a good maintenance agreement can alleviate some stress. A maintenance agreement is an agreement between you and a maintenance company or professional to provide a set of services — often at a discounted rate. The best thing about these kinds of agreements, in my opinion, is that they save you time. You can leave home maintenance to the professionals and focus on whatever you do best. In the past, I’ve looked into several prefab plans in the plumbing industry to see if any of them would work for my customers. However, they all seemed too expensive, too complicated, or too hard to keep up with. So, over the past several months, I’ve been in the process of creating my own simple, easy-to-understand maintenance plan for Plumb Smart customers called the Plumb Smart Preferred Membership Plan. Here is what that plan entails:

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A 10% discount on all repair and replacement costs A thorough plumbing checkup that reveals the good, the bad, and the ugly with regard to the condition of your plumbing system (normally a $299 value) Plans of action to revive old, worn- out plumbing fixtures and maintain your system to avoid emergencies.

10%

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Off

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Emergency after-hours or weekend responses from our team at no additional cost

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Peace of mind

All of this would be available for a low monthly cost of $16, and I can guarantee you that it will never go up. To kick off this new plan, we’re offering 10% off all plumbing work for everyone during the month of October. The cost of the initial plumbing inspection is $216, but we’ll waive that fee if you choose to schedule repairs or replacements on the same day. Schedule your first time comprehensive inspection at Book.HousecallPro.com/book/Plumb-Smart- Inc/1724f56767354c1abcbf49fa4f0d6532 .

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WORD SEARCH

CLASSIC PUMPKIN SOUP

Apples Calendula Candy Halloween

Horror Masks Opal Popcorn

Scary Scream

Treat Trick

Inspired by MinimalistBaker.com

SUDOKU

Pumpkins aren’t just for pie — they make delicious soup, too! This fall, try your hand at this healthy soup recipe and warm up with a bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil • 2 shallots, diced • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 2 1/4 cups pumpkin purée (homemade or canned) • 2 cups vegetable broth

• 1 cup canned light coconut milk • 2 tbsp honey • 1/4 tsp sea salt • 1/4 tsp pepper • 1/4 tsp cinnamon • 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté olive oil, shallots, and garlic for 2–3 minutes. 2. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. 3. Transfer the soup to a blender and purée. Pour the blended soup back into the pan. 4. Cook over medium-low heat for 5–10 minutes. Taste and add additional seasoning as desired, then serve!

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

175 Goldfinch Path Acworth, GA 30101

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Using Systems to Provide Uniquely Excellent Care 1

3 Healthy Spices to Try This Fall

Kicking Off Our New Preferred Membership Plan 2

Classic Pumpkin Soup

Take a Break! 3

Weird and Wacky Halloween Laws 4

SPOOKY CITY REGULATIONS Halloween Laws Across the U.S.

Halloween can be a mischievous holiday. The most innocent of us reserve it for backyard parties and trick-or-treating, but some like to get a little rowdier than others. That’s exactly why various city councils across the U.S. have passed some seemingly unusual laws to regulate spooky festivities. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: No Sunday Trick-or-Treating If Halloween falls on a Sunday, children in Rehoboth Beach are required to trick-or-treat the night before. The explanation in the city code is simple, but ambiguous: to prevent children and their guardians from going door to door on Sunday evenings. Rehoboth Beach law also forbids children from roaming the streets on Halloween “with the intent to cause trouble,” but what exactly that means is ambiguous as well. Hollywood, California: No Silly String The Los Angeles City Council has banned Silly String and all other brands of aerosol string from use on Halloween in the Hollywood area. From midnight on Oct. 31 until noon on Nov. 1, no one is allowed to spray, sell, or distribute Silly String in public locations. Use of Silly String got so popular in the city on Halloween that the

mess left behind became a strain on sanitation workers, and the city sympathized with them.

Belleville, Illinois: No 8th Graders Trick-or-treating is most often viewed as an activity reserved for younger generations, but how do you determine what age is “too old” for this type of generally good-natured fun? Well, the city of Belleville settled the ambiguity by passing a law restricting teenagers who are past the eighth grade — generally older than 13 — from going door to door on Halloween. Walnut, California: No Masks Without Permits In a simpler time, there was no paperwork required to celebrate Halloween to the fullest. But in the city of Walnut, no one can wear a mask or other disguise on public streets without a permit from the sheriff. The law doesn’t specify any exceptions, so residents are left to assume that everyone from age 5 to 100 must abide. Whatever your Halloween celebrations might look like this year, it’s important to have fun, but remember to abide by any rules or laws your city might have in place in an effort to keep its citizens safe.

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