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When you find a good plumber, you tend to stick with them. And that’s probably why John Pearce (pictured), of Bristol plumbing firm A J Pearce and Son, is in demand. “I struggle to do all the work I get offered,” he admits, despite relying solely on word of mouth for new customers.
The business has impressive heritage. John’s father started the company in 1966, and John himself joined in 1973. “I’m still working for people my dad worked for in 1966,” he explains. (How’s that for customer loyalty?) “We trade on reputation alone.”
A long-term QuickBooks user, John relies on the software to manage his business accounts, so he can concentrate on keeping customers extraordinarily happy.
Stock Control, Estimates and Invoicing
Because John’s jobs often require lots of different parts, he uses QuickBooks for stock control. Maintaining an inventory in the software makes him more efficient. “It saves me time,” he says. “When I go to a job, I know I’m going to have what I need. It gives me early warning when stock is running low.”
That means his customers rarely have to wait while he orders in crucial components to fix their boiler or get their central heating up and running again.
“It’s very good for estimates too, because my prices are loaded in already,” continues John. “I just have to pick the parts I need. It saves me lots of time, because otherwise I’d be phoning up for prices or looking in catalogues.”
Once a job’s complete, John then converts the original estimate into an invoice in QuickBooks. “You have to enter details of what you actually used,” he describes, “but it’s still a lot quicker than doing it from scratch. All the customer details are in there too – that saves a lot of time.”
Keeping in the Black
Although customer service may be top of John’s priorities, staying profitable is just as important. He monitors the profitability of each job with QuickBooks reports, to ensure he doesn’t undercharge any customers.
“I find the reports very useful,” he explains. “It’s good to see the profit and loss for each job, to make sure I’m not losing out, especially on bigger jobs. It’s handy for the next job too, so I know what to charge.”
Once an invoice has gone out, John doesn’t usually have a problem getting customers to pay up. They know the value of a good plumber. However, QuickBooks helps him keep track of incomings and outgoings. “It reminds me what bills I’ve got to pay, who owes me money and what stock to reorder,” says John. “I know what money’s coming out of the business as well as what’s coming in.”
This makes it easier for John to work with his accountant too. “All I do is give him the QuickBooks file – he would charge me a lot more if he had to start from scratch.” And as accountants tend to charge a little more now than they did in 1966, it’s good that QuickBooks is here to provide a helping hand.
What Next?
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