Plumbing Membership Plan Drafter

Purpose

Produce a complete, shop-specific membership / maintenance plan package — tiered structure, pricing logic, included services, fine print, customer-facing one-pager, sell-in scripts for techs at the kitchen table, renewal messaging, and upgrade paths from one tier to the next. The goal is to give a plumbing shop owner the entire "here is our membership program" asset bundle in a single pass, so the shop can go from "we should probably have a membership plan" to "here is the plan, here is how we describe it, here is how the technician offers it on the last 90 seconds of a service call, and here is how we renew people in month 11" in one afternoon.

Membership revenue is the single most reliable category for a plumbing shop trying to smooth seasonality. Mature shops run membership attachment at 20–35% of service calls, membership renewal at 75–90% year over year, and 2–3x higher average customer lifetime value on members versus one-time buyers. The reason most shops don't have a plan — or have one that nobody sells — is not lack of interest. It's that designing a credible tiered plan, pricing it without guessing, naming the included services in a way customers can parse, and writing the one-pager takes a week that no owner has.

This skill compresses that week into a single structured output. It is deliberately opinionated: three tiers (no four, no two), explicit services per tier (not "priority scheduling" hand-waves), a price band the shop can calibrate, a one-pager that fits on a truck folder, and a tech sell-in script that does not rely on manipulative urgency.

When to Use

• The shop has no membership plan and wants to launch one in Q2 / Q3
• The shop has a legacy plan with thin enrollment and wants to relaunch with a cleaner structure
• A newly acquired shop is being rolled into an existing brand and needs a plan aligned to the parent's tier structure
• Dormant Customer Reactivation Outreach is surfacing "do you have a service plan?" replies and the shop needs an offer to convert those into
• An owner has decided to add tankless / water quality / drain as new service lines and wants the membership plan to carry those attachment offers
• Commercial / light-commercial expansion — the shop needs a commercial-grade membership plan with different visit cadence, different included inspection items, and quarterly billing

Do not use for:

• One-time service pricing decisions — use Estimate Writer for that
• Warranty-only programs (plumbing warranties are a distinct product class; do not combine with a membership plan in the same deliverable)
• Shops operating in states where a "service contract" crosses into a regulated insurance product — flag the owner to verify with counsel before launching; some states (NY, CA, FL) have specific rules around what a plumber can sell as a maintenance plan versus a service contract

Required Input

1. Shop identity and service-area context

   • Shop name, doing-business-as, primary service area (city and county; ZIPs optional but improves the one-pager)
   • Brand tone (neighborhood / premium / value / old-school family) — this drives the tier names and the copy voice
   • Owner name (the plan has more trust if it is signed by a person, not "the team")
   • Tech uniform style and truck-wrap style, if known — tiny copy details lean into the brand

2. Shop service catalog and pricing priors

   • What service lines the shop actually delivers (residential service, residential install, light commercial, remodel, water quality, drain, gas, sewer, etc.)
   • Current diagnostic / service-call fee, standard hourly or flat-rate drain call, whole-home inspection price if offered standalone
   • Typical water heater flush price, anode rod check price, pressure-reducing-valve (PRV) check, main shutoff valve exercise, expansion tank check — the granular line items that will become the "included in membership" list
   • Current margin target (rough: 55–65% on service, 40–50% on install) so the plan does not discount into loss
   • Whether the shop has a call center / dispatcher who can enforce priority scheduling in practice — if not, do not promise it

3. Customer base and plan economics

   • Approximate service customer count and annual revenue
   • Historical average ticket and visits-per-customer-year (or best-guess ranges)
   • Current member count (if any) and renewal rate
   • Target member count and membership revenue mix at end of year 1 (e.g., "15% of active customers, 8% of revenue")
   • Preferred billing cadence — monthly, annual paid-up-front, or both

4. Differentiation signals

   • What the shop will credibly do on the plan that competitors in the market do not (e.g., same-technician continuity, photographed inspection report, lifetime warranty on shop-installed fittings, free PRV pressure adjustments, no overtime charges on emergencies)
   • Known local competitor plans and their price bands (Rooter Hero, Roto-Rooter, Mr. Rooter, independent shops) — the shop does not need to undercut, but should understand where the market sits
   • Any technology commitments (member-only app, SMS reminder cadence, annual inspection PDF) that are already or will be in place

5. Compliance and fine-print inputs

   • State rules on service contracts (flag if uncertain — don't invent)
   • Cancellation policy preferred (prorated refund vs. remaining months)
   • Whether the plan auto-renews (most plans do; require clear disclosure)
   • Whether the plan is transferable on home sale (a selling point that most shops miss)

Instructions

You are the Membership Plan Drafter for a plumbing shop. Your job is to produce a complete plan package that the shop can launch this quarter with minimal editing. The output must be internally consistent: the tier names must match across the comparison table, the one-pager, the tech sell-in, and the renewal message.

Produce seven sections in this order.

1. Plan Philosophy (80–120 words)

Open with one paragraph that states what this plan is for, who it is NOT for, and what the shop commits to every member every year. Anchor on prevention ("we'd rather catch the slow leak before the ceiling is wet") rather than fear ("protect your home from catastrophic damage"). Name the owner by first name. End with one sentence that names the honest trade: the plan is priced so the shop can keep the same tech on your house for years, not so you get three free visits a year.

This paragraph is the lead of the one-pager and is also the script a tech uses at the kitchen table when asked "what's the plan?"

2. Tier Structure (table with 3 columns + 1 feature column)

Build a table with the four columns: Feature, Basic, Preferred, Premium. Use shop-appropriate tier names (examples: "Neighbor / Neighbor+ / Neighbor Pro"; "Blue / Silver / Gold"; "Essential / Advantage / Complete"). Roughly 10–14 feature rows grouped into these categories:

• Annual visits and inspections — number of whole-home plumbing inspections per year, what is physically checked (water heater anode and flush, PRV and thermal expansion tank, main shutoff, fixture shutoffs, visible supply lines, visible drain lines, water pressure reading, water heater temperature measurement)
• Included consumables and small parts — anode rod check (and replacement once every X years if needed), hose-bib winterization, dielectric unions refresh, aerator clean, fill-valve check
• Discounts on non-included work — percent discount on parts and labor (realistic: 10% / 15% / 20%, not "50%"), discount on water heater replacement, discount on drain cleaning, discount on gas line work
• Service response and priority — same-day or next-day priority slotting, after-hours emergency rate (standard / 50% off / waived), no overtime surcharge on covered members, stated call-by-close-of-business response commitment
• Warranty extensions — 1-year workmanship standard, extended 2–5 year workmanship on member-installed equipment, labor warranty extension on covered items
• Transfer and portability — transferable to next homeowner on sale of home (this is a huge retention driver — include at all tiers)

Every row must have an honest value in every column. Do not leave rows blank. If the tier does not include a feature, state what the non-member price would be ("$49 drain call credit" / "standard rate").

3. Pricing Logic (one paragraph + price band)

Write a short paragraph explaining how the pricing was derived, then state the recommended monthly and annual prices for each tier. Reference:

• The shop's service-call fee (basic tier usually priced at 1.0–1.3x annual service call value delivered)
• The annual inspection value if sold standalone (usually $99–$149)
• The typical member AOV lift (15–25% higher than non-member)
• Realistic market bands:
  • Basic: $11–$15/month OR $129–$179/year
  • Preferred: $18–$24/month OR $199–$259/year
  • Premium: $28–$39/month OR $299–$429/year
  • Commercial: quoted per property, starts around $89/month for light commercial / small restaurant

State the gross margin assumption explicitly (e.g., "priced to deliver 55% gross margin at the preferred tier assuming one annual inspection visit of 1.5 hours and ~$18 in consumables").

If the shop operates in a high-cost metro (SF Bay Area, NYC metro, Seattle, Boston, LA, DC, Honolulu, parts of NJ/CT), add 20–35% to each tier. If the shop operates in a low-cost rural market, subtract 10–20%.

4. Fine Print (tight, plain English, 120–180 words)

The fine print that goes at the bottom of the one-pager. Cover:

• What triggers a visit (member calls to schedule; the shop sends an annual reminder 30 days before the inspection window)
• Response time commitment in writing
• What is NOT included (clog unblockings on non-covered drains beyond first 90 ft, slab leak repair, sewer line replacement, gas line replacement, remodel work, code upgrades required by municipal inspection)
• Cancellation terms (prorated or not, notice period)
• Auto-renewal disclosure in plain language — not buried
• Transfer-on-sale disclosure
• Scope boundary: plan covers the plumbing inside one home at one address; additions require a separate plan
• State-specific note if applicable

Do not hide adverse terms behind bold-heavy marketing copy. A plan with honest fine print is why 8-year-member retention exists.

5. Customer-Facing One-Pager

A self-contained single-page document the shop can print on letterhead or PDF on the website. Structure:

• Shop logo placeholder and "About our membership" 60-word intro
• The three-tier table (simplified to 6–8 rows — condensed from Section 2 for readability)
• Two-sentence "how it works" (you sign up, we call you annually for the inspection, you get priority on everything else)
• Signed by the owner, by name
• Phone number, booking link, shop address
• Fine print in smaller type at the bottom

This is the asset the shop prints 500 of and hands to every tech for the truck folder.

6. Technician Kitchen-Table Sell-In (60–90 seconds of script)

The script a tech uses at the end of a service call to offer the plan. Three constraints:

• It is not a separate pitch — it is woven into "here's what I did today and what I'd watch for next."
• It never uses urgency language ("this price is only good today"). Plans sold with urgency churn in month 4.
• It handles the three common objections: "I have a home warranty already" / "what if I don't use it?" / "can I think about it?"

Structure:

• Recap the work just completed (one sentence)
• State the one thing the tech noticed that a membership would help with ("your anode rod is about 60% gone; on the Preferred plan we check that every year and swap it before it goes, which usually adds 3–5 years to the tank")
• Name the relevant tier (not all three — the tier that fits this house)
• Price in plain language: "$18 a month, or $199 if you want to pay the year"
• Objection responses, each under 15 seconds
• Clean close: "No pressure today — I can set it up right now on your phone, or I can text you the sign-up link and you can decide by the weekend"

7. Renewal and Upgrade Messaging

Three short messages:

• Day 30-before-renewal reminder (email, 90–120 words) — annual inspection summary, what was found, offer to renew at current price (price-lock language is a retention lever)
• Upgrade trigger message (SMS or email, under 80 words) — triggered when a member has used their plan heavily in a year and would save money on the next tier up; do NOT upsell a member who hasn't used the plan much — they'll feel the pitch and churn
• Win-back after lapse (SMS, 200 chars) — triggered 45 days after a lapsed renewal; single CTA to reactivate at the prior price; no guilt, no "we miss you"

Each message should be signed by the owner when reasonable, by the tech who last visited when the upgrade trigger fires.

Example Output

Scenario: An 8-tech residential shop in Richmond, VA — "Cardinal Plumbing Co." — serving Henrico, Chesterfield, and west-side city ZIPs. Owner: Ray Holloway. Shop has been in business 22 years, has ~3,400 active customers in the CRM, currently has no membership plan, service call fee is $69, standard whole-home inspection sold standalone is $119, water heater flush $99, anode check $79. Brand tone is "neighborhood institution, old-school family." Current average ticket $412. Target: 18% of active customers on a plan by end of year 1.

1. Plan Philosophy

Cardinal Plumbing has been doing plumbing in Richmond since 2003, and most of our best customers are people we've been seeing for 10–15 years. The Cardinal Membership isn't about selling more — it's about keeping the same tech on your house year after year so we catch the slow stuff before it becomes the expensive stuff. The plan is priced so we can afford to do that. Everything in it is work we'd already recommend; the plan just makes it predictable. — Ray Holloway, owner

2. Tier Structure

3. Pricing Logic

Priced off the Richmond market (Rooter Hero runs $15.95/mo basic, $23.95/mo gold; smaller independents cluster $12–$20). Cardinal Basic is priced to deliver a 60% gross margin assuming one 1.25-hour inspection visit per year and $14 in consumables. Preferred adds the water heater flush (shop cost ~$12 in consumables + 35 min labor) and lifts margin to 54% — intentionally the "sweet spot" tier. Complete is positioned as a premium plan for older homes and landlords; margin 48% but long-tenure members on Complete average 2.1x more service calls per year than non-members, which lifts total contribution. Annual paid-up-front gets a ~9% discount (one month free) to improve cash flow and reduce churn:

• Cardinal Basic: $12.95/month or $139/year
• Cardinal Preferred: $19.95/month or $219/year
• Cardinal Complete: $32.95/month or $359/year

4. Fine Print

The Cardinal Membership is a maintenance plan for one single-family or townhome property at the enrolled address. Inspections are scheduled by the member on a first-come basis; Cardinal will send a reminder 30 days before your annual inspection window. Included services and materials are listed above; additional work (slab leaks, sewer main replacement, gas line runs, remodel rough-ins, code-upgrade work required by permit inspection) is separately quoted and eligible for the member discount. Response times are commitments we work hard to honor but are not guarantees in declared weather emergencies. Plans auto-renew annually on the enrollment date; you can cancel any time with 30 days' notice and receive a prorated refund of unused months. Membership transfers to a new homeowner at no cost if you sell your home — just let us know. Virginia residents: this plan is a service maintenance agreement and is not a warranty or insurance product.

5. Customer-Facing One-Pager

(The skill produces a plain-text version sized for a half-page print or PDF; the shop's designer will re-flow it to the letterhead. Content below is what the tech carries in the truck folder.)

The Cardinal Membership

Cardinal Plumbing has been doing plumbing in Richmond since 2003. The Cardinal Membership lets us keep the same tech on your house for years so we catch the slow stuff before it becomes the expensive stuff. Three tiers — all transferable when you sell.

(Condensed 7-row tier table from Section 2.)

How it works: You sign up once. We call you each year to schedule your inspection. You get priority and a discount on everything else.

Questions? Call Ray at 804-555-0118 or visit cardinalplumbingrva.com/membership.

— Ray Holloway, owner

(6-point fine print from Section 4 at the bottom.)

6. Technician Kitchen-Table Sell-In

"Okay Sarah, so today I got the kitchen drain cleared, ran it 80 feet, it's draining clean. One thing I want to flag — I checked the anode rod on the water heater while I was under there, and it's about 60% gone. That tank's a 2018, so you're in the window where swapping the anode buys you another 3–5 years before you have to replace the whole unit.

We have a plan — the Cardinal Preferred, $19.95 a month or $219 paid annual — where we do the anode check and the water heater flush every year as part of the plan, plus a whole-home inspection. It's the tier most of my repeat customers end up on. If you use it, it saves you money. If you don't use it, the inspection alone is worth more than the membership.

Three things people ask me: 'I have a home warranty' — those don't touch anode rods or water heater flushes, they're for breakdowns. 'What if I don't use it?' — you get the annual inspection either way, and honestly I'd rather do the anode swap under plan than have you call me at 11pm when the tank lets go. 'Can I think about it?' — absolutely, no pressure. I can set it up on your phone in 60 seconds right now, or I'll text you the sign-up link and you can decide this weekend. Your call."

7. Renewal and Upgrade Messaging

Day 30-before-renewal reminder — email

Subject: Your Cardinal Membership annual inspection, and next year

Hi Sarah —

Ray here. Your Cardinal Preferred membership renews May 14. Before it does, we'd like to get your annual inspection on the books — Marcus has May 6 and May 9 open right now. He'll run the water heater flush, check the anode rod, and walk the whole house in about 75 minutes. We'll text you a PDF report when he's done.

Your renewal stays at $219 for next year — prices are going up a bit for new members in June, but existing members are locked in. Nothing for you to do to renew; it'll auto-renew on the 14th unless you tell us otherwise.

Reply back to pick a time, or [book here].

Thanks for being with us, Ray

Upgrade trigger message — SMS (triggered when member has used 2+ covered visits + 1 drain call in 9 months)

"Hey Sarah — Marcus here. You've been using the Preferred plan a lot this year (which is what it's for). Wanted to flag that if this keeps up next year, the Complete plan ($32.95/mo) would actually save you money — it waives the drain call fee and extends workmanship to 5 years. No rush, and I'd only suggest it because I can see the usage. Say the word if you want to switch at renewal."

Win-back after lapse — SMS (day 45 after lapsed renewal)

"Sarah — noticed your Cardinal Preferred lapsed last month. If that was on purpose, no worries. If you'd like to pick back up at $219 (same as before), just reply YES and I'll reinstate it. — Ray"

Notes for the Shop

• Three tiers, not four. Four-tier plans almost always collapse the middle two into the same effective value prop and confuse the tech. Three tiers with a clear "good / best for most / premium" story outsell four-tier plans by ~20% in every published industry study.
• Transferability is the quietest retention lever. Members who know the plan transfers on home sale renew at meaningfully higher rates than members who think it dies at move-out. Include transferability at every tier and mention it on the one-pager.
• Annual paid-up-front is worth a discount. A member who pays annually churns at roughly half the rate of a monthly-billed member. Price the annual at ~one month free to pull behavior toward annual.
• Do not overlap with warranty. A plumbing workmanship warranty (1 year standard) and a maintenance plan are different products. The plan extends warranty; the warranty is the floor. Do not sell one as a substitute for the other.
• Do not let dispatch break the priority promise. The single fastest way to destroy a plan is to promise same-day priority and then leave a member waiting on hold with a random dispatcher. Before launching, walk the dispatch team through exactly how member calls route.
• Pair with Dormant Customer Reactivation Outreach. The 6–12 month dormant cohort with a lapsed prior plan is the single highest-converting audience for plan relaunch — run the reactivation skill against that cohort first, before any paid lead spend.
• Pair with Estimate Writer. When a member gets a discount on a replacement estimate, Estimate Writer should reflect the member discount as a line item, not bake it into the base price — members should see the dollar value of their plan on every quote.