Written for plumbers, electricians, water heater and heat pump installers, drain and sewer shops, and small multi-trade firms serving homeowners and property managers, with Texas, California, Florida and New York in detail.
The short version
- Show three or more priced options.For example, repair, replace and upgrade, from your price book. Each shows what is included, the warranty and any financing terms.
- Quote one price, cash or finance.If you give a cash discount, show it openly. Quietly adding the dealer fee to financed prices is a potential undisclosed finance charge.
- Sell on facts, never on fear.Fear selling, misleading quotes and fake reviews are unfair or deceptive practices under state law. Show your license number in ads where required.
When a service call turns into a replacement decision, such as a water heater, a repipe or a panel, how you present it matters. Give clear, priced choices, offer financing honestly and earn your reviews. Each of those has rules specific to how this trade sells.
Present options, not a single price
Give three or more priced options, such as repair, replace and upgrade, straight from the price book. Each shows what is included, the warranty and the financing terms if you offer them. The customer chooses and signs before work starts, and the approved option and its price go on the work order.
Financing
The dealer fee and financed prices
Arranging a lender's loan usually does not make you the creditor. But adding the lender's dealer fee to financed prices can turn the fee into a finance charge the lender must disclose. The Holder Rule notice preserves the buyer's defenses in sale-financing contracts, and advertising payments or rates triggers Regulation Z disclosures. As of Oct 2026.
Truth in Lending, Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. sec. 1026.4; FTC Holder Rule, 16 C.F.R. part 433
A hidden uplift on financed jobs is a potential undisclosed finance charge, and it exposes you to state unfair and deceptive practices claims.
What you can say in ads and at the door
Advertising, reviews and fear selling
Show your license number in ads where your state requires it, as California and Florida do. The FTC's rule on fake reviews and testimonials has applied since October 21, 2024. Misleading quotes, fear selling and fake reviews are also unfair or deceptive practices under state law. As of Oct 2026.
Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code secs. 7030.5 and 17200; Fla. Stat. secs. 489.119(5)(b) and 501.204; 16 C.F.R. part 465; Texas DTPA sec. 17.46; N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law sec. 349
Where the leads come from
- Google Business Profile and reviews first.
- Google Local Services Ads: the Google Screened badge needs license and insurance checks, and background checks for your techs.
- Angi, Thumbtack and Yelp leads, priced per lead.
- Manufacturer dealer programs for water heaters and water treatment.
- Property managers and landlords, won on response times, photo reports and clean invoicing. Agree not-to-exceed amounts, and limit the agreement to work ordered and access given.
Commercial and new construction work comes through bids to GCs. Have the subcontract, your lien rights and the bonding reviewed before you bid, not after you win.
Asked in Greymill
Why: that quiet $244 can turn the lender's dealer fee into a finance charge the lender must disclose. It also exposes you to unfair and deceptive practices claims under state law.
At the table:
Show three or more priced options, such as repair, replace and upgrade.
List what each includes, its warranty and the financing terms.
The customer picks and signs before work starts. That option and its price go on the work order.
Skip the scare talk: fear selling is an unfair or deceptive practice under state law too. Let the options do the work.
Send me the price book lines and I will lay out the three options.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Sales & Quotes works it through for your business.
I run a plumbing, heating or electrical business in [state], in the US. Our most common replacement jobs are [list], we offer financing through [lender] with a dealer fee of [percentage], and our leads come from [channels]. Build me a three-option presentation for [job] from my price book [paste prices], check our financing and ad wording against federal and state rules, and suggest which lead channel to test next.
More for plumbing, heating and electrical in the US
- My flat-rate book came from a competitor: is it paying after drive time and callbacks?Flat-rate prices only work if the hourly rate inside them is built from the hours your techs actually sell, not the hours you pay.Read the lesson
- Service pays at the truck, warranty companies and GCs pay late: can I afford another truck?Service work pays on the spot, but installs, home warranty companies, property managers and commercial pay apps do not, so plan cash by the week and test any new loan against what is left.Read the lesson
- Do I charge sales tax on this repair? Why the same job is taxable in one state and not the nextWhether a plumbing or electrical job carries sales tax turns on the state and on whether it repairs or improves real property, and a wrong guess can build up for years.Read the lesson
- Who can pull the permit, and what happens if a helper runs the gas line?The license holder of record carries the work, so who does the job, who pulls the permit and who supervises decide whether you keep the license and can enforce the contract.Read the lesson
- How much can I take up front on a home job, and when can the customer cancel?Down payment limits, cancellation rights and required contract wording all change by state, and getting them wrong can mean refunds, misdemeanor charges or license discipline.Read the lesson
- I pay techs flat rate and helpers on 1099s: am I building up back pay?Flat-rate and commission pay, drive time, on-call and 1099 helpers are where shops in this trade build up back pay without noticing.Read the lesson
- A customer says my work flooded their house months later: what do I do?When a leak or failure is blamed on your work, report it, keep the evidence and watch the deadline on any defect notice, or you can lose the right to fix it first.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every plumbing, heating and electrical lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7030.5; Fla. Stat. sec. 489.119(5)(b) (Winning work: residential, landlords, commercial)
- 16 C.F.R. part 465 (Winning work: residential, landlords, commercial)
- Tex. Prop. Code secs. 53.281 to 53.287; Cal. Civ. Code secs. 8132 to 8138 (Deliverables in house style)
- Enrolled HB1560 (2021) sections 4.10 and 6.02 repeal and commence; section 4.12 legacy-security transition ended September 1, 2026 (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- Ins. Code sec. 12740 (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- ch. 634 part II (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- Ins. Law art. 79 (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- secs. 17600 to 17606 (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- 15 U.S.C. secs. 8401 to 8405 (Memberships, service contracts, auto-renewal and financing)
- sec. 7159.5 (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and people)
- Texas Occ. Code ch. 1304; TDLR provider registration and financial security (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and people)
- 12 C.F.R. 1026.4 (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and people)
- Lab. Code secs. 226.2, 510 (Hard cases: money, CONTRACTS and people)
- 16 C.F.R. 429.0, 429.1 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- 16 C.F.R. 429.0(a), exclusions (3) and (5) (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- Civ. Code secs. 1689.6, 1689.13 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- Bus. and Com. Code ch. 601; Prop. Code sec. 53.255, ch. 27 (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- 2026 Fla. Stat. sec 489.126(2) (Home improvement contracts, cancellation and collections)
- Tex. Ins. Code ch. 151; Cal. Civ. Code sec. 2782 (Contract red flags)