How We’ve Handled the Coronavirus Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all in a number of ways. For some people, the pandemic has meant a radical change in lifestyle, including having to work from home in many cases and taking preventative measures in order to protect those around us. For others, it has meant a dramatic change in your day to day life, including taking a number of additional steps to protect your health and the health of your loved ones around you.

However, this virus has also caused the shutdown of countless non-essential businesses across the country in order to limit exposure and stop the spread of the disease. For those businesses deemed “essential,” including plumbing companies like us here at Next Plumbing, that meant having to take a number of precautions in order to ensure we could still operate safely and at full capacity. After all, plumbing issues don’t stop for a global pandemic. Our motto has always been “The plumber protects the health of the nation,” and to that end, we had to take a number of extra steps in order to keep our community and our employees healthy and safe throughout this difficult time.

Protecting Ourselves

At the start of each day, every member of our team has their temperature taken. Perhaps the most consistent sign of a COVID-19 infection is a fever, and thus any employee showing signs of a fever was quickly sent home to rest and recover. They were required to do this before even entering the building in order to limit the chances of contact. Every member of our team has also been required to wear a mask at all times in order to protect themselves and everyone around them.

In addition, hand sanitizer is an important part of our day to day lives these days. However, because of the exceedingly high demand for quality sanitizers, supplies have dwindled, and it’s been incredibly difficult to get ahold of a decent supply. To resolve this problem, owner George Garner began researching hand sanitizers and began making his own. After several different prototype batches, he came up with a blend that worked well and can be easily replicated. Today, each technician is supplied with over a gallon of this handmade sanitizer, and this supply is refilled whenever a technician or office member needs it!

Protecting Our Customers

Of course, all of our efforts to keep ourselves safe are just a small part of the efforts we take to protect our customers as well. Keeping you and your loved ones safe in your home or protecting your employees and your business is our top priority throughout this pandemic, and we’ve adapted our business to embrace several key safety measures. First, every technician is provided a Tyvek suit they can utilize to minimize exposure. When combined with boot covers, protective goggles, latex gloves that are changed after every service call, and masks that are replaced daily, our technicians are suitably protected and will protect you in turn. We also practice social distancing with every customer and do everything we can to minimize contact or touch points during every service call. We have made strides to reduce the need for paper products like forms, receipts, and invoices during service calls, and are offering more things like invoices and contracts via email and electronic signature so you never have to touch anything that isn’t yours.

We are also working hard to protect your wallet and give you the services you need during this period of high demand. While other companies have instituted “hazard pay” policies and begun adding charges that double or sometimes even triple the cost of your service, Next Plumbing has done no such thing. We have kept our pricing structure the same, including no additional charges for after-hours calls, emergency plumbing services, or hazardous conditions. We know how to handle these situations, and we’ve adapted to deal with them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video Diagnostic Services

We’ve even begun eliminating the need for face to face contact at all, primarily during the initial inspection and diagnostic step of your service. We have begun offering video diagnostic services, where we connect to you via a video chat program and allow you to show us your problem before we ever set foot in your home. This way our plumbers can see your issue without setting foot in your home, and can either walk you through the repair process or determine if a technician needs to be sent out. This both saves you money and prevents what could be an unnecessary risk to you and your loved ones.