Sales SOP — The Booked Plumber
Two calls. Whoever runs them: one qualifies, one closes.
Internal. Price stays off every document and is revealed live on Call 2.
The rule that governs both calls
You are diagnosing, not teaching. Every leak you hand over for free is a reason not to hire you. Show them THAT something is broken and WHAT it costs. How to fix it is what they pay for.
Call 1 — Qualification15 minutes
Goal: confirm they're a fit, get the two numbers, book Call 2. No diagnosing. No price.
Before you dial — 2 minutes, non-negotiable
- Search their city + "plumber." Screenshot the LSA pack. Are they in the top three? Who is?
- Note the top competitor's rating and review count vs. theirs.
- Check for a Google Verified badge.Replaced Google Guaranteed / Screened / License Verified on 20 Oct 2025. Never use the old names.
- Glance at the website — real domain or a redirect? LSA doesn't permit redirects.
The open
"Hey Mike, Nicole from Growth Media — you filled out the LSA audit for [Business]. Before I called I searched plumbers in [City]. You're not showing in the top three; [Competitor] is, with [N] reviews at [X]. You're at [N]. That's usually part of it, but not the whole story. Got fifteen minutes?"
Then stop talking. You've proven you did work before asking for anything.
The four questions — in this order
- "Tell me what's happening — you turned LSA on, and then what?"Let him vent. The real objection usually surfaces here.
- "How long has it been running?"
- "What's your average closed job worth?"Write it down — feeds the projection.
- "And what are you spending monthly on ads right now?"Write it down.
The moment that does the closing
"So an average job's $[2,800], and you're at $[2,000] a month on ads. If we got you four more of those a month — what's that worth to you?"
Then silenceDo not fill it. When he says a number in his own voice, the fee is already priced and nobody had to argue for it. Write down exactly what he says.
The handoff — two sentences
"Here's what I'd do. We run a diagnostic on your account — there are usually two or three settings quietly costing you money, and we find them in about ten minutes. Then we'll show you exactly what it'd take to fix. Separate call, about thirty minutes."
Book it on the call. Calendar open, time confirmed, confirmation sent before hanging up. And ask: "Can you add me as a user on your LSA account before then?" — a yes is a strong buying signal and makes Call 2 a live audit instead of a blind screen share.
Disqualifiers — hold these
| Signal | What to do |
|---|---|
| Ad spend under $1,500/mo | Not a fit yet — not enough data to hit the guarantee. Say so kindly, offer to reconnect. |
| Rating below 4.5★ | Guarantee is unwinnable. Frame as "we fix reviews first" — that's the $1,395 tier, not a no. |
| Can't answer the phone fast | Google penalises slow response. They must hold up their side. |
| Not the decision maker | Get the owner on Call 2 or don't book it. |
Losing a bad fit in minute three beats losing them in week five.
Call 2 — Diagnose & Close30 minutes, screen shared
| Time | Segment | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–3 | Recap | Repeat what the search found. Confirm his job value and ad spend. |
| 3–15 | Live audit | Screen-share their LSA + GBP. Score the six categories as you go. |
| 15–20 | The split | Setup vs. Ongoing. Ask what he wants to own. |
| 20–27 | Offer | Anchor inaction → projection → deliverables → price → guarantee. |
| 27–30 | Close | Ask for the decision. Book onboarding or a firm follow-up. |
The live audit — what to open, in order
Ranked by how visceral they are on a screen share, not by point value.
- Leads tab. Are leads being rated?Google auto-credits obvious spam within ~72h, but rating still feeds quality signals and catches what the AI misses. Check credits actually landed in billing — issued isn't guaranteed.
- Direct Business Search. Under Profile & Budget → Settings.Auto-enrolled. Returning customers aren't charged, but they still pay for NEW customers who searched the brand — and it cannibalises GBP calls.
- Reviews vs. competitors. Pull the LSA pack side by side.Since July 2025 all LSA reviews come from GBP. Nothing lands harder than seeing the gap.
- Service areas. Cities, or zips and counties? Overlapping and greyed out?
- Verification. Google Verified badge live? License and insurance current, address matching?
- Business hours. Do they match when someone actually answers?
- Reports → Absolute Top Impression %. Low share means rarely in top spots.
- Message Leads. Off? Those are the cheaper leads.
The transfer — setup vs. ongoing
The overall score is the wrong instrument here. Split the six categories in half — the split is what you're actually selling.
| Half | Categories | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| SETUP | 1 · LSA Setup 2 · Verification 4 · GBP & NAP |
One-time. Fix it and it stays fixed. The Foundation Sprint — the setup fee. |
| ONGOING | 3 · Settings 5 · Reviews & Posting 6 · Lead handling |
Drifts constantly. Nobody keeps this up while running a business. The retainer — and Category 5 is exactly what separates $750 from $1,395. |
Then ask the question that does the work:
"So that's what I found. Honest question — which of these do you want to own yourself, and which do you want off your plate?"
He'll usually say he could fix the settings but will never sit there rating leads every week. He just told you what he's buying. Confirm, don't persuade:
"That's what I figured. The setup I'll just fix — that's the first two weeks. The weekly stuff is the part that actually pays you back, and it's the first thing that stops when you get busy. That's what the monthly is for."
Reading the two halves
| Setup | Ongoing | Play |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Low | Full engagement — sprint + retainer. Easiest sell you'll get. |
| Low | High | Rare. Disciplined operator, broken foundation. Sprint-heavy. |
| High | Low | Your best client. Foundation's fine, they're bleeding on maintenance. Pure retainer. |
| High | High | Tell them the truth: they don't need you. Offer a referral. |
Why that last row staysIt's not a lost deal — it's what makes every other diagnosis believable. Someone who only ever finds problems isn't diagnosing.
Presenting the offerorder matters
Never lead with the number. Have the projection open and prefilled with their numbers from Call 1.
1 · Anchor the cost of inaction
"One water heater or repipe is $3–8k. How many are you missing every month the phone isn't ringing?"
2 · Share the projection — Conservative first
Starting low and moving up reads as honesty. Starting high reads as a pitch.
Get their real CPL firstThe projection has a solver — enter their last month's LSA spend and lead count and it works out their actual cost per lead. Use that over the benchmark every time. Defaults are sourced: plumbing LSA averages $58.89 per lead, ~19% of leads become paying customers, $1,714 average ticket.
"You told us your average ticket runs about $[1,714]. So at $1,500 a month in spend — roughly 26 leads, about 5 customers, call it $[8,400] in work. After the ad spend and our fee you're up about $[5,500]."
"At $3,000 it's the same math, roughly doubled. Most guys start conservative and move up once they see the leads land."
"At $3,000 it's the same math, roughly doubled. Most guys start conservative and move up once they see the leads land."
Say this unprompted"That's revenue less ad spend and my fee — not your net profit. Your materials and labour come out of it. I'd rather show you a number you believe than a big one you don't."
Check before the callIf the projection shows better than ~6x, your inputs are too optimistic. Lower them. Overselling costs you the deal in month two.
3 · Stack the deliverables
Walk the investment table top to bottom before any price is spoken. The monthly list is the important one — weekly lead review, credit verification, expiration sweeps, review engine, posting. That's the half nobody does themselves.
4 · Reveal price as a range, then land it
"Setup is $[X] one time, then $[750 / $1,395] a month, flat. Your ad budget is separate and goes straight to Google — figure $1,500–3,000 there."
| Tier | Monthly | Included |
|---|---|---|
| LSA Management | $750/mo | LSA + GBP management, bid management, weekly lead review + credit verification, license/insurance sweeps, call tracking, reporting, monthly call |
| LSA + Reputation | $1,395/mo | Everything above, plus review-generation engine (email + QR), citation building & NAP maintenance, review monitoring & responses, GBP posting calendar, local keyword grid reporting |
| Foundation Sprint | $500–1,000 | One time, weeks 1–2. NAP cleanup, GBP optimisation, LSA verification, tracking install, campaign build |
| Ad spend floor | $1,500/mo min | Straight to Google, never to us. Below this there isn't enough data to hit the guarantee. |
Lead with $1,395When Category 5 scored badly, the upgrade is the fix for what they just watched you find — not an upsell. Quote $750 only when their reviews are already healthy. Since July 2025 LSA reviews come from GBP, so reputation work IS the LSA ranking mechanism, not an add-on.
The projection's "jobs needed to cover everything" row is your best backup — usually one or two. Point at it rather than defending the fee.
5 · Close on the guarantee
"And remember — you don't pay me to manage it until it's live and producing."
Watch the clock languageVerification runs 3–4 weeks and depends on Evident or Pinkerton plus the client's own license and insurance paperwork — none of it in your control. Say "live and producing within 30 days of verification clearing," never 30 days flat.
Internal terms: the setup fee is NOT waived — it funds the ramp so you're never working fully free. Only the management fee is at risk. Client must answer calls fast and hold 4.5★+.
Objections
| They say | You say |
|---|---|
| "That's expensive." | "One water heater covers three months. Look at the sheet — it takes about one job a month to cover everything, ad spend included." |
| "Another agency quoted less." | "Ask them two things: do they review your leads weekly and verify the credits landed, and do they run review generation? If not, they're flipping on ads and hoping — which is why your LSA sits dead now." |
| "Why a setup fee?" | "Weeks 1–2 are real work — cleaning listings, verification, fixing tracking, building the campaign. That's what makes the promise possible." |
| "Can you do % of spend?" | "I keep it flat on purpose so I never profit from telling you to spend more. My only job is your ROI." |
| "Those numbers look too good." | "They're revenue, not profit — materials and labour come out of that. And it assumes you keep answering fast and keep reviews coming. Want me to run it lower?" Then lower it live. Conceding builds more trust than defending. |
| "I'll fix those settings myself." | "You could — most of the setup is a one-time job. The part that doesn't stay fixed is the weekly lead review and the review engine. That's the half that stops the second you get busy." |
| "Let me think about it." | "Fair. What specifically do you want to think through — the money, or whether it'll work?" Then handle the real objection. |
Staying in scope
The offer is LSA + GBP. Leads in 30 days. Do not widen it on the call.
- Google Ads. If they're already running Search, note it and move on. Don't quote it. You sell it in month two or three on evidence, once you're inside the account.
- SEO / long term. Not part of this offer and not priced here. Attaching a slow play to a 30-day guarantee muddies both.
- If SEO comes up unprompted: "That's a longer game — six to twelve months. Let's get the phone ringing first, then I'll have my SEO team run you a full audit." Then return to LSA.
- The complimentary 51 Blocks audit is for CLIENTS, not prospects. Offer it once LSA is producing — month two or three. A free deep-dive before they sign creates a competing conversation and stalls the close.
- Existing clients and the long-term audit are their own campaign, not part of this one.
What not to do
- Don't hand over the full checklist. Findings yes, toolkit no — everything on it is DIY-able once they have it.
- Don't quote price on Call 1.
- Don't inflate a decent score to force a sale. Your whole hook is honest diagnosis.
- Don't promise verification timing you don't control.
- Don't say "Google Guaranteed." That badge was retired in October 2025 — it dates you instantly.
- Don't teach the fix. Teaching well and closing well are different jobs.
Prep checklist — before every Call 2
- Leak Detection Audit open, business name and city filled, market research block completed from your pre-call search.
- LSA Projection open, client saved, keywords entered for their city.
- Yellow input cells updated with their targeted job value, close rate and current spend from Call 1.
- Tier set to the right one for their market.
- Their LSA pack search pulled up in a second tab for the review comparison.
- Account access confirmed, or a screen share agreed.
Growth Media Group · Internal Sales SOP · gogrowthmedia.com · (203) 427-8686