This article is for plumbing shop owners who want to pay their own plumbers spiffs, meaning flat bonuses for selling specific items on a service call. Manufacturer and distributor spiff programs, the kind that pay showroom staff or contractors for choosing a brand, are a different topic.

If you've read our guide to spiffs in home services, you know the basics: what a spiff is, how to size one against an item's margin, and how to measure whether it's working. Here we'll focus on what makes spiffs work in a plumbing shop.

Why Spiffs Work In Plumbing

Most plumbing work is labor-heavy, with low material cost. One benchmark of contractor financials puts materials at 10–20% of revenue for plumbing companies. In our plumbing performance pay guide, we recommend marking materials up 200–300% because sourcing, stocking, and transporting them is a real cost to the business. When materials are priced that way, the parts and accessories a plumber recommends carry a lot of margin, and that margin is what pays for a spiff.

On top of this, plumbers tend to be uneasy about selling. ServiceTitan notes that many plumbers don't consider selling part of their profession. In our experience working with shops, that's true, and it costs the plumber and the business money. Homeowners need the things a plumber can offer. A spiff program gives your plumbers a clear, simple reason to encourage the extra ask and transition into a more consultative role.

Plumbing Spiffs Start With Discovery

That unease about selling makes discovery the most important skill in a plumbing spiff program. Good discovery is just a plumber taking an interest in the whole house, and it follows a simple path.

Start open. Once the original problem is handled, the plumber asks a broad question about the rest of the home: how the plumbing has been treating them, or whether anything else has been bugging them. Then they let the homeowner talk. Homeowners usually know what's been annoying them for months; nobody has asked.

Follow what they say. If the homeowner mentions something, the plumber asks about it. How long has it been happening? Where in the house? Does it get worse at certain times? These questions come from curiosity, and they give the plumber what they need to diagnose the issue.

Look at the home. Plumbers notice things homeowners never would: the age of the water heater, corrosion on a valve, scale on fixtures. Pointing out what they see, and explaining what it means, is part of the same conversation.

Explain, then offer options. Once the plumber understands the problem, they explain what's causing it and lay out the ways to fix it, including doing nothing for now. The homeowner decides.

Here's what that sounds like on a real call. A plumber finishes replacing a kitchen faucet and asks how everything else in the house has been. The homeowner mentions that the shower upstairs takes forever to get hot in the morning. The plumber asks a few questions about where the water heater sits and how long the wait is, then explains why the far end of the house waits on hot water and what a recirculation pump would change. The homeowner raised the problem, and the recommendation answers it.

When discovery works this way, the recommendation comes from what the homeowner said, and the spiff rewards the plumber for taking the time to ask.

Always Spiff Multiple Items

With discovery in place, set up the program the same way we recommend for every trade: pick one objective, then spiff several items that serve it.

If your objective is raising average ticket on service calls, spiff a range of items, each at its own rate. Spiffing a single item gives every plumber the same incentive on every call, and homeowners hear the same pitch whether or not they need it. When several items are spiffed, each one becomes its own opportunity, and the plumber can recommend whatever fits what the homeowner told them.

Items to Spiff in a Plumbing Shop

Here's a starting list. Use what fits your shop and your customers.

Water heater upgrades (tank to tankless or hybrid)
Water softeners and whole-home filtration
Water purification systems
Recirculation pumps
Pressure reducing valves
Thermal expansion tanks
Smart leak detectors and automatic shutoff valves
Whole-home shutoff valve replacements
Sump pumps
Garbage disposal upgrades
Fixture upgrades, including slow-close toilet seats
Sewer camera inspections
Maintenance plans

No item on this list is off limits by rule. Whether an item belongs in your program depends on your shop: your margins, your customers, and what your plumbers can honestly recommend. A shop that does a lot of water treatment might build its program around softeners and filtration. A shop in an area with older homes might lean on PRVs, expansion tanks, and shutoff valves.

As starting amounts, our spiff guide puts water heater upgrades at $75–$150, softeners and filtration at $50–$150, PRV replacements at $25–$50, and fixture upgrades at $15–$40.

How Spiffs Work With Commission

Most plumbing shops already pay commission on everything, and the margins usually support it. Our plumbing performance pay guide recommends starting at 3% of every ticket. Spiffs work alongside that.

On a spiffed item, the spiff replaces the commission on that line item. The plumber still earns commission on the rest of the ticket. The spiff should pay more than the item's commission would have, or it won't change behavior.

Hypothetical example: a plumber on 3% commission sells a $900 recirculation pump, and you spiff recirculation pumps at $75.

Commission the item would have earned: $900 × 0.03 = $27
Spiff the plumber earns instead: $75
Extra the plumber earns because the item is spiffed: $75 − $27 = $48

At a 3% commission rate, most accessories earn the plumber very little on their own. A $400 accessory earns $12 ($400 × 0.03). That's why a spiff stands out in plumbing: it turns a small add-on into something worth bringing up.

Size Each Spiff Against the Item's Margin

The amount on each spiff comes down to the item's gross margin. Our spiff guide walks through the full method. For plumbing, keep two points in mind.

Equipment-heavy items, like water heaters and softeners, carry more material cost than accessories like expansion tanks or shutoff valves. Pull the margin on each item from your own pricebook before you set a number.

Then measure your attach rate, meaning how often the item gets sold per qualifying call, before the program starts and while it runs. You'll pay the spiff on sales you would have made anyway, so the spiff earns its cost only if the attach rate goes up.

Good, Better, Best on Bigger Tickets

Good, better, best options matter most on bigger plumbing tickets: water heaters, water treatment, and repipes. When you present options, put the spiff on the better one. It usually serves the homeowner better, and it brings more gross profit into the business.

Hypothetical example: a homeowner needs a new water heater.

Good option: a $2,400 tank replacement at 45% gross margin = $2,400 × 0.45 = $1,080 gross profit
Better option: a $4,800 tankless upgrade at 45% gross margin = $4,800 × 0.45 = $2,160 gross profit
Extra gross profit from the better option: $2,160 − $1,080 = $1,080
A $150 spiff on the better option costs $150 ÷ $1,080 = 13.9% of that extra gross profit

Even at the same margin percentage, the better option brings in $1,080 more in gross profit dollars. The plumber earns more for presenting it, and the business keeps $930 of the added gross profit ($1,080 − $150). Check your own pricebook, since your margins on each option may differ.

Repipes, Sewer Lines, and Other Big Jobs

Big jobs like repipes and sewer line replacements don't need a spiff. In most plumbing shops, the plumber who finds the job also sells it, and commission already pays them for it.

Hypothetical example: a plumber on 3% commission sells a $9,000 repipe. Commission: $9,000 × 0.03 = $270. If your plan uses revenue tiers like the ones in our plumbing performance pay guide, a big job also moves the plumber toward their next commission tier.

Keep Maintenance Plan Spiffs Running

Maintenance plans are the one spiff that should run all year. Every plumbing shop should have a maintenance plan, and every plumber should be offering it. Pay $25–$75 per plan, and pay it when the plan is sold.

When to Pay Plumbing Spiffs

Put your spiff rules in writing before launch. Our recommendation:

Pay when the item is sold or the job is completed. Pay on collection only if cash is genuinely tight.
Financing doesn't impact spiffs. A financed sale is still a sale.
Claw back only when a replacement sale is canceled. Don't claw back maintenance plan spiffs.
Pay often. Our plumbing performance pay guide recommends weekly pay so plumbers connect the work they did on Tuesday with the money they see on Friday. The same holds for spiffs.

Spiffs also count toward overtime. Announced spiffs are nondiscretionary bonuses, so for hourly plumbers they must be included in the regular rate used to calculate overtime, per DOL Fact Sheet #56C. Our spiff guide walks through the math.

Tracking Plumbing Spiffs in Housecall Pro

Housecall Pro doesn't track spiffs on its own, which is why many shops end up on spreadsheets. TeamBuyIn connects with Housecall Pro and lets you mark any pricebook item as a spiff. When that item shows up on a plumber's job, the spiff is calculated automatically, and you can switch it on or off as your objectives change. Plumbers see their spiffs next to their commission, so they know exactly what each job paid. See how it works on our spiff management page.

Start Your Plumbing Spiff Program This Month

A plumbing spiff program works when your plumbers ask good questions, have several items they can honestly recommend, and see a spiff that pays more than the commission on that item.

Your next step: pick your objective, choose five or six items from the list above that fit your shop, pull each item's margin from your pricebook, and set a spiff on each one. Measure the attach rate before you launch so you can see what changed.

Book a call with TeamBuyIn to see how spiff tracking works with Housecall Pro.

Frequently Asked Questions About Plumbing Spiffs

What is a plumbing spiff?
A plumbing spiff is a flat bonus paid to a plumber for selling a specific item on a service call, such as a water softener, recirculation pump, or maintenance plan. On that item, the spiff replaces the plumber's commission.

What should plumbing shops spiff?
Common choices include water heater upgrades, softeners and filtration, recirculation pumps, PRVs, expansion tanks, smart leak detectors, sump pumps, fixture upgrades, sewer camera inspections, and maintenance plans. The right list depends on your shop's margins and customers.

How much should a plumbing spiff be?
Common ranges are $75–$150 for water heater upgrades, $50–$150 for softeners and filtration, $25–$50 for PRVs, $15–$40 for fixture upgrades, and $25–$75 for maintenance plans. Check each amount against the item's gross margin.

Do plumbers get spiffs on repipes and sewer jobs?
Usually not. The plumber who finds a big job typically sells it, and commission already pays them for it.

Should you claw back plumbing spiffs?
Only when a replacement sale is canceled. Don't claw back maintenance plan spiffs.

How do you track plumbing spiffs in Housecall Pro?
Housecall Pro doesn't track spiffs natively. TeamBuyIn connects with Housecall Pro, lets you mark pricebook items as spiffs, and calculates them automatically on every job.

How to Set Up a Plumbing Spiff Program