Truck of the Month: Jordan & Sons Plumbing, Florence, S.C.

Photo credit: AnthonyJordan — Photo credit: Anthony Jordan

B>Anthony Jordan is a big believer in the latest technology.

Photo credit: Anthony Jordan

The owner of South Carolina-based Jordan & Sons Plumbing outfits all his service trucks with GPS, while personnel are equipped with iPads and iPhones that generate electronic invoices and proposals.

“We do electronic dispatching through those devices. We send green receipts electronically and get customer signatures electronically,” Jordan states. “It’s about being the leaders in technology in our market. It’s a big investment, but it has paid off. With our technology, people know we are investing back into the company. They know we are here for the long term.”

Jordan & Sons, originally started by Anthony’s father, Guy, in northern New Jersey, skews 75% on the residential service and repair side. A member of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, it operates from three locations in Myrtle Beach, Florence and Columbia and features a fleet of super trucks, including a black Ford Excursion (top right).

“It used to be a personal vehicle I used at truck shows,” Jordan explains. “We had so much response and so many people coming up and taking pictures of it, we got it wrapped in the company logo and now use it for company events and parades. It’s a great marketing tool for us.”

The company’s other service vans (predominantly a Sprinter fleet) are white, but feature the same logo, which showcases a J-shaped pipe, as well as a distinctly colored red pipe wrench (top left). The logo is the brainchild of Jordan, who studied graphic design and marketing in college. Florence-based Stripe It Designs wrapped the vehicles.

Click to enlarge

“I designed the logo back in 1992 and then started to incorporate it when I took over operations in 1995,” explains Jordan, whose 18-year-old son, Shawn, works for the third-generation company. “We had trouble around 1995-1996 with getting recognized. People couldn’t remember our name. Companies with names similar to ours also worked in these areas. Our logo with the ‘J’ and the pipe wrench helps set us apart. The logo now is on our uniforms, business cards, website, sanitizer sticks and coffee mugs.”

Jordan also heavily promotes the company’s tag lines “Better, Cleaner, Faster” and “Big on Service.” Its new jingle, “Plumber Like No Other,” also has been a big branding hit.

“Not a lot of other plumbing companies around here are doing what we do,” he states. “We put people in full uniforms and invest money in new technology with different cameras, boring equipment and leak-detection equipment. This will sound a bit arrogant, but everybody is trying to catch up to us. We’ve incorporated things such as jetting and pipe-relining - a market niche where nobody else is doing it. Others have to refer their clients to us in order to get it done. We’ve branded ourselves as being the market leader.”

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Mike Miazga (former group editorial director for BNP Media’s Plumbing Group) is now the vice president of sales/membership at the American Supply Association (ASA). Supply House Times is proud to be the official publication and brand of the ASA — a relationship that spans more than a decade.

Mike’s relationship with BNP Media and the Plumbing Group continues today. He now writes a monthly ASA-focused column for Supply House Times and acts as an editorial consultant to BNP Media’s Plumbing Group.

In his 10-plus years at BNP Media, Miazga was senior editor of Plumbing & Mechanical and PM Engineer before taking over chief editor duties at Supply House Times in 2011. In addition to his role as editorial director, Miazga continued as Supply House Times chief editor and the editor of the American Supply Association’s PVF Outlook eNewsletter. He also enjoyed three stints as PM Engineer’s chief editor, holding dual roles as Supply House Times and PM Engineer chief editor on two occasions.

Miazga started his career in newspapers at the age of 19 and has more than 25 years of newsroom, management, editorial and public/media relations experience, and is a former high-school baseball and golf head varsity coach. Mike and his family are still based out of the Chicago area (with ASA Headquarters in Itasca, Illinois). You can reach Mike at PlumbingGroup89@gmail.com.