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"I set out to change the image of the plumbing industry and get rid of the stigma associated with it, i.e plumbers who turn up late, driving rusty old vans, not wearing uniform, a**es hanging out their trousers, bad workmanship and ripping off the customer". That's Charlie Mullins for you - brutally honest, direct, outspoken. A man on a mission. But that's not why he's featured in our Think BIG columns - its how he went about executing this mission and how he actually turned around the image of his profession, which is what makes him special. And, for the financial intermediation business in India which is often seen by regulators and painted by media as self-serving, high commission driven unethical salesmen, there are great lessons from this story on what you can do to break out from this stereotype, think BIG, and change the way your profession is perceived in this country.
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From when he was 9, Charlie Mullins was convinced that he wanted to become a plumber. He dropped out of school at 15, completed a 4 year apprenticeship in plumbing and in 1979, set up his own plumbing services firm - Pimlico Plumbers, in Pimlico, London, UK.
A one word differentiation from the rest: professionalism
Being brutally honest about what was wrong with his chosen trade was a great way for Charlie to begin. He focused on only one thing: professionalism. A smart uniform, a neat van, punctuality, great service and a fixed published price - these were his key differentiators, which won him huge business. From thereon began his journey of thinking BIG - thinking beyond what he could achieve as a plumber, thinking instead about how he could build a BIG plumbing business that changed the reputation of his profession.
The Pimlico Bible
As Charlie began expanding by creating a team, he was acutely aware of the need to ensure the same levels of professionalism in his growing team. He created the Pimlico Bible - a detailed operating procedures manual that spelt out for every plumber exactly what they needed to do. There are detailed instructions for example on how to clean up after completing a plumbing job, to ensure high customer satisfaction. There are instructions on how to engage with customers - not with an approach that "the plumber knows best", but to talk through with them about the issue, the options, pros and cons of each option, the plumber's recommended option and ensure full buy-in from the client before executing the agreed job. He drilled into every new hire the importance of reputation and the perils of doing anything that damages Pimlico's reputation. Charlie continues to be very hands on - 36 years after he set up the firm.
Never lose the human touch
As business grew, he put in place a 24 hour call centre to ensure that clients and prospects could always get in touch with Pimlico, at any time of the day or night. Charlie believes that whether you are running a simple home services business like his or a high tech business, one thing that is common for all customers is the preference for the human touch - people love talking to people on the other side, rather than engaging with machines.
Its one big happy family
Charlie's is a family run business. Today, 9 members of his family work at Pimlico Plumbers - himself, his wife, 4 children, two sons-in-law and one grandson. And his team has grown in similar fashion too. Very often, new hires are an employee's girlfriend or boyfriend, husband or wife, son-in-law, and so on. Its one big family operation. Pimlico's team today is over 260 strong. Strong family connections is a great way of ensuring that the culture of the firm and the guiding principles remain consistent even as the business expands.
Charlie ensures that he pays the best. His plumbers are the best paid in the UK, with some of them earning as high as GBP 100,000 a year (that's Rs.96 lakhs p.a.). He runs a 24 hour subsidized canteen which serves breakfast and lunch and leaves out sandwiches for the engineers on night duty.
Pimlico is now seriously BIG
36 years after its inception, Pimlico Plumbers today is London's largest plumbing services provider, with a total staff strength of over 260 having a fleet of 160 brightly coloured vans, and an annual turnover of GBP 24 million (Rs 230 crores). Pimlico has expanded into various other home services including carpentry, electrical, roofing services. Target for 2016: GBP 30 million turnover. Pimlico's client base includes the who's who of London - celebrities, politicians, pop stars, actors, business people - every home after all needs home services at some time or the other!
In the next 3 years, Charlie sees his staff strength doubling to 500, and his geographical area of operation to cover the entire Greater London area. Charlie pays himself a salary of GBP 1 million a year (that's Rs.9.6 crores). Not bad for a high school drop out!
A BIG idea for his country
Charlie is a big believer in hiring apprentices. He routinely hires apprentices, trains them and then lets them find their own career paths with the skills they learn at Pimlico. Some chose to come back as regular employees of Pimlico, some decide to start out on their own. That's fine by Charlie - he believes strongly in contributing to creating an ecosystem of well trained professionals in the home services industry.
Charlie mentors these apprentices and gives them inspirational talks. Taking his apprenticeship program a step forward, he has now proposed a radical new plan to the UK Government, which he believes will significantly cut youth unemployment. Instead of paying jobseekers an allowance while they are unemployed, Charlie has proposed to the Government to convert this into a Job Achievers Incentive - i.e the Government pays the employer the Job Achievers Incentive to use as part of a minimum wage salary for an apprentice. If you incentivize employers to set up upskilling oriented apprenticeship programs, Charlie figures the country will have many more skilled professionals who can be gainfully employed and a whole lot less unskilled unemployed youth who subsist on a Government dole. This plan has got the attention of UK's Prime Minister who along with other key ministers, met Charlie to discuss this plan in greater detail. This high school drop out plumber has surely come a long way!
Undiminished zest
Charlie is a regular on TV shows - his blunt and outspoken style ensures great sound bytes every time he is on air. He loves the good life, is frank that money is a big motivator for him, and continues to have as much zest for his business as he did when he set it up as a one man army, 36 years ago. In his journey of becoming BIG, he has not only made a lot of money for himself and got loads of publicity, but he has almost single-handedly changed the perception of his trade - from uncouth cheats to customer centric home services professionals.
Content is created by Wealth Forum and must not be construed as an opinion by Reliance Mutual Fund.
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