Level

Plumbing sales recruiting

Hire plumbing sales reps who turn technician leads into replacement sales.

Level helps residential plumbing companies, including combined plumbing and HVAC shops, hire in-home salespeople who turn big-ticket leads into signed jobs. We check every rep's close-rate history, pay history and references before you meet them.

In-Home Sales ConsultantsSales Managers
Plumbing salesperson talking a homeowner through a water heater replacement

The roles

Who we recruit for plumbing companies

Most plumbing shops let techs sell until big-ticket work, like water heaters, repipes and whole-house jobs, outgrows them. Then you need one of these seats.

Plumbing sales consultant pointing out old pipes to a homeowner in her basement
Closer

In-Home Sales Consultants

Runs the replacement and upgrade appointments your techs set: water heaters, tankless conversions, repipes, whole-house jobs. Prices options and closes on the visit.

Steps of hiring

From the brief to a rep running your leads.

  1. Step 1

    Tell us who you need

    Trade, territory, lead sources, average ticket and your pay plan. A short call or a two-minute form.

  2. Step 2

    We headhunt closers

    We go after the top reps at the strongest companies in your trade and market, people with a proven track record, and make the case for joining you.

    1,000+sales placements made

  3. Step 3

    We check the numbers

    Close-rate history, pay history and references, all checked before anyone reaches your shortlist.

    Within 7 daysto your first candidate

  4. Step 4

    You interview and hire

    You meet the shortlist and make the call. You pay only when you hire.

    21 daystypical time to hire
    60 daysfree replacement guarantee

Vetted on numbers, not résumés

How we screen plumbing sellers

Every hire should pay for itself many times over. So before a rep reaches your shortlist, we check three things.

01Verified

Close-rate history

How often they actually close, checked against their history.

26.9% national in-home close rate

across 53,389 recorded consultations

02Verified

Pay history

Commission statements or W-2s that back up what they say they sold and earned.

9% of sale, a common target at HVAC and combined shops

the plan we check their statements against

03Verified

References

We speak to people who worked with them to confirm how they sold, how they treated customers and why they moved on.

1,000+ placements

made with the same checks

How a shortlist gets built · a typical search

  1. 300+

    Headhunted

    Top reps at the strongest companies in your trade and market, contacted directly.

  2. ~25

    Close rate and pay checked

    Close-rate history and commission statements or W-2s that back it up.

  3. ~10

    References checked

    People who worked with them confirm how they sold and why they moved on.

  4. 3-5

    On your shortlist

    The few who clear every check. You interview and decide.

  1. 01300+

    Headhunted

    Top reps at the strongest companies in your trade and market, contacted directly.

  2. 02~25

    Close rate and pay checked

    Close-rate history and commission statements or W-2s that back it up.

  3. 03~10

    References checked

    People who worked with them confirm how they sold and why they moved on.

  4. 043-5

    On your shortlist

    The few who clear every check. You interview and decide.

Benchmarks

What good looks like in plumbing

Your seller is only as busy as your techs make them. Start with what your techs bring in, then track the rest on your own board.

Verified before you meet them

We verify each rep's own number on these before you meet them, from their close-rate history and pay history, and confirm it with reference checks.

Close rate, windows & doors (for comparison)29.1%
Close rate, Midwest (all home improvement)31.1%
Close rate, West (all home improvement)27.2%
Close rate, Northeast (all home improvement)24.3%
Close rate, South (all home improvement)23.3%
Average across home improvement:26.9%

Close rates: Siro, Apr-Aug 2026. Targets: ServiceTitan.

$500+
Plumbing tech ticket target. Replacement work runs far higher, which is why it needs a seller.
+7.4–11.3%
How far top reps close above their company's median
75 minutes
Median in-home appointment, all trades

Pay plans

How plumbing companies pay sellers

  • Percent of sale

    9% of sales is a common target at HVAC and combined shops. Simple to run and easy for a seller to check. The catch: you pay the same on a discounted job as a full-margin one.

  • Draw against commission

    An advance against future commission, so a new seller can get through the ramp.

  • SPIFFs and bonuses

    Small cash bonuses for selling a specific product, like a tankless upgrade.

Pay reality

What plumbing sales reps earn

What W-2 sales reps at HVAC, plumbing and electrical contractors earn. No plumbing-only figure exists.

Not in these numbers

Note

Commission-only 1099 reps. Top earners make more.

Plumbing sales consultant signing a homeowner at the kitchen table

Total annual pay (base + commission)

10th $43,460Median $78,17090th $138,300

BLS, May 2025

The cost of waiting

An empty sales seat isn't free.

Your numbers

Example values

Revenue walking out the door

$13,450/ week

Over 8 weeks

$107,600

2.7 jobs a week

Gross profit lost

$43,040

at a 40% margin

leads × close rate × ticket = weekly revenue

  • Only home service sales roles
  • Close rate, pay history and references checked
  • You pay only when you hire
  • Free replacement if they don’t perform in 60 days

When to hire

Hire before the first freeze

Pipes freeze and water heaters quit when it gets cold. The seller you hire in the fall is closing on their own by winter.

  • Steady seasonSpringThaw brings sewer and drain jobs. A good stretch for a new seller to run real calls.
  • Slow seasonSummerPrepare. Time to learn your price book, tankless options and financing.
  • Slow seasonFallPrepare. Hire now so they're selling on their own before the first freeze.
  • Busy seasonWinterKeep up. A homeowner with no hot water takes the first company that can quote.

Leads going unrun right now?

See what an empty seat costs

Multi-location & private equity

One hiring standard across every branch.

Acquisitions add territories faster than branch managers can staff them. Level runs the same checks, close rate, pay history and references, on every seat in every market, so a rep in Phoenix clears the same bar as a rep in Charlotte.

41.3%
HVAC deal volume that was PE add-ons, July 2026
17 to 56
PE-backed roofing platforms, 2023 to 2024
5-10 reps
Team size where most companies add a sales manager

Results

Owners, in their own words.

Plumbing company owner in front of the shopPlumbing

Plumbing in-home sales consultant

Owner, plumbing and HVAC company · Phoenix, AZ

Example
20 days
brief to accepted offer
Month 1
running every replacement lead

A plumbing company's techs were setting more water heater and repipe leads than they could run, and quotes were going out days late.

We headhunted an in-home sales consultant from a combined HVAC and plumbing shop who had sold water heaters and tankless conversions for 4 years.

She took over the tech-set replacement leads in her first month, and the techs went back to full service schedules.

Owner shaking hands with a new sales rep in front of the company vans

Working with Level

Simple terms. You pay when you hire.

We've made 1,000+ sales placements. Our team supports you through the whole process, so hiring a great rep takes less of your time.

  • You pay only when you hire

    A one-time placement fee per hire, and nothing upfront to start a search. We quote the fee for your seat on the first call.

  • Free replacement within 60 days

    If the rep is let go for performance within that window, counted from their first day, we find you one replacement at no extra cost.

  • Field sales roles only

    We focus on reps who run appointments in the home, the managers who lead them and the canvassers who book them. Every hire joins your company directly.

FAQ

Hiring plumbing sales reps: questions owners ask.

  • Does a plumbing company need a dedicated salesperson?

    Not always. If your techs sell replacements well and keep up with service calls, maybe not yet. Hire a seller when tech-set replacement leads pile up, or sales talks start eating service time.

  • Can one seller cover HVAC and plumbing?

    At a combined shop, yes. Plenty of sellers cover HVAC, plumbing and electrical. One who has never sold a water heater or a whole-house job will need product training before they close at their usual rate.

  • Where do good plumbing sellers come from?

    Mostly from in-home replacement sales, like sellers at HVAC companies and generator specialists. The best ones are employed and doing well, so we headhunt them instead of waiting for them to answer an ad.

  • What do plumbing sales reps earn?

    There's no plumbing-only figure. W-2 sales reps at HVAC, plumbing and electrical contractors earn a median $78,170. Commission-only reps on a 1099 aren't counted, so top earners make more.

  • How should I pay a plumbing salesperson?

    There's no published plumbing pay plan to point to. The published options are HVAC ones, percent of sale or percent of gross profit, and both adapt to plumbing. Whatever you pick, keep it simple and pay on time.

  • Do you recruit plumbers or CSRs?

    No. We focus on field sales roles: the people who run appointments in the home, and the managers who lead them. That focus is how we know where the best sellers are.

  • How fast can you fill a plumbing sales seat?

    We aim to have a first candidate in front of you within 7 days of onboarding and getting your job description. A typical hire takes 21 days. Both vary by role and market, and on whether you need someone who has already sold plumbing replacements.

Related

Other trades

Don't see your trade? Book a call and we'll tell you straight if we can fill the seat.

Get a seller on your replacement leads.

How it worksGet reps