Posted on March 24, 2014 by admin in Company
Outstanding Plumbing is More Outstanding Than You Might Think
For the past two years, Outstanding Plumbing has been donating to the Make-a-Wish Foundation. But, even more than that, they invite their customers to donate, too.
Company president, Robert Cartelli, speaks about how he got involved with the organization and the success he’s seen so far.
Outstanding Plumbing and Make-a-Wish
Cartelli said that the idea to start donating to Make-a-Wish began two years ago when him and his wife were watching The Apprentice. The contestant – and eventual winner – country singer John Rich was featured on the show with his charity of choice: St. Jude’s.
As he thought about his then-newborn child and how healthy he was, he said he “fell forward” when he saw the kids at St. Jude’s hospital and knew he wanted to make a difference.
It was after that when he thought, “Let me partner up with somebody that we can make a donation for.”
And so he did.
“In the last 12 months,” Cartelli said, “I think we’ve done a little over $10,000.”
So How Does it Work?
Generally, Cartelli said, when customers call, the office staff will steer them to the website to let them know they can save money with a number of different coupons.
“We run a lot of coupons in conjunction with the Make-a-Wish foundation,” he said. “But the one coupon that’s the most popular is if you donate $100, I take $250 off a boiler install.”
In fact, he said, there is a 99% chance that customers will use this coupon and, thus, donate to the organization. He also said that 9 out of 10 customers love that Outstanding Plumbing helps contribute to Make-a-Wish.
If you decide to go ahead with a donation, Cartelli said, “The customer goes online and they will make the donation on behalf of our name.”
Cartelli said he makes it a point to send a thank you card to all of his customers following a service call. But, he said, for the larger donations that are made, “We set up a follow up letter and we do thank them for the donation. Then there is a follow up phone conversation.”
Your donations and your loyalty to Outstanding Plumbing does not go unnoticed.
What Else Does Cartelli and Outstanding Plumbing Do?
“My wife and I donate periodically throughout the year,” he said, “But the majority of it is coming from the customers.”
Besides the service coupons in tandem with donations, Cartelli said he also holds 50/50 raffles at Home Shows he participates in where half the proceeds go to Make-a-Wish.
“The last raffle [I did] was $191.00 taken in to donate and Outstanding Plumbing matched the proceeds. We wound up donating $380.00.” All in just one day’s work.
And Cartelli’s efforts do not go unrecognized. He said, “I got a phone call [from them] this morning – they thanked me.”
Outstanding Plumbing’s Other Charitable Efforts
Cartelli participates in a leadership conference telecasted live from Atlanta, GA every year. This year, he said, they wanted to put two 50-inch TV screens in the lobby so people never miss a minute of the conference.
“I’ll donate one 50-inch screen TV,” he said, “on the condition that we do a raffle for the TV and all proceeds go to Make-a-Wish.”
This conference, coming up in May, helps people young and old learn how to be a leader you need to be in today’s revolving world. That’s why Cartelli and his wife take six previously chosen high school students out to dinner before the event and pay for their tickets.
“Tomorrow’s leaders are important as well,” he said.
To learn more about how you can help Outstanding Plumbing and the Make-a-Wish foundation, give them a call today!