Almost anybody can be a plumber these days, but knowing how to fix a faucet is not enough. At least not for Robison Plumbing, whose bulk of the business comes from repeat customers.

Robison has found a way to float above the average business. Sure, they know how to fix faucets and do it well. But the real key is knowing how to please customers. And that’s not an easy art to perfect.

For starters, Robison doesn’t hire just any plumber. The company looks for service technicians — professionally trained plumbers with people skills. Then, all technicians are provided with uniforms including crisp-white shirts, and a fully equipped van that carries everything from valves to toilets and even water heaters so they can do any job on the spot.

“Finding someone with plumbing skills and people skills is hard to do,” says Vice President Jim Short. “They have to look good and do a nice professional job, then clean it all up and leave it sparkling and brand new.”

And that’s not all. Price quotes are given by the technicians on the spot and never over the phone — and once quoted the price stays fixed so the customer knows exactly how much the job will cost and “there are no surprises.” Each repair receives a follow-up call from office staff to make sure everything was done to the customer’s satisfaction.

Of the company’s 20 employees, 12 are service technicians. As many as nine of them are out on calls at any given moment. Services are available 24 hours a day including weekends and the customers don’t pay after-hours rates.

Even so, weekends are a slow time, and not because pipes only break Monday through Friday. Perhaps people are not used to the idea of not paying extra money for extra services.

“People don’t take advantage of weekend services,” Short said. “We run three to four plumbers on the weekend but could have as many as eight.”

Robison Plumbing was founded originally to serve the new construction market. As more inquires about fixing existing buildings came in, a two-person “department” was created. Eventually, the new construction service became its own company, the Kitsap Plumbers Group, and Robison Plumbing became solely a repair service, now handling about 7,500 calls per year.

In a laid-back office that feels “like a family business,” Short says the technicians are good friends and “there is beauty in every day somewhere.”

“It’s a fun business, that’s why we do it,” he said. “People call here when they are in trouble. If you go out and solve someone’s nasty problem, it’s a good day.”

Steadily growing over the last five years, Robison Plumbing moved in December to a new facility it built after “outgrowing everything really badly.” The new building not only has more office room but also more space for the inventory to re-supply the vans, and a work/break room with showers (anyone who gets dirty after a job must change the uniform).

Volume has doubled the last two years, but Short says as business continues to grow, they have no intention of expanding past the current service area, which stretches from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge through the Kitsap Peninsula to three counties.

“We’ll perfect this market instead of expanding,” he said. “We want to keep it local so we don’t spread ourselves too thin.”

With their commercial reputation also continuing to grow as they serve more and more motels, restaurants and medical facilities, there is plenty of room to grow.