Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric

Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric (Brothers) is on a mission; a mission to do right by customers and build long-lasting relationships with clients, suppliers and the Denver community. “We strive to be prompt, professional and to deliver a great overall experience for our customers,” shares Lynn Tomasek, marketing manager of Brothers. “We’re family-owned- and -operated and although we’re not the largest, we’re a major player in the Denver market.”
Since 1980, Brothers has been building a reputation in the community for a range of trusted plumbing, HVAC and electrical services. “My father, Marvin Kansteiner, and my uncle originally founded Brothers in 1980,” recalls Lynn. “After a few years in business, my uncle decided he wanted to do new construction and my father wanted to stick to service, repair and maintenance.”
Repairs, maintenance and replacements of existing units have remained Brothers’ niche in the industry. “We work mainly with residential clients, but we have some commercial accounts, as well,” notes Lynn. “We also offer remodeling, excavation, sprinkler work and drain cleaning. We’re aiming to be a one-stop shop with a wide range of services so we can take care of every need and there’s no reason to look up someone else’s number in the phone book.”
Same-day Service
With approximately 30 trucks running at any given time, Brothers offers wide coverage of the greater Denver metro area and efficient, speedy same-day service. “We’re open seven days a week with no overtime charges,” shares Lynn. “We even have seven or eight trucks making calls on Sundays, because we understand that when systems break down no one wants to wait a day or two.”
Lynn goes on to note that the company covers an approximate 30-mile radius. “We cover all the way from Castle Rock, Colo., on the south side to Longmont, Colo., in the north,” she says. “We also serve Golden and Aurora to the east. We respond to a call very quickly.”
Lynn refers to Brothers’ trucks as warehouses on wheels; each is well-equipped to deliver same-day service. “We don’t charge our customers to order or get parts, because we have them on-hand,” she explains. “We offer a line of water heaters, drain-cleaning equipment, air conditioning units and high-performing toilets. Our goal is to service or replace whatever a client needs on spot and if there’s something we don’t have on-hand we’ll go get it with no extra charges, because no one wants to wait to have their heat or hot water running.”
Brothers relies on a network of trusted suppliers to keep each truck fully stocked and its systems running. “We’ve worked with Barnett for many years,” adds Lynn. “They’re our long-term supplier of plumbing materials.”
As the colder months approach, Lynn says Brothers is making an annual transition. “Come September and the first frost we start shifting gears,” she explains. “We start doing furnace inspections and winter checkups so, when it’s really cold, we know our customers’ units are functioning well and are ready for the winter.”
A Quality Team
With service technicians in and out of homes so frequently, Lynn says having the right people on the Brothers team is extremely important. “We drug test and background check; there are a lot of restrictions on anyone who walks in the door here,” she adds. “We want good people in our customers’ homes. Finding top-quality people with a good personality is key. A technician can have the skills, but if they don’t know how to approach a customer then there’s a problem. There’s a lot that goes into finding a person who’s right for this job.”
Lynn says finding well-rounded technicians is getting more and more difficult, and has presented a recent challenge for Brothers. “There are less people going into the trade industry,” she reveals. “It’s increasingly a challenge to find workers.”
Despite a shortage in the HVAC and plumbing trades, and the onset of the recession, Brothers has remained competitive due to a simple point: outstanding, memorable service. “We just get to work and take care of our customers,” says Lynn. “We let them know we’re here to help and make it a positive, memorable experience. Fortunately, we’re not in the retail business where discretionary funds are spent. People need heat and hot water; the key is to make sure they’re coming back to us and not someone else.”
According to Lynn, Brothers is always looking for ways to better its service. “We’ve recently established our Home Care Club, which allows clients annual inspections, some discounts and priority service,” she adds. “We’ve also made a big step by going paperless. Our technicians in the field now have iPads so all of our invoices are digital through SWRemote and the information goes into our database as soon as the job is done. If someone has a question, it’s much easier to access the information quickly.”
It is evident that the Brothers team does not rest on the company’s laurels, and Lynn looks forward to the changes ahead. “We all have a part in this company,” Lynn shares. “My sister and brother work for Brothers, and we’re all partners with my father. My father plans to retire in the future and we will all be running the company together.” Since 1980, Brothers Plumbing, Heating & Electric has remained grounded in family ownership and the dedication to superior customer care that is hard to come by.