Valley Plumbing Enhances Customer Experience, Collaboration and Communication with Coach Onsite

In the trades, there are useful tools that fill our trucks – and business tools that fuel our success. Both enable us to run our shops efficiently and effectively. This is a success story about the latter – a sharing of tools, resources, and best-practices that are now guiding the all-star team at Valley Plumbing Inc. as they scale their success together!

Shifting Plans Creates a New Opportunity

Donnie and Sarie Gonsalves – owners of Valley Plumbing with locations in Bermuda Dunes and North Hollywood, CA – originally planned to host the first Nexstar Regional Meeting of 2025 last January. And Implementation Coach Brad Summer was on deck to serve as facilitator. However, due to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, the networking event was postponed for the safety of all involved.

Recognizing the challenge and disappointment this posed, Brad reached out to Donnie and Sarie to offer his services via an onsite coaching visit. This nimble pivot created a fantastic opportunity for the Valley team to collaborate and make progress on key initiatives in a personalized setting. The result: an impactful – and impromptu – 3-day experience motivated 24 participating Valley employees and equipped them with actionable strategies for long-term success – a win-win!

Pre-Planning for Success

Before the onsite began, Brad and Donnie charted out pre-work to outline goals and objectives, while identifying key areas for improvement.

“When I arrived, we spent a few hours together so I could understand Donnie’s vision more clearly,” Brad noted. “This provided structure, and we were able to refine our efforts and focus on those areas important to Donnie. This conversation also helped identify a few of the root causes where his team was facing obstacles.”

Implementation and Strategies

With Brad facilitating, the Valley team drilled deep into several topics focused on operational efficiency, customer service, communication, and team collaboration.

“Brad’s ability to assess our business dynamics and recommend specific strategies to enhance both our efficiency to close jobs while on site and customer satisfaction was a turning point for us,” Donnie explained. “We are more confident in our approach moving forward, and the tools Brad provided have equipped us with the ability to make more informed decisions, ultimately driving better results for our plumbing business.”

Insights and Takeaways

One of the most powerful moments happened during a training session with Valley Plumbing’s technicians.

“We highlighted the importance of building meaningful relationships with customers, shifting from a purely transactional approach to one that fosters long-term trust and loyalty,” Donnie explained. “Employees quickly recognized the value of personalized customer interactions and left with actionable techniques to enhance customer satisfaction.”

Brad agreed, the most impactful “ah-ha!” moment centered on Nexstar’s Law #4: Communicate in Rhythm. “Communication is key. This applies not only to internal communication with our team members but externally with our customers. We discovered multiple areas where communication can be improved and the results that will come from making these changes are significant.”

Testimonial from Donnie Gonsalves

In appreciation for Brad’s time, focus, expertise, and good energy, Donnie wrote a thoughtful letter to summarize the positive impact the onsite had for his Valley team. Here is an excerpt:

Brad’s visit was a game-changer. He provided actionable insights that we could immediately implement, and his focus on personalized coaching for our managers made a huge impact. The biggest takeaway for us was the importance of communication—both internally and with our customers. We are already seeing positive changes in how our team collaborates and engages with clients.
Having Brad onsite gave us a unique opportunity to address our challenges in real-time. He worked directly with our service managers, customer service team, and technicians, observing our operations firsthand and tailoring his recommendations to fit our specific needs. The ability to get instant feedback and apply solutions on the spot was incredibly beneficial. We gained clarity on key initiatives and left the sessions feeling more confident about our next steps.
This experience has given us the tools to push our business to the next level.

Looking Ahead

Nexstar members, if you are looking to create a similar roadmap to focus on core business strategies and fuel your team through an onsite – contact your Business or Implementation Coach today to learn more!
If you are not a Nexstar member, but curious to learn more about our mission to help the world’s best tradespeople become the world’s best businesspeople, let’s talk.