Blog
Method first: how to measure booking rate, close rate and open quotes from the records you already keep, and what to ask before an upside figure goes into a deal model.
Unsold estimates: count them before you chase them
For owners and managers
Before you follow up on an estimate, count the open ones: which are 14 days old, what they add up to, and which nobody has chased yet.
Close rate on estimates: count decided quotes only
For owners and managers
Your close rate should count sold and lost quotes, not the open ones. How to work it out from your own estimates, and what it cannot tell you.
Measure your booking rate without the 14-day trap
For owners and managers
Leave out the newest leads, booked and unbooked alike, or your booking rate is off. A fair way to measure yours, then test a target in the calculator.
Missed calls on Local Services Ads: what Google says
For owners and managers
Google says missed calls may hurt your Local Services Ads responsiveness, and some still count as charged leads. What that means for your intake.
Local Services Ads are moving: keep your lead data
For owners and buyers
Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads, and says the old performance reports will not carry over. Keep your lead history in your records.
Cost per lead vs cost per booked job
For owners and buyers
Cost per lead tells you what a channel sends. Cost per booked job tells you what it books. How to work out both from your own records.
Upside in a deal memo: 12 questions before the model
For acquisition teams
Twelve questions to put to a revenue-upside claim about an HVAC, plumbing, roofing or electrical business before it reaches your model or your lender.
Buying an HVAC or plumbing firm: records to ask for
For acquisition teams
Financial statements show what a trades firm earned. Operating records show how the work came in: the leads, quotes, jobs and spend to ask a seller for.
Start with one worksheet.
Each post has a free worksheet or checklist that works in your browser, on your own records or on a figure you were handed.
See the worksheets