The office is the job that keeps you from adding a truck.
Most shops don't stall because there's no work. They stall because the owner is the front desk, the dispatcher and the bookkeeper, and there are only so many evenings. Here's what that costs, and what the crew changes.
Three places your shop loses money without noticing.
Calls nobody answers
About a quarter of calls to home services businesses go unanswered, and fewer than 3 in 100 of those callers leave a voicemail. The rest call the next shop on the list.
Source: Invoca, analysis of calls to home services businesses, May 2024.
Invoices that wait for the weekend
The job was done Tuesday. The invoice gets written Friday night at the kitchen table, and the check comes whenever somebody remembers to chase it. Every one of those days is your money in someone else's account.
The desk you hire to grow
Somewhere around the third or fourth truck, the office stops fitting in your evenings, and the usual answer is an office hire: a salary, a desk, training, and covering for them when they're out. Then another one a few trucks later.
What the front office is costing your shop.
Put in your own numbers. Everything stays in your browser.
What else you could do about it.
You've probably tried at least one of these. Each fixes part of the problem.
| Job | Voicemail | Answering service | Office hire | Field service software | The Catbird crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picks up at 9 PM on a Saturday | No. Under 3% leave a message. | Yes | Not without overtime | No | Yes, with your shop's name |
| Knows your customers | No | Usually works from a script | Yes, once trained | If someone typed it in | Every past call and visit |
| Books the job | No | Takes a message | Yes, in business hours | If someone enters it | Onto the right truck, with a confirmation text |
| Writes up the ticket | No | No | From your notes | Your tech types it | From what your tech says and a plate photo |
| Invoices and follows up | No | No | Yes | Sends what someone built | Drafted in QuickBooks; nothing goes out until you tap |
| When you add a truck | More missed calls | More minutes billed | Another hire, a few trucks later | More seats, more typing | Same crew |
Built for the owner who is the office.
A good fit if
- You own the shop and still work the trucks, with one truck or a handful.
- You're the one answering the phone, writing tickets and doing invoices at night.
- You run an HVAC shop. Plumbing, electrical and other service shops work the same way: calls, tickets, trucks and invoices.
- You want to add a truck without adding a desk.
Probably not a fit if
- You already have an office team and a dispatch process that works. Keep them.
- You want every caller to reach a person. Fran is AI, and we don't pretend otherwise. A live answering service is the better choice for that.
You'll know if it's working.
Every month you get the Day-30 report: calls answered, how many came after hours, jobs written up by the crew, days from job done to paid, and jobs per truck per week. If the crew isn't earning its keep, it shows up there first.
Example numbers to show the format.
Keep the wrench. Lose the front office.
Call Fran's demo line and hear what your customers would hear. Then picture her answering with your shop's name.