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Where is your shop
leaking money?

Twelve questions about calls, estimates, collections and past customers. You get a rough dollar range and the two places to look first. Estimated from your answers, not your records.

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What's your trade?

Roofing HVAC

Roofing

About how much revenue does your company do a year?

This scales the dollar estimate to the size of your shop.

Under $1M $1M–$3M $3M–$7M $7M–$15M Over $15M

About how many of your roofs are paid by insurance?

None Under 25% 25–60% Over 60%

1 of 12A call comes in during business hours and nobody can grab it. What happens?

It goes to voicemail and we call back when we can. Someone calls back later that day, usually. We call back within the hour, and missed calls are logged. It's answered live, or the caller gets a text within 5 minutes, and every missed call is tracked.

2 of 12After a hailstorm hits your area, how fast does a new inspection request get a time on the calendar?

We don't have a system; some wait a week or more. Within a week. Within two or three days. Within a day, and every requester gets a status text.

3 of 12How soon after the inspection does the homeowner get the estimate?

A week or more. Three to six days. One or two days. Same day, often before we leave.

4 of 12What happens to an estimate that hasn't been signed?

Nothing, unless they call us. The salesperson follows up if they remember. We follow up a couple of times on a rough schedule. A written follow-up schedule runs until they say yes or no, and we know our close rate by lead source.

5 of 12Does every retail estimate show more than one option and a monthly payment?

One price, one product. Options or financing only if the homeowner asks. Usually options; financing when it comes up. Always both.

6 of 12Can you pull up every open insurance claim with its stage and its next date right now?

No. It's in my head or my email. It's in the CRM, but without dates. Yes. Every stage has a date and stalled claims get flagged weekly.

7 of 12Before the final invoice, do you compare what the crew installed with what the carrier approved?

Never. On big jobs. Usually, without a checklist. Every job, with a photo-backed checklist.

8 of 12Between signing and install, how does the homeowner hear from you?

Only when we schedule the crew. When they call to ask. We send updates now and then. Scheduled updates; materials ordered within two days of signing; every cancellation logged with a reason.

9 of 12How much recoverable depreciation is outstanding right now, and how old is it?

No idea. A rough guess. We have a list we update monthly. We know it by job, with the date requested and the policy deadline, and we follow up with the carrier on a set schedule.

10 of 12When a job finishes, when does the final invoice go out, and does it ever surprise the homeowner?

When someone gets to it, and disputes happen. Within two weeks; sometimes the amount surprises them. Within a week, and changes are usually in writing. The same or next day, checked against the contract, the insurance scope and signed change orders.

11 of 12When a job finishes, what goes out: a review ask, a referral ask, a note to the neighbors?

Nothing. A review ask sometimes. A review ask every time. All three, and we track what comes back.

12 of 12When did your past customers last hear from you?

Not since the job. A holiday card, maybe. After big storms, sometimes. A check-in after every storm and a yearly note, and every eligible warranty is registered.

HVAC

About how much revenue does your company do a year?

This scales the dollar estimate to the size of your shop.

Under $1M $1M–$2M $2M–$5M $5M–$10M Over $10M

1 of 12A call comes in at 6:30 on a Tuesday night. What happens?

It goes to voicemail, and we check it in the morning. Voicemail, and someone usually calls back that night. An answering service takes a message, and we call back within the hour. Someone answers and books it on the board.

2 of 12Someone fills out your website form. How fast do they hear from you?

Next day, or I'm not sure. Same day. Within the hour. Within five minutes, nights and weekends included.

3 of 12Of the replacement estimates your team gives, about how many do you close?

I don't know. Under 35%. 35–49%. 50% or more.

4 of 12A homeowner doesn't sign the replacement estimate. What happens next?

It sits open until somebody remembers it. The comfort advisor calls once. A few follow-ups, but nobody tracks them. A set follow-up schedule starts the next day, and every open estimate has an owner.

5 of 12About how many active maintenance agreements do you have for every $1M in revenue?

Example: 500 agreements on $2M in revenue is 250 per $1M.

We don't have a plan, or I don't know. Under 100. 100–249. 250 or more.

6 of 12What share of your agreements renewed last year?

I don't know. Under 60%. 60–79%. 80% or more.

7 of 12When your team quotes a replacement, what does the homeowner see?

One price. Two choices, and financing if they ask. Three choices, and financing usually comes up. Four or more choices, with a monthly payment shown on every one.

8 of 12How often does a tech go back out, for free, to fix the same problem?

We don't track it. More than 1 job in 20. About 1 in 20 to 1 in 35. Fewer than 1 in 35, and we know why each one happened.

9 of 12When did you last reach out to customers whose systems are 10+ years old?

We don't have equipment ages on file. More than a year ago, or never. Once in the past year. Before every season, from a list.

10 of 12How do you get Google reviews?

When customers feel like leaving one. Techs ask sometimes. We ask after most jobs. We ask after every job, and every review gets a reply within a day.

11 of 12How many places does one job get typed into before it's paid?

Three or more. Two, plus a spreadsheet. Two, and they mostly sync. One, and it syncs to QuickBooks on its own.

12 of 12Do you know what your jobs actually made last month, after parts, labor, drive time and rentals?

No. I find out when the accountant does the year-end numbers. I see the monthly P&L, but not job by job. I can pull job costing, but nobody reviews it on a schedule. Yes. I read gross margin by job, and service vs install, every week.

Your estimate

Estimated from your answers and published industry data, not from your records. It isn't a promise of what you'll recover.

Where it's leaking

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