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1 The base decides everything

Why the system you already have is the engine, and every idea in this guide is the fuel.

What you do
Answer the phone when you can. When you cannot, your system sends a text to the caller in seconds, with no work from you.
What it brings
Almost half of the calls to service businesses are never answered by anybody (48%). Of the ones that are answered, 38 out of 100 are real customers industry-wide, and almost half of those book on that same call.Source: Invoca 2026, measured across 70 million calls
Time it takes
None. It is already running.
Today
Call your own number from another phone and do not answer. You will get the text every customer gets when you cannot pick up.

Here is how a homeowner really hires, step by step, according to the research:

1

First they ask people. 74% follow the recommendation of a neighbor, friend or family member.

2

Then they look you up online. 97% read reviews. 68% will not use a business under 4 stars. 47% will not use one with fewer than 20 reviews.

3

They compare 3 businesses or fewer and decide in under 30 minutes.

4

Then they call. Almost half of the calls to home service businesses (48%) are never answered by a person.

5

If you do not answer, 82% call a competitor. Only 42% leave a voicemail. The rest just disappear.

6

And the clock is cruel: 55% of customers expect an answer within one hour, and only 20% of owners give it.

Now put it together. Every play in this guide makes somebody say your name or see your sign. That person then checks your Google profile, reads your reviews, goes to your website and calls. If the profile is weak, the reviews are few or the phone just rings, the play died and you never knew.

S
This is where your Slate system comes in. The professional website, the Google profile, the automatic text that answers in seconds while you are up a ladder, the reviews that ask for themselves and the follow up that never forgets. Only 20% of your competition answers within the first hour. Your system answers in seconds, every time. This guide exists to feed people into that machine.

Your only three jobs: answer fast when a person is needed, tell them about the review in person at the end of every job, and run the plays in this guide. The machine does the rest.

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