Questions worth a straight answer.
Eighteen things owner-run businesses ask before they spend anything, answered properly rather than in a way that makes buying from us the only sensible conclusion. Each one says plainly when you do not need us, because for most people that is the answer.
What’s worrying you?
- If my developer disappearsDo you own your website?
- Whether to build or buyIs bespoke software worth it?
- Rent or buildWhat does a booking system cost?
- If I am losing jobs I cannot seeWhat do missed calls cost?
- Whether I need something biggerText back or automated receptionist?
- What to say when I miss a callWhat to text back after a missed call
- Why is my website getting no enquiries?Why is my website getting no enquiries?
- Can software read your website?Can software read your website?
- How many calls I am missingHow many calls is my business missing?
- What my voicemail should sayWhat should my business voicemail say?
- How quickly to replyHow fast should I reply to a customer enquiry?
- If I am on a job when it ringsWhat do I do when I cannot answer the phone on a job?
- If a customer has gone quietHow do I follow up an enquiry that has gone quiet?
- Calls at night and weekendsWhat should happen to calls outside working hours?
- What does a small business website cost?What does a small business website cost?
- Do I need a new website or just fixes?Do I need a new website or just fixes?
- What does a tradesperson website get wrong?What does a tradesperson website get wrong?
- What should a tradesperson website do?What should a tradesperson website do?
Answers
Do you own your website?
Ownership is three separate things: the domain, the build, and the customer relationship. Most people own the first and assume the other two.
Is bespoke software worth it?
What bespoke software is, its advantages and disadvantages, what it costs, and when to buy off the shelf instead. Straight answers from someone who builds it.
What does a booking system cost?
Renting a booking system and building one behave differently as you grow. What each costs, what you keep, and when renting is the right answer.
What do missed calls cost?
A published figure will not tell you what your missed calls cost. Four lines of arithmetic on your own phone will: calls missed, share that would have booked, job value, weeks worked.
Text back or automated receptionist?
Text back sends a message after you miss a call. An automated receptionist answers it. What each does, where each goes wrong, and which to start with if you work alone.
What to text back after a missed call
A good reply to a missed call says who you are, what you will do next and asks one easy question. Three templates for tradespeople, and the mistakes that lose the job.
Why is my website getting no enquiries?
Why a trades website gets no enquiries: it is out of date, hard to contact, unclear about the towns you cover and short on proof. Here is how to fix it.
Can software read your website?
We scored how readable our own site is to software, and ShotBot too. 76 to 97, and 73 to 94, with what we changed and what we left alone.
How many calls is my business missing?
Your phone already holds the answer. How to count missed calls over a normal week, tell the real enquiries from the noise, and decide whether it is worth fixing.
What should my business voicemail say?
A good business voicemail greeting names you, says when you will reply and gives the caller an easier option than leaving a message. A short script and the mistakes to avoid.
How fast should I reply to a customer enquiry?
Reply while the customer is still looking. Why the first useful reply wins the job, what a first reply should contain, and what to do when you cannot answer properly straight away.
What do I do when I cannot answer the phone on a job?
You cannot stop work every time the phone rings, and you should not have to. Three habits that keep new callers from drifting to the next name: decide which calls matter, reply fast, and give the caller somewhere to go.
How do I follow up an enquiry that has gone quiet?
Most enquiries that go quiet are not refusals. They are people who got busy. When to follow up, what a good follow-up says, and when to stop, with short wording you can copy.
What should happen to calls outside working hours?
Customers ring in the evening and at weekends because that is when they have time. How to handle calls outside working hours without answering the phone at night: a clear greeting, a morning routine and an easy way to leave details.
What does a small business website cost?
What decides the price of a small business website, what is included at each level, and what you still pay for after launch. Our own prices, published.
Do I need a new website or just fixes?
How to tell whether your business website needs a redesign or a handful of fixes, what a rebuild should keep, and what to do first if you are not sure.
What does a tradesperson website get wrong?
The four mistakes we keep seeing on tradesperson websites: a bloated About page, no proof of work, no reviews and a clunky contact form, and how to fix each.
What should a tradesperson website do?
A tradesperson’s website should make it easy to get in touch, show real work and take a deposit. Two Chippenham trades, before and after, in plain terms.
Tradesperson? Read how to stop quoting in the evenings, on sending a quote from the customer’s house.
Wondering what to fix on your website first? Read the seven questions we ask before touching anyone’s SEO.
Built your own website? Read whether it is safe for your business, and what the law expects if you hold customer details.
→Start
Tell us what breaks when you get busy.
The first step is a call, and it costs nothing: twenty minutes on what your business does and what breaks when you get busy. Most projects then start with the £450 Diagnostic: half a day walking your process end to end, with a written recommendation and a fixed quote, credited in full against a build if you go ahead within thirty days. If you already know which package you need and its scope is clear, we quote it directly.