Blenheim, Marlborough, and anywhere with a phone
You already have systems. They are just made of you remembering.
The text you send back, the quote you chase, the booking you confirm. All of it is a process, and all of it currently depends on you having a free hand. Here is the same thing written down so it runs whether you do or not, and you can watch it run.
- trigger
Message comes in
A form, a text, or a missed call. 9:14pm.
- decision
What kind of enquiry is this?
Checked against job type and urgency words.
- action
Reply sent
Thanks for reaching out. What did you need a hand with?
- result
You get one notification
Not seven. Just the one, when you can look.
Demonstration. Times and messages invented.
Right now
Four things that fall on the floor every week.
- The call you missed
- It rang while you were under a bench. They rang the next name on the list and you never knew they existed.
- The quote you never chased
- Sent, then nothing, and the one message that would have closed it never got sent because Thursday happened.
- The question you answered again
- The same four questions, every week, always while you are holding something.
- The evening you spent on admin
- Invoices, the diary, chasing a deposit. Two hours after dinner that nobody paid you for.
None of these are a discipline problem. They happen because the moment each one needs doing is the moment you are busy doing the thing you actually get paid for.
The system
Press run and watch it decide.
Not a diagram of a system. The system, executing a node at a time, with the log underneath in its own words. Including the step where it refuses to answer something and hands it back to you.
A missed call
You were under a house. The job did not go to whoever answered first.
- Trigger
Call comes in
Unknown number, 6:42pm, while you are on a roof.
- Logic
Nobody picks up
Rings out after 25 seconds. No voicemail left.
- Decision
Do we know this number?
Checked against your contacts and past jobs.
- New number, treat as an enquirytaken
- Existing customer, different message
- Action
Text goes out
"Sorry we missed you, this is Dave from Bright Electrical. What did you need a hand with?" Sent from your business number.
- Wait
They reply
6:44pm. Two minutes. They had not rung anyone else yet.
- Action
Details captured
What they want, where, and when suits. Held against their number.
- Result
One notification, when you are down
Name, number, what they need, and the whole thread. Not seven alerts.
- 18:42:03inbound call +64 21 ••• 0117
- 18:42:28no answer after 25s · no voicemail
- 18:42:28lookup: number not in contacts → new enquiry
- 18:42:31sms sent from business number (28s after the miss)
- 18:44:12reply: "after a quote for a hot water cylinder in Renwick"
- 18:44:12enquiry created #4821 · job type: hot water · area: Renwick
- 18:44:13notified: 1 push, 1 email · thread attached
Demonstration of a system we build, not a recording of a live client system. Times, numbers and names invented.
The one everybody recognises
A missed call, from both sides.
Somebody rang while you were up a ladder. Watch what happens on their phone, and what happens on yours.
- Sorry we missed your call, this is Dave from Bright Electrical. What did you need a hand with?6:42pm
- After a quote for a hot water cylinder in Renwick6:44pm
- No problem. Is the old one leaking, or just past it? And is it electric or gas?6:44pm
- Leaking. Electric I think6:46pm
- Got it. Dave can look Wednesday morning or Thursday morning, both around 8. Which suits?6:46pm
- Wednesday is good. Jo, 027 555 44106:47pm
6:47
Tuesday 18 August
Jo · 027 555 4410
Leaking electric hot water cylinder, Renwick. Booked Wednesday 8am. Full thread attached.
One notification, at the end. Not seven.
Demonstration. Invented business, customer and number.
What gets built
Five systems, in the order most people need them.
- 01Missed callsA text goes out inside a minute, the conversation gets had, and you get one notification with the answer in it.
- 02Follow-upEnquiries acknowledged instantly, quotes chased once when they go quiet, nothing sitting in a folder pretending to be pipeline.
- 03BookingReal times from your real calendar, confirmed, then reminded the day before so people turn up.
- 04AnsweringThe routine questions answered from what you actually told it, and a clean handover the moment it does not know.
- 05Internal toolsThe job board, stock list or dashboard your business runs on, built properly instead of living in a spreadsheet.
The boundary
What it is never allowed to do.
Most of the nervousness about automation is really one question: what will it say to my customer when I am not watching. So the limits get set before anything is built, and they are limits in the system, not promises in a meeting.
- It never quotes a price. Pricing is a judgement about a specific job, and it goes to you.
- It never promises a time you have not got. It offers what your calendar actually has in it, or it offers nothing.
- It never invents an answer. If it was not told, it says it will find out, and asks you.
- It never pretends to be a person. It is your business messaging somebody back, and it does not perform being human.
- It never keeps messaging. One follow-up, then it stops. Nobody has ever been won by the fourth chase.
Questions
The four everybody asks.
- Will it sound like a robot to my customers?
- It is written in your words, answers only what you have told it, and hands over to you the moment it is out of its depth. The messages on this page are the actual level of language used.
- What happens when it does not know the answer?
- It says so and books you a call. It never guesses at price, timing or anything with liability attached. That boundary is set when it is built and it does not move.
- Do I have to change how I work?
- No. It is built around the phone number, inbox and calendar you already use. If a system needs you to change your whole day to suit it, it is the wrong system.
- What if I want to turn it off?
- You turn it off. Nothing is locked to us, the accounts are in your name, and the work is yours.
Start here
Tell me what keeps getting dropped.
Not a discovery process. One conversation about what actually goes wrong in your week, and an honest answer about which one thing is worth fixing first. Usually it is one thing, not five.
Richard Smith, Blenheim. You talk to the person who builds it. 03 567 1600.