Owner · Hardin County, KY
A 75-year-old veteran-owned contracting firm doing heavy timber, stone, and iron work in Hardin County. Decades of completed projects, a strong local reputation, and real commercial relationships. Zero digital infrastructure to show for any of it.
Their only web presence was a broken Google Site that didn't load. Anyone who searched the company name and clicked the top result hit a dead page. The email address was a free Gmail account — signaling side-hustle status to every commercial prospect who received a quote or a contract from it.
Every lead routed through the owner's personal phone. When he was on a jobsite — which was most of every working day — the call went to voicemail. A missed call in contracting is usually a lost job. The customer calls the next number. The owner was working seven days a week, including Sundays, to stay on top of follow-up, estimates, deposits, and scheduling. He told us: 'I hate doing business on Sundays but I feel forced to because of the pace.'
No estimates, contracts, deposits, or invoices were automated. Every dollar that moved required him personally: generate the estimate by hand, chase the signature, collect the deposit by check, send the invoice, follow up on payment. Each completed job was a net drain on admin time that didn't scale.
Seventy-five years of excellent work. Zero Google reviews. Every customer they had ever served was invisible to the next prospect who searched for them. The reputation that existed only in conversations was not compounding anywhere.
Optimized Google Business Profile in the Hardin County 3-pack. Tracked phone number logging every call and every missed call. Weekly automated posts running on autopilot: job spotlights, before-and-after project photos, testimonials as reviews come in. The owner checks a dashboard quarterly. The rest runs.
New professional website replacing the broken Google Site. Pages for renovation, excavation, general contracting, landscaping, recent projects, and service areas. Branded professional email replacing the Gmail address. Trust signals front and center: established 75 years ago, veteran-owned, Hardin County. Mobile-fast with click-to-call.
Within 30 seconds of a missed call, form fill, or GBP message, the system fires a response in the owner's voice: 'Got your call — what's the project? I'll get right back to you.' The owner receives a push notification with the name, project type, and number. He responds only to the high-value ones.
5-touch follow-up over 5 days for every unresponded lead. All inbound channels — GBP messages, form replies, text-backs, direct texts — land in one unified inbox. AI flags high-intent signals ('ready to start,' 'need quote ASAP'). The owner scans 5 minutes a day and responds to the flagged ones. The rest runs automatically into long-term nurture.
Owner submits scope and price. System generates the branded estimate, routes it to the customer by email and text with a one-click approve button. Approval triggers the contract for e-signature. Signature triggers the deposit invoice. Customer pays by card or ACH online. The owner shows up to jobs that are already paid. No paperwork chasing.
Post-completion review request with 24-hour and 7-day nudges. Quarterly reactivation campaigns to the entire customer list, matched to season: spring planning before storm season, storm repair window, end-of-summer push, winter interior projects. Every past customer becomes a recurring revenue source instead of a one-and-done.
The owner went from working every Sunday to less than one hour per week on lead management. The system handles first response, follow-up, scheduling, and payment — he steps in for high-value jobs and final approval.
First inbound booked job from the system arrived within 30 days of go-live.
8+ booked jobs attributable to the system within 90 days. 60%+ missed-call recovery rate — calls that previously went to voicemail while the owner was on-site are now responded to within 30 seconds.
$44K+ in tracked revenue within 6 months. The system needs to land one renovation job to break even on Year 1 investment. The 90-day target was eight.
75 years of completed work is now visible: reviews collecting automatically after every job, past customers reactivating quarterly. The reputation that existed only in conversations is now compounding digitally.