If you run a roofing, landscaping, HVAC, plumbing, or auto repair business, you don’t have time to be a full‑time marketer. You’re on roofs, under sinks, in crawlspaces, or buried in a bay with a half‑disassembled transmission. Meanwhile, calls come in, quotes go out, and… a lot of money quietly slips through the cracks.

This isn’t because you’re bad at business. It’s because you don’t have a system. Not more “marketing ideas.” Not another social media fad. A system.

At Les Brown Design, that’s the whole game: building simple, practical marketing systems for home‑service businesses so your leads, reviews, and follow‑ups run in the background while you run the jobs.

Let’s break it into three parts:

• Attract – get in front of the right people

• Capture – turn every call and click into a lead

• Nurture – follow up automatically and stay top of mind

Part 1: Attract – Be the Obvious Choice in Your Area

Most homeowners are not doing “deep research.” They search something like “roof repair near me,” click a couple of options, glance at reviews and photos, and pick whoever looks least likely to ruin their week.

Your job is to be the obvious, low‑stress choice.

Show up where your customers already are

You don’t need to be “everywhere.” You do need to be solid in a few key places:

• A Google Business Profile that’s fully filled out: correct contact info, service area, hours, real photos, and a steady stream of recent reviews.

• A website that actually looks like you’re still in business this decade, loads fast on a phone, and clearly says who you help, what you do, and where you work.

• Listings in the main directories your market actually uses (think maps and local directories, not every random directory on page 7 of Google).

If your online presence looks half‑finished or out of date, people assume your work will be too.

Lead with trust, not hype

Homeowners are not impressed by “best quality solutions” and “industry‑leading service.” They are impressed by:

• Before‑and‑after photos of work that looks like their house, car, or yard.

• Real reviews from people in their city, with the same kinds of problems.

• Simple, specific promises: clear pricing, fast response, clean jobsite, real warranties.

When your website and profiles do this well, you don’t have to “sell” nearly as hard. You just show the proof and get out of the way.

Part 2: Capture – Turn Every Call, Click, and Visit into a Lead

This is where most service businesses quietly bleed money.

Someone finds you, calls your number, and… you’re on a ladder. Or driving. Or talking to another customer. They hit voicemail, hang up, and call the next company. That’s real cash disappearing in under 30 seconds.

Or they fill out a form on your website that goes to an inbox you don’t check until 9 PM—if at all.

Time to fix that.

Make it stupid‑easy to contact you

On your website and profiles, there should always be a clear, obvious next step:

• Big, tappable “Call Now” buttons for mobile visitors.

• A short, simple quote/estimate form (name, contact info, brief description, maybe a photo upload).

• Optional chat or text widgets for the folks who hate phone calls.

If a homeowner has to hunt for your phone number or click through three pages to request a quote, you’ve already lost.

Never lose another lead to voicemail (hello, missed‑call text back)

Here’s the move that quietly changes everything:

• Someone calls your business.

• You can’t answer.

• Instead of dying in voicemail jail, they instantly get a text from your number: something like, “Hey, this is Your Business. Just missed your call—how can we help?”

• •They reply with what they need. You’ve now captured a real lead with a name, number, and problem.

No more guessing who called. No more “unknown number” voicemails. Every missed call becomes a conversation, not a mystery.

When this is tied into your marketing system, each of those conversations is automatically saved in one place and can be followed up on later. Which brings us to…

Put every lead in one place (this is what a CRM is for)

Instead of leads scattered across Post‑its, text messages, email threads, your spouse’s phone, and the back of a napkin, a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) pulls everything together:

• Every call, text, form fill, and chat goes into a contact record.

• You can see where each person is in your process: new lead, estimate sent, scheduled, completed, followed up.

• You can filter and sort: “show me everyone who got an estimate last week but didn’t book” or “everyone due for a maintenance reminder.”

The point isn’t software for its own sake. The point is never saying, “Wait, did we ever get back to that guy with the leaking water heater?”

Part 3: Nurture – Follow Up Automatically and Stay Top of Mind

Most home service businesses don’t need more leads. They need to do more with the leads they already have.

You’re probably sending plenty of estimates. The problem is what happens next.

Stop letting quotes die in the inbox

Here’s how most quotes go:

• You send the estimate.

• They say “Thanks, we’ll talk about it.”

• Silence. Forever.

It’s not always a “no.” Sometimes life happens: kids’ soccer, surprise bills, weather, three other quotes, whatever. If you don’t follow up, you’re betting your revenue on their memory. Not ideal.

A smarter approach:

• Day 1: Friendly follow‑up text or email: “Just checking that you received your estimate—any questions?”

• Day 3–4: Short message reminding them what they get out of the job: safety, comfort, curb appeal, avoiding a bigger future repair.

• Day 7+: Soft check‑in: “Did you end up going ahead with the project yet? Happy to help if you still need us.”

  When this is automated inside your system, every quote gets this treatment—without you remembering who’s who.

Turn every happy customer into a 24/7 review engine

You do great work. Make sure that shows up online, not just in your customers’ memories.

After each job, your system can:

• Send a thank‑you message.

• Ask for a quick review on your preferred platform with a direct link (no hunting).

• Privately collect less‑than‑happy feedback so you can fix things before someone vents publicly.

More recent, positive reviews make you show up higher, look better, and get chosen more often. Also, they’re a lot cheaper than ads.

Don’t forget repeat and seasonal work

Past customers are your easiest future money. They already know you, like you, and trust you enough to let you near their roof, yard, or engine.

Your system can tag people by job type and send:

• Seasonal reminders (AC tune‑ups before summer, heater checks before winter, gutter cleaning before storm season).

• Annual or semi‑annual check‑ins (“It’s been a year since we serviced your thing. Want to make sure everything’s still running smoothly?”).

• Helpful tips that position you as the go‑to expert, not just the emergency number.

This is how you smooth out the slow seasons without constantly cranking up ad spend.

Putting It All Together: Your “Always‑On” Marketing Machine

When you zoom out, the system looks like this:

• Attract: Your online presence and content make you the obvious choice in your area.

• Capture: Every call, click, and message turns into a contact in your CRM—even if you miss the call.

• Nurture: Automations follow up with leads, collect reviews, and stay in touch with past customers.

You don’t need 47 different tools duct‑taped together. You need one well‑designed marketing system that fits how home service businesses actually work.

That’s what Les Brown Design builds: not just “a nice website,” but the underlying plumbing—CRM, review engine, missed‑call text back, automations, and all the wiring between them—so your marketing runs even when you’re under a house wondering how that pipe is still holding on.

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