One real case study.
A repeatable system.
How a 30-year waterproofing business stopped losing jobs and started running like a real operation. Most contractors don't need more leads — they're losing the ones they already have. This is what fixing that actually looks like.
Quali-Dry's actual marketing flyer. Solid product, solid pitch — but the operating layer behind it was held together by a notebook and a lot of remembering.
Thirty years of word-of-mouth. Zero systems behind it.
Quali-Dry had been waterproofing basements in Southeast Michigan since 1992. The work was excellent — referrals stayed steady for three decades. But every lead, every quote, every follow-up still ran through the owner's head and a stack of paper.
The product was solid. The business behind the product wasn't.
The leaks were boring. That's why nobody had fixed them.
- Leads weren't tracked anywhere — they lived in texts, voicemails, and the owner's memory.
- No follow-up process after a quote went out. If the homeowner didn't call back, the job was just gone.
- Almost no online presence. Google Business profile was claimed but cold. Twelve reviews in thirty years.
- No review system — happy customers existed, the asks didn't.
- Pricing was one number, made up on the spot. No tiers, no upsell path.
- The owner was the bottleneck on intake, quoting, scheduling, AND collections.
A back office the shop never had.
Tools chosen to fit the office manager, not the other way around. Nothing fancy. Nothing the team can't run without me.
Housecall Pro — every lead, quote, and job in one place. Replaces the notebook, the texts, and the answering machine.
One number, one inbox, one form. Calls and web leads route to the same place. Nothing falls between two channels anymore.
Structured calls and texts after every quote — Day 1, Day 3, Day 7. The office runs it; the owner doesn't have to remember.
Profile rebuilt with photos, services, and service area. After-the-job review request that asks while the floor is still dry.
Good / better / best on every quote. Gives the homeowner a real choice and makes the upsell conversation easy.
Web form, click-to-call, and a clean landing page. Replaces the “fill out this PDF” workflow that quietly killed conversions.
The shop runs like a shop now.
Here's what's already different in how the business operates day-to-day:
Every lead is now tracked and followed up — nothing lives in a phone or a notebook.
Consistent inbound from Google for the first time in the company's history.
Higher average job size through structured 3-tier pricing.
Owner is no longer the bottleneck on every intake, quote, and follow-up.
“We were doing everything the old-school way for thirty years. This completely changed how we run the business. I wish I had this help 30 years ago.”
The same four leaks I see in every shop.
Quali-Dry isn't a special case. It's the case. Different trade, different tools, same broken plumbing. I don't reinvent the wheel for every client — I fix these, in this order.
Slow or inconsistent lead response.
The 8pm call that goes to voicemail. The web form that no one's watching. By morning, the homeowner has already called the next guy.
No structured follow-up.
The quote goes out, the owner gets busy, the lead goes cold. There's no Day 3 call, no Day 7 nudge — just hope.
No visibility into the pipeline.
Nobody can answer “how many open quotes do we have?” without opening four different inboxes. You can't manage what you can't see.
No system for reviews and reputation.
Happy customers exist. The Google profile doesn't reflect them. Every shop is leaving years of social proof on the table.
I don't reinvent the wheel for every client. I fix these four leaks, in this order. The tools change. The breakdowns don't.
Same problems, different scale.
I've spent ten-plus years inside a multi-company contracting enterprise — close to project teams, estimating, and the customer relationships that move the number.
I've also spent my whole life around a small, family-run construction operation — the kind that taught me how a great trade business can still drown in its own paperwork.
Different scale. Same problems. The tools change — the breakdowns don't.
Currently working with a small number of contractors in Southeast Michigan. Additional case studies will be published as engagements complete.
Taking new clientsBe the next case study.
If you know things are slipping through the cracks, I'll show you exactly where. Thirty minutes, no slides, no pitch.
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