Blog
Lead handling for trade businesses
Short pieces on what happens between the enquiry and the invoice. Written for owners, meant to be read on a phone between jobs.
Paid adsGoogle AdsSix questions to ask before you sign an agency's ad proposal
Ad agency proposals to trade businesses are built to be signed, not to be read. They lead with reach and end with a monthly fee, and they say nothing about what happens after the click. This article gives the six questions to put to any proposal for Google Ads or Local Services Ads, what Google's July 2026 change to Local Services Ads means for the answers, and the one condition under which we tell a client to sign.
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Google Business ProfileLocal searchYour Google Business Profile is the page customers see before your website
When a homeowner searches for an electrician, the first thing they see is not a website. It is a Google Business Profile with a phone button, opening hours, photos and reviews, and most of the decision happens there. This article explains how Google ranks those listings, what a trade business must keep current on its profile, and why the profile only pays off when the phone number on it gets answered.
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Google reviewsReview policyGoogle reviews for trade businesses: what changed in April 2026, and how to ask and reply
Google tightened its review rules on 17 April 2026, and two of the new clauses hit practices that trade businesses considered harmless: giving staff a review target and asking customers to mention someone by name. This article explains what is now banned, what was already banned, why asking still works when it is done properly, and why replying to every review, including the bad ones, is the half of the job most firms skip.
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Lead nurturingResponse timeThe Saturday evening enquiry: replying in five minutes when nobody is at work
A large share of web enquiries to trade businesses arrive in the evening and at weekends, when the office is dark and the reply comes on Monday. By then the customer has heard from someone else. This article looks at what the response-time research actually shows, what the first reply must and must not contain, how to run a five-minute reply out of hours with one person, and what the automated version does differently.
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Missed callsAI receptionistCount your missed calls for one week before you decide anything
Most trade business owners can tell you their fuel bill to the euro and have no idea how many calls their office phone loses in a week. The number decides whether an SMS auto-reply, call forwarding or an AI receptionist is the right fix, and it takes one week and a notepad to get. This article walks through the audit, what to strip out of the count, how to put a value on what is left, and which fix fits which result.
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Paid adsFunnelPlug the leaks before you pay for ads
Most trade businesses that spend on ads do so while the phone rings unanswered and web enquiries wait a day for a reply. Ads fill the bucket faster; they do nothing about the holes. This article explains the install order we use, why paid ads come seventh, and what a working funnel has to do before a single euro goes into Google.
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Website speedMobileWhy a trade business website should load in under two seconds and ask for one thing
Most trade business websites were built on a desktop and are read on a phone in a car park. They load slowly and ask for nothing in particular. This article looks at what the speed figures actually say, what they leave out, and why one call to action outperforms a menu of options.
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Database reactivationConsentDatabase reactivation with consent: winning back past customers by message
Every trade business owns a list of past customers it never writes to. That list is worth more than the next ad campaign, but in Germany you cannot simply text it. This article covers why the old list wins, the consent rules in one paragraph, and a six-touch schedule that stops when the customer says so.
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