Office systems decide whether a good price book survives contact with a busy Monday. Calls get missed, quotes go out and are never chased, materials get pulled without being billed, and nobody compares estimated hours with actual hours until the year-end statement shows a surprise. We build a simple, written path from first call to paid invoice and add a cost check at the end of every job.
We design business processes for the office. We don't advise on electrical safety programs, code or inspection procedures; those remain your responsibility and your regulator's.
Who it suits
The short answer: any shop where the owner is the system. If the business stops when you take a day off, this is the service.
- Shops where calls go to the owner's cell.
- Teams that send quotes but have no rule for following them up.
- Companies that can't say which job types made money last month.
- Owners preparing for growth, or one day for a sale, where documented processes add value.
What's included
- Call intake. A short script and a booking checklist: address, job type, panel age if known, photos requested by text, and the right time slot.
- Dispatch rules. Which job types go to which tech, how emergency calls are slotted, and how drive time is grouped by area.
- Quote follow-up. A written sequence for every quote above a threshold you choose: a text the same day, a call within three days, a final note at ten days.
- Materials capture. A habit and a tool for recording every part used, so it gets billed.
- Job costing. Estimated versus actual hours and materials on every closed job, reviewed weekly.
- Owner's report. One page each Monday: booked work, quotes outstanding, gross margin by job type and receivables.
Where the leaks usually are
Here is a worked example. Say your shop sends 40 quotes a month for panels, chargers and generators, averaging $3,000 each, and closes 35% without any follow-up. If a simple follow-up sequence lifts the close rate to 45%, that is four more jobs a month, about $12,000 of extra monthly revenue from quotes you already paid to generate.
Materials are the second leak. If each tech forgets to bill $40 of parts a day across four techs and 220 working days, that is $35,200 a year walking out of the van. Neither leak needs a single new lead to fix.
A simple intake checklist
The first call sets up the whole job. A good intake captures, every time:
- name, address and best callback number
- job type, in the customer's words and then in your menu's terms
- age of the home and panel, if the customer knows
- photos of the panel, the work area or the parking spot, requested by text
- urgency, and whether anyone is without power
- how they found you, so marketing can be measured
Timeline
- Weeks 1–2: walk-through of the current process, tools inventory and leak estimate.
- Weeks 3–5: scripts, dispatch rules, follow-up sequence and job-costing template.
- Weeks 6–8: team training and the first weekly owner's reports.
How we measure it
We track missed-call rate, quote close rate, average days to invoice, unbilled-materials checks, estimate-versus-actual hours by job type, and owner hours spent in the office. The test of success is simple: can you take a week off, and does the Monday report look the same when you return?
Mistakes to avoid
- Buying software to fix a habit. A tool won't chase quotes if nobody owns the job.
- Costing only big jobs. Small jobs repeat, so small leaks multiply.
- No single owner per step. "The office" doesn't follow up; a named person does.
- Reports nobody reads. One page, every Monday, reviewed in ten minutes, beats a dashboard no one opens.
The weekly scorecard guide shows the report we recommend. Systems work pairs naturally with flat-rate pricing. See pricing or contact us to start.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need new software?
Not always. Many shops already pay for field-service or accounting software they use at a fraction of its ability. We map your current tools first and recommend new ones only where a real gap exists.
Do you sell software or take referral fees?
We recommend tools based on fit. Any commercial relationship affecting a recommendation would be disclosed to you in writing; ask us about it in your proposal.
How detailed does job costing need to be?
Detailed enough to compare estimate and actual for hours and materials on every job. Most shops start with those two lines and add more only if a pattern needs explaining.
Can you help with quote follow-up?
Yes. Unfollowed quotes are one of the largest leaks in electrical shops, especially for panel, charger and generator work. We design the follow-up sequence and who owns it.