If you work at the client's place — building, callouts, servicing, at-home services — you share four problems with every other tradesperson, whatever your trade. This page deals with those. Then go to the guide for your specific trade.
Why tools "for independents" do not fit
Most client-management software is written for people sitting at a desk. It assumes one address per client, a multi-stage sales cycle, and someone with time to fill in fields.
Your reality: standing up, often dirty, holding a phone, between two jobs. If an action takes more than a minute, it will not get done. ProContact is built around that constraint.
Problem 1 — the site address is not the billing address
This is the detail that makes an unprepared client file useless. The owner lives elsewhere. The agency bills the managing company. The tenant opens the door.
A contact record takes several addresses, one marked main, and several phone numbers with labels. Record the client's mobile and the one belonging to whoever has the key.
Problem 2 — the quote nobody chased
This is the most expensive line in your year, and it appears on no invoice.
A tradesperson's quote is almost never refused. It is forgotten: by the client, who was comparing, and by you, who were on another job.
The routine, three actions after you send it:
- Create the matching appointment, status Scheduled.
- Set a reminder at day 2, recipient User. You call while it is warm.
- If the client asks for time, set a reminder for the date they gave. "Call me in the spring" is information, not a refusal.
It is unremarkable. It is also what your competitors are not doing.
See reminders.
Problem 3 — the recurring work you let slip
Almost every building trade has a recurring component: annual servicing, periodic inspection, a season that comes round again. You already have it in your client records — you are simply not using it.
The rule is one sentence: the day you finish a recurring job, set the reminder for the next one. Recipient Both, so the client gets the message at the same moment you do.
You are selling nothing. You are flagging a deadline that concerns them, and you are the one they call. The renewal rate bears no resemblance to cold prospecting.
Do it for a year and you will have an order book that fills itself.
Problem 4 — "that is not what we agreed"
On a job, everything gets decided out loud, standing up, between two conduits. Three weeks later the client remembers differently — rarely in bad faith, usually sincerely.
After each visit, write a note on the appointment. Four lines is enough. Tick shared with client: it appears in their portal, with the date on it.
That is not paperwork. It is what stops the argument about the invoice, and it is also what makes you look like a professional.
See notes.
The habit in the field: under a minute
Before you get back in the van, every time:
| What | How long |
|---|---|
| Create the record: name, mobile, site address | 30 seconds |
| Book the next appointment if there is one | 20 seconds |
| Write the note of what was decided | 1 minute |
The rest — the second email, the billing address, splitting into activities — gets filled in at a desk, or never.
Split your work into activities
One activity per strand of your trade: callouts, installation, servicing. Three months in, the Statistics page filtered by activity tells you which one actually fills your diary.
It is often the most profitable discovery of the year: the strand that takes the most time is almost never the one that pays the most.
See organising your work into activities.
The guide for your trade
- ProContact for electricians
- ProContact for plumbers and heating engineers
- ProContact for photographers
- ProContact for hairdressers and beauticians
Your trade not there? The four problems above are the same ones, and this page is enough to get started.
What ProContact does not do
So you do not waste time finding out: no quotes, no invoices, no VAT, no stock control, no timesheets. You will keep your invoicing software alongside.
What you gain here is the part nobody manages: the follow-up between the first call and the payment.
Ready to start? See the 10-minute setup.