Sam Reeves
Modern Operations Contributor
Millennial electrician who left a 40-person commercial shop to start his own residential service company. Writes about CRMs, online reviews, AI tools, and the operations side most older guys roll their eyes at.
Your Call-to-Book Rate Is Broken — You Just Don't Know It Yet
More leads won't fix a leaky intake. Learn what call-to-book rate actually is, how to measure it, and why fixing it beats buying more ads.
Your Flat-Rate Book Has an Expiration Date — Do You Know It?
Built your flat-rate price book and forgot it? Your costs moved. Your prices didn't. Here's why a stale book is worse than winging it.
Your NPS Is a Phone Problem, Not a Field Problem
Bad reviews aren't about your techs — they're about your intake. Here's how to audit the first 90 seconds before it kills your reputation.
Your Dispatch Order Is a Revenue Decision — Not a Logistics One
Dispatching by proximity feels efficient. It's costing you real money. Here's what your dispatch order is actually deciding without you knowing.
Your On-Call Rotation Is a Retention Problem in Disguise
Most shops treat on-call as a scheduling fix. It's actually driving turnover in your best young techs. Here's what to do instead.
Stop Outsourcing Your Phones Before You Fix Your Intake
Hiring someone to answer calls sounds like freedom. But if your intake process is broken, you're just paying someone to do the damage faster.
Your Software Stack Is Only as Good as Your Worst User
You bought the right tools. But if your techs use them wrong, you've just automated your chaos. Here's how to fix that.
Your Intake Process Is Broken — And You Built It By Accident
If you've never intentionally designed how a customer enters your business, you haven't built a process — you've built a liability. Here's how to fix it.
Your Reviews Are Great. Your Lead Response Time Isn't.
Five stars aren't booking jobs if your response time is slow. Here's what's actually breaking between your reputation and your revenue.
Your Post-Job Follow-Up Is Too Late and Too Generic
The 48 hours after a closed job determines whether that customer calls you next time. Most shops blow the window entirely. Here's what to do instead.
Your Customer Texts Look Good — But They're Creating More Calls
Your arrival texts and job updates feel professional. But if your inbound call volume didn't drop after you turned them on, your automation is broken. Here's why.
Your Job Notes Are Garbage — And It's Costing You
Logging that you did a job isn't the same as logging what you found. Bad job notes cost you on every return visit. Here's how to fix it fast.
Maintenance Plans Sound Great. The Math Is Harder Than You Think.
Recurring revenue memberships can trap small shops in low-margin callbacks. Here's how to price and run a maintenance plan that actually works.
AI Call Summaries Are Hiding Your Real Intake Problems
AI-generated call notes feel like a time-saver. They're actually filtering out the friction that tells you where your operation is broken.
Your Dispatcher Role Doesn't Exist Yet. That's the Problem.
Running dispatch out of your own head is capping your revenue. Here's when and how to make it a real role — before you think you need to.
Your Follow-Up Automation Is On. It's Also Not Working.
Automated texts after job close feel like customer care. They're not. Here's why your sequence is broken and how to fix the logic.
Your Scheduling Software Isn't the Problem. Your Logic Is.
If your dispatch board stays a mess no matter what software you try, the problem isn't the tool — it's the scheduling logic you never built.
Stop Using Multiple Phone Numbers to Track Your Marketing
Call tracking numbers hurt your Google rankings and confuse customers. Here's how to track lead sources without fracturing your phone presence.
Your Intake Process Is Losing You Jobs (Not Your Reviews)
Ads and reviews get customers to call. A broken intake process makes them hang up and call your competitor. Here's how to fix the leak.
Don't Add a Second Truck Until You Fix Your First One
Adding crew before your systems are solid doesn't scale your business — it scales your problems. Here's the checklist Sam used before truck #3.
Your Techs Are Losing 90 Minutes a Day in the Truck
Windshield time is killing your margins and you're not tracking it. Here's how to measure it, price for it, and cut it with smarter scheduling.
Stop Quoting Jobs Over the Phone Before You've Seen Them
Phone quotes feel helpful but they're killing your close rate. Here's the intake script that stops price shoppers without losing real customers.
Your Field Service Software Has a Customer Portal. Use It.
Stop ignoring the customer portal sitting in your field service app. It's already paid for — and it's losing you jobs every week you leave it blank.