These answers cover the questions we hear most from owners and office managers thinking about leaving paper behind. If yours isn't here, call, text or email; you'll get a straight answer from a senior strategist.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
Plans start at $1,999 per month, or $1,499 per month on annual billing, with Elite and Enterprise plans above that. Canadian clients add GST/HST for their province (GST and QST in Quebec), and software subscriptions are paid to the vendors separately.
Do I have to sign a long contract?
No. You're on a monthly arrangement that ends whenever you give 30 days' notice. Paying for a year upfront is optional and earns a lower rate.
Who owns the software accounts and the data?
You do. Accounts are opened in your company's name and paid by you, and you hold the administrator login. If we stop working together, you remove our access and keep everything.
How long until we're off paper?
For most small shops, four to eight weeks for customer records and scheduling, then a few more weeks each for invoicing, booking or review automation. The pace depends mostly on how much time someone on your side can give.
We tried an agency before and it went nowhere. Why is this different?
Many agencies sell activity: posts, ads, reports. We start with how a job moves through your office and fix where leads and money leak. You'll get a written scope, your own accounts and a few measurable numbers, and you can leave with 30 days' notice if it isn't working.
We bought software before and nobody used it. Can you fix that?
Usually. Abandoned software is most often a setup or training problem: too many fields, screens that don't match the work, or no one inside the business owning it. We look at whether to reconfigure, retrain or replace it.
Which software do you use?
We aren't tied to a vendor. We describe tools by function (field-service CRM, scheduling, invoicing, review requests) and help you compare a short list against your workflow, budget and accounting setup.
Will my field crew have to learn a lot?
As little as possible. We trim the mobile screens to the few things a tech must record on each job and train on real jobs. Most techs are comfortable within a couple of weeks.
How do you report results?
Monthly, in plain language, using numbers from your own system: leads logged and answered, quote speed and acceptance, days to invoice and to payment, and review requests sent. You can check every figure yourself.
Can you promise more leads or reviews?
No. Nobody honest can. We'll show you the reasoning behind each change and the numbers we'll track, and point to results from our HVAC work as evidence of the method.
Are you a contractor?
No. We are a marketing and business consulting service. We don't install, repair or service anything, and we never compete with clients for work.
Do you work with my trade?
Very likely. The systems are similar for plumbers, electricians, HVAC, roofers, renovators, landscapers, painters and other trades. Our published case studies are from HVAC, and we say so plainly.
Do you work in my province?
Yes. We work with trades in all 10 provinces and 3 territories, meeting by video call or in person, and by phone, text, email and screen share.
About cost and commitment
The short version: plans start at $1,999 per month (or $1,499 on annual billing), you can cancel with 30 days' notice, and software is paid to vendors directly. The pricing page has the full table, a worked budget example and the factors that push costs up or down, such as messy data, many integrations or a large crew to train.
The cost owners tend to forget is their own team's time. Plan on a few hours a week from whoever will own the system, usually the office manager, during setup. That time is the strongest predictor of whether the change sticks.
About data, accounts and leaving
You should own everything: the CRM account, the payment processor account, the booking tool, the review profile and the data inside them. We work as a user on your accounts. If we part ways, you change a password or remove our login and carry on.
This matters more than it sounds. Owners who've had an agency hold their website or ad account hostage know how painful it is to recover. Ask any provider, including us, who will be listed as the account owner before you sign.
About timelines and disruption
Going digital shouldn't stop the business. We stage the work so each change goes live in a quiet week, with paper as a backup for the first few days if needed. A typical sequence is CRM and scheduling first, then invoicing, then booking and review automation.
If you're heading into your busy season, it may be smarter to plan now and start the setup when things calm down. We'd rather tell you that than start a migration in the middle of your busiest month. Our step-by-step migration guide shows the stages in detail.
About our positioning
Trades.Digital is part of the Sedighi.ca and SAZ.ca group of companies, headquartered in Vancouver, BC, and led by Ali Sedighi, MBA. We are a marketing and business consulting service, not a contractor and not a software vendor. Our case studies are results from our HVAC work, which we present as evidence of the method rather than as claims about other trades. Read more about us, see the services, or browse the results.
About privacy and messaging rules
Moving customer records into software raises fair questions about privacy and consent. We build consent tracking and access controls into every setup and flag where your obligations under Canadian privacy and anti-spam law deserve a conversation with your own adviser. We don't give legal advice, but we make sure the system can record what you need to record.
About what we don't do
It saves everyone time to be clear about the edges of our work:
- We don't do trade work of any kind, and we don't refer jobs between clients.
- We don't write custom software or build apps; we configure established tools and connect them.
- We don't do bookkeeping, payroll or tax. We connect invoicing to your accounting software, and your accountant keeps the books.
- We don't give legal or compliance advice. Where a rule matters, such as consent for marketing texts or provincial rules on deposits, we link the official source and suggest you confirm with an adviser.
- We don't write, buy or post reviews. We automate the request; customers write what they like.
If any of those is what you actually need, we'll say so on the first call and, where we can, suggest what kind of professional to look for. The contact page explains what to include in a first message so we can tell quickly whether we're the right fit.