Each guide covers one step of moving a trades business off paper, in the order most shops should tackle them. They're practical rather than theoretical: checklists, worked numbers, templates with placeholders, and the mistakes we see most often. You can follow them yourself, whether or not you ever work with us.
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Getting paid faster: a digital invoicing guide for trades businesses
Most late payment in the trades starts in the office, not with the customer. Send clear quotes quickly, invoice the moment the job closes, include a payment link, and follow a polite reminder schedule, and the days to payment usually drop sharply.
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Moving your trade business from paper to a CRM in 30 days
Spend week one deciding what to track, week two cleaning your records, week three setting up and importing, and week four training and switching over. Keep paper as a backup for a few days, and give one person inside the business ownership of the system.
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Review requests that work, and stay within the rules
Ask every completed customer, not just the happy ones, with a short message and a direct link, sent at the moment they're most likely to respond. Never offer incentives. Automate the ask so it happens on busy weeks too, and reply to every review.
Guide 1: Moving from paper to a CRM in 30 days
Read the paper to CRM migration plan.
This guide breaks the move into four weekly stages: decide what you actually need to track, clean up your existing records, set up and import, then train and switch over. It includes a checklist of fields by trade, a method for estimating what lost leads cost you each month, and a "switch-over week" plan that keeps paper as a safety net for a few days.
You'll learn:
- how to decide which old records are worth importing and which to archive
- how to choose between tools by testing them on three real jobs instead of watching demos
- why the field crew's mobile screen should hold no more than a handful of fields
- the consent and privacy points to sort out before you start sending texts and emails from the new system
Guide 2: Getting paid faster
Read the guide to getting paid faster.
Late payment is often a paperwork problem disguised as a customer problem. This guide shows how to measure your days to payment, how much cash is tied up in slow invoicing, and how digital quotes, same-day invoices, payment links and a polite reminder schedule shorten the cycle.
You'll learn:
- a simple formula for how much money is sitting in receivables because of slow invoicing
- what to put on a quote so it doesn't turn into a dispute
- why advertised and quoted prices should include mandatory fees
- how deposits and progress billing work, and why some provinces have specific rules about taking money upfront
- a reminder schedule that's firm without damaging the relationship
Guide 3: Review requests that work
Read the guide to review requests that work.
Most trades businesses ask for reviews inconsistently. This guide explains how to ask every customer at the right moment, with wording templates, timing by job type, and a clear summary of what Google's content policy allows and prohibits.
You'll learn:
- the arithmetic of a steady review flow and why consistency beats bursts
- when to send the request for service calls versus larger projects
- short message templates for text and email, with placeholders
- why you can't offer incentives or ask only happy customers
- how to reply to critical reviews in a way that builds trust
How the guides fit together
The three guides follow the same sequence as our services: records first, then money, then reputation. A CRM gives you the customer and job records; invoicing runs on those records; review requests are triggered when a job in that record is marked complete. Skipping ahead works sometimes, but it usually means doing the setup twice.
If you want the order worked out for your business specifically, the digital operations audit and roadmap does exactly that. For costs, see pricing.
A note on rules and programs
Where the guides mention Canadian rules, such as privacy law, anti-spam law, drip pricing or provincial rebate paperwork, we link the official source and summarize it. Rules and programs change, so confirm the details with the regulator or program administrator, and get your own legal or accounting advice where it matters. Our areas pages cover provincial specifics.
Who these guides are written for
They're aimed at the person who actually runs the office: often the owner, sometimes a spouse or partner, sometimes an office manager who inherited a filing cabinet and a whiteboard. You don't need any technical background. Each guide assumes you have a few hours a week, a phone, and a willingness to try one change at a time.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides free to use?
Yes. An owner or office manager can work through them alone, start to finish. If you'd like help, call, text or email.
Do the guides recommend specific software?
No. They describe tools by what they do and explain how to evaluate them, because the right product depends on your trade, crew and accounting setup.
Which guide should I read first?
Start with the paper to CRM guide unless your biggest problem is late payment, in which case start with the invoicing guide. Review automation works best once jobs are recorded in a system.