By the end of this lesson you’ll know how many inquiries you need this month, which two or three channels to use, what to do each week for four weeks, and how to see on day 30 which channels brought paying work. You don’t need to be everywhere; you need enough of the right inquiries to fill your calendar.
Start with how many inquiries you need
Work backward from the jobs you can actually do:
Your numbers:
- Jobs you can do this month: ____
- Out of every 10 estimates you send, how many do you expect to win: ____ (if you don’t know yet, plan with a cautious 3; it’s a placeholder, not an industry average)
- Estimates you need: jobs ÷ (wins per 10 ÷ 10) = ____
- Inquiries you need: estimates × 1.2 = ____ (the 1.2 is a placeholder for inquiries that don’t become estimates: wrong job, wrong area, no reply. Replace it with your own number after a month)
Example
6 jobs this month, winning about 3 of every 10 estimates: 6 ÷ 0.3 = 20 estimates.
Some inquiries are the wrong job or the wrong area, so aim for about 24 inquiries, roughly 6 a week.
At about 1.5 hours per estimate visit and write-up, 20 estimates is 30 hours of your month. Plan for it.
Example numbers: track your own win rate and use it from month two.
That number tells you how much marketing you need. Six good inquiries a week is very different from sixty.
Pick two or three channels
Time figures are rough planning estimates; track your own.
| Channel | Money | Your time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your network and referrals | Low | 2–3 h a week | The first jobs; customers who already trust you |
| Google Business Profile | Low | Setup, then 1 h a week | People searching for your service nearby |
| A simple website | Low to medium | Setup, then little | A place to send people; trust before they call |
| Local partner businesses | Low | 2 h a week | Steady, repeat work (property managers, other trades) |
| Neighbors of your jobs | Low | 15 min per job | Clusters of work in one area |
| Local online groups | Low | 1–2 h a week | Community trust, if the group allows business posts |
| Paid ads and lead services | Medium to high | Ongoing | Later, once the basics are in place and you know your numbers |
Start with referrals plus one or two others; more than that is hard to keep up while you’re also doing the jobs. Pick the ones your customer actually uses: a property manager is unlikely to find you through a neighborhood group, and a homeowner might.
The lessons on each: referrals, your Google Business Profile and website, and reviews and proof.
The four-week plan
An example for a solo contractor using referrals, a Google Business Profile and local partners. Adjust the channels to the ones you picked.
| Week | Actions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Write your one-sentence offer. Set up or complete your Google Business Profile. Make your list of ten referral contacts and send the first three messages. | 5 h |
| 2 | Send the other seven messages. Pick three partner businesses and contact them. Add photos of recent work to your profile, with permission. | 4 h |
| 3 | Follow up with everyone who didn’t reply. Ask every customer this month for a review. Post one before-and-after with a short description. | 3 h |
| 4 | Thank every referral. Review the tracker below and decide what to keep, change or drop. | 2 h |
Put each block in your calendar now, on a fixed day, the same way you’d book a job.
Track where every inquiry comes from
Ask every new caller “How did you hear about me?” and write it down the same day:
| Date | Name | Source | Job type | Estimate sent | Won | Job value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
After 30 days, add up by source:
| Source | Inquiries | Estimates | Jobs won | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referrals | 8 | 6 | 3 | $4,800 |
| Google profile | 11 | 7 | 2 | $2,100 |
| Partner businesses | 5 | 5 | 2 | $3,600 |
Example numbers. Here the Google profile brought the most inquiries but the lowest win rate (2 of 7 estimates). Referrals won half their estimates (3 of 6). Partner businesses turned every inquiry into an estimate and had the highest value per job ($1,800). That’s the comparison that matters: not how many people called, but how many became the kind of job you want.
A real month rarely matches the plan: this one had 24 inquiries as planned, but 18 estimates instead of 20 and 7 jobs instead of 6. Use your real numbers to plan month two.
Review at day 30
Four questions, in this order:
- Did you get enough inquiries? If not, add time to the channel with the best win rate before adding a new channel.
- Were they the right jobs? If a channel brings small or out-of-area jobs, change your offer or your profile wording before spending more time on it.
- Could you keep up? If estimates went out late, you have enough marketing; work on speed instead.
- What will you do next month? Keep what worked, drop one thing that didn’t, and try at most one new channel.
Your next action
This week:
- Work out how many inquiries you need this month with the formula above.
- Pick your two or three channels from the table.
- Put the four weeks of actions into your calendar.
- Start the inquiry tracker and ask every caller how they heard about you.
FAQ
How do contractors get their first customers?
Start with people who already know you or your work: past customers, former coworkers, other trades and suppliers. Add a complete Google Business Profile and a few local partner businesses. Work out how many inquiries you need first, so you know how much marketing to do.
Should a new contractor pay for ads or leads?
We’d set up the free and low-cost basics first: your network, a Google Business Profile, a simple website or page. Once you know your win rate and your gross profit per job, work out the most you can pay for an inquiry before it costs more than it brings:
Break-even cost per inquiry = gross profit per job × win rate ÷ inquiries per estimate
Example: $600 gross profit per job × 0.3 ÷ 1.2 = $150. Pay less than that per inquiry, with room to spare, or the ads lose money. Example numbers: use your own.
How much time should I spend on marketing?
In the example plan, about 14 hours in the first month, mostly in weeks 1 and 2, plus the time for estimate visits. After that, a few hours a week on the channels that work.
Track your lead sources in MotionOps
MotionOps is field service software for contractors. Lead Source Tracking records where each inquiry came from, Revenue by Lead Source shows what each source earned, so the 30-day review is a report instead of a guess, and On-Site Estimates keep every estimate visit organized.
See all features or compare plans. When you’re ready for your first jobs, book a MotionOps demo.
Contractor Starter Hub: Get Your First Customers, lesson 5 of 5
- Previous lesson: How to Get Referrals as a New Contractor: Your Network, Local Partners and Outreach
- Next course: Turn Leads Into Booked Jobs
- Download for this lesson: Lead Source Tracker (spreadsheet)
- All five lessons: Get Your First Customers
