How Homeowners Actually Pick a Trade Now

Most trades I talk to think their work comes from word of mouth. A lot of it does. But even a referral gets checked now, and the check happens on a phone, in about two minutes, before anyone calls you.

Here's what that two minutes usually looks like, and where jobs quietly go somewhere else.

They Search, Even When They've Been Given Your Name

A neighbour says "use Dave, he did our deck." The homeowner still types your business name into Google. They want your number, but they're also checking you're real, you're still working, and nobody's written anything alarming about you.

If your Google listing is thin, has old hours or no photos, or your website hasn't changed since 2014, the referral loses some of its shine. They might still call. They might also search "deck builder near me" to compare, and now you're one of five.

They Look at Reviews Before Anything Else

The first thing most people read is your star rating and how many reviews you've got. A 4.8 from 60 people beats a 5.0 from four. It isn't fair, because the business with four reviews might do better work, but the homeowner has no other way to judge.

They'll also skim a few of the recent ones. Not for detail. They're looking for whether you showed up, whether you communicated, and whether you cleaned up. That's what homeowners worry about, far more than craftsmanship, which they assume.

They Check Your Website on Their Phone

If you've got a website, they'll tap through to it. They want three things fast:

• That you do the job they need
• That you work in their area
• An easy way to get in touch

If the site is slow, hard to read on a phone, or makes them hunt for the phone number, they go back to the search results. They don't email you to complain. You never find out.

Then They Contact Two or Three of You

This is the part most trades underestimate. Homeowners rarely call one business and wait. They call or message two or three, and whoever gets back first usually gets the visit.

So when you miss a call because you're up a ladder, the problem isn't the missed call. It's that by the time you call back an hour later, someone else already has.

Where the Job Gets Won

Put it together and the order looks like this: a findable, current Google listing, a decent number of recent reviews, a website that works on a phone, and a fast reply when they reach out. None of it has anything to do with how good your work is, and all of it happens before they meet you.

The good news is that each of those is fixable, and none of them needs you to become a marketer. Keep your listing current, ask every customer for a review, have a site that does its job on a phone, and make sure nobody who calls you hears nothing back.

If you'd like to see how your business looks through a homeowner's eyes right now, I'll build you a demo of your new website first, free, and you can compare.