Guides · Home services
How to Get More Jobs as a Contractor, Starting With Next Week
By Josh Croom · October 27, 2026 · 10 min read
To get more jobs as a contractor, start with the people who already know you: past customers, open quotes and anyone who asked for a call when a day opens up. Then make sure a real person answers new calls during the workday, because that's when nearly all of them arrive, and most callers you miss don't call back through the ad.
Two blank days on the board
Wednesday, 3:40 PM. A customer just pushed a deck job to spring, and now next Tuesday and Thursday sit empty on the whiteboard. You still pay the crew on Friday, so each blank day costs the same as a full one, and waiting by the phone won't fill it.
You could run a sale or post on social media, but a better first move is already in your inbox and your truck. It's the quotes that never booked, the customer who asked to hear about openings and the families you worked for last spring. Those people already know your work and what you charge.
When new customers call
We looked at the Local Services leads on the home service accounts we manage, by day and by hour, to see when new customers reach out and what happens when nobody answers.
- 95%of leads came on weekdaysMonday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm
- 23%came on a Mondaymore than any other day
- 91%of missed callers didn't call backthrough the ad within 7 days
New customers call during the hours your crew is out on jobs, and a caller you miss rarely tries again through the ad that week. So someone has to own the phone all day, and next week's plan has to be ready before Monday's calls start.
Why past customers come before new ones
A past customer already trusts you, so the call doesn't start from zero. They know how your crew works and what you charge, and they don't need to read your reviews again. On our home service clients' Google profiles, 45% of reviews with words in them say the customer recommends the business or will use it again. Those customers are telling you they'd come back or send a friend, and an open day gives you a good reason to call.
New customers take more work to win. Someone who finds you through a search may be calling other businesses at the same time, and you pay for the ad whether they book with you or not. Calling a past customer or an open quote costs you a few minutes.
Ads still matter, but they come second. The jobs that cost the least to win are sitting in your own phone, so you work them first and let ads bring in the rest.
Five things to do before Friday
Work through these in order, because each step reaches people who know you a little less than the step before. You can work through all five in one afternoon at the desk, or in short calls between jobs.
Step 1
Call your short-notice list
Write down the open dates and the crews you have, then call everyone who asked to hear about an opening. They already want the work done, and an earlier date is good news to them.
Step 2
Pull booked work forward
Call customers booked two or more weeks out and offer them the open day. Some will be glad to get it done sooner, and the slot they give up opens for a new caller who can't wait as long.
Step 3
Go back to open quotes
Call every estimate from the last month that hasn't booked yet. An open day gives you a reason to call that doesn't feel pushy, and a homeowner who was on the fence may say yes to a real date.
Step 4
Call your last ten customers
Offer each one the upkeep job that fits the season, like a gutter cleaning, a drain check or a fence stain. Keep the call short and give them two days to pick from.
Step 5
Put your best phone person on Monday
Monday brings more new calls than any other day, so the person who answers best should own the phone that day. When they catch a call on the first ring, you don't have to chase that customer later.
What to say when you call
Use the same few lines for past customers, open quotes and your short-notice list. Fill in the parts in parentheses and offer two days, because a choice between two is easier to answer than an open question.
Hi (name), it's (your name) with (your business). We have a couple of open days next week, and it's a good time for (upkeep job). Would (day) or (day) work for you?
Thursday works. Could you look at the back gate while you're here?
Sure. We'll be there Thursday at 9 and take a look at the gate too.
Two ways to fill an open week
Both plans start with the same blank days on the board. The second one starts with people who already know you, and it costs a few calls instead of a price cut.
Wait, then discount
- Wait for the phone to ring and hope the week fills.
- Cut the price on Thursday to get anyone in the door.
- Chase new callers while old quotes sit untouched.
- Let Monday calls go to voicemail while everyone's on a job.
Work the list you already have
- Call the short-notice list by Wednesday.
- Offer the open days to customers booked weeks out.
- Call every open quote from the last month.
- Put your best phone person on Monday.
Where new jobs come from after that
After you've worked the warm list, new customers fill the rest. When someone searches for a roofer or a plumber in their town, Google shows ads, a map with business profiles and then the regular results. The caller picks from what they see first. Your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your ads decide whether your name is in that first look.
Your Google Business Profile needs current hours, the jobs you do and recent photos, because it's the listing people see on the map. Reviews count for the same reason, because people read them right there on the map. The easiest person to ask is a customer who just paid you, so send a short text with your review link the same day the job wraps up.
Local Services ads sit at the very top of the results, above the regular search ads, and you pay for leads instead of clicks. Google Search ads sit just below them, and they let you pick the jobs and towns you want more of. Our Local Services ads guide explains how the first one works, and our Local Services and Google Ads comparison shows when each one fits.
Whichever you run, set up the phone first. On our home service accounts, 84% of Local Services leads came in as phone calls rather than messages or bookings. A lead you paid for and never answered is the most expensive kind, and our speed to lead guide has a callback routine that fixes it.
Is next week already filling?
Answer five quick questions. Your answers stay on your device.
Do you keep a list of customers who asked for a call if a day opens up?
Did someone call back every open quote from the last month?
Can you find the names and numbers of your last ten customers in under a minute?
Does a named person answer new calls during the workday?
Is your best phone person set to work on Monday?
You're in good shape. Keep adding names to the short-notice list after every quote, so you have more people to call in the next slow week.
You're close. Fix the first question you answered No this week, because each one points to jobs you've already done the work to find.
Start with Step 3 tomorrow morning. Open quotes come from people who already asked you for a price, and the list already sits in your inbox or your truck.
Fill these in before Friday
Tick each one off as you go. Your ticks stay on this device.
0 of 8 done
Keep the list full all year
The short-notice list only works if it keeps growing. Every time you give a customer a date more than two weeks out, ask if they'd like a call when an earlier day opens up. Write their name, the job and their number on one list that the whole office can see, not on a sticky note in one truck.
Do the same with upkeep work. When you finish a job, write down when that customer will need the next one, like a drain cleaning in a year or a deck stain in two. Then a slow week comes with a list of people who are due, and the call sounds like a reminder instead of a sales pitch.
Plan for the slow season before it shows up. On the home service client sites we track, Google search visits in each site's slowest month ran, on average, 54% below that site's own monthly average. So book upkeep work into those months early, while the customers you served this year still remember your name.
How we help contractors get more jobs
We run Google Search ads and Local Services ads for contractors and other home service businesses, and we track every call and form back to the ad that brought it. Open Spots Search runs one Google Search campaign with a landing page and call tracking, for $497 every 4 weeks plus a $997 setup paid once. Open Spots Local runs your Local Services ads for $997 every 4 weeks plus a $1,997 build paid once. On Open Spots Search, we take at most 2 shops in your trade in each market. Every plan is on our pricing page.
If you'd like help filling your open days, book a call with Miguel. He'll ask what a slow week looks like for you and talk through whether ads would fit around the work you already have.
Questions people ask
How can a contractor get more jobs fast?
Start with people who already know you. Call your short-notice list, offer open days to customers booked weeks out, call back every open quote from the last month and offer your last ten customers a seasonal upkeep job. Those calls cost you time instead of ad money, and they can fill days this week.
What should I do when my schedule has open days next week?
Write down the open dates and crews, then call people in order of how well they know you: your short-notice list, customers booked further out, open quotes and recent customers. Do it by Wednesday, so Monday isn't empty.
Should I lower my prices to get more work?
Fill the days with people who already trust you before you touch your price. A discount can draw people who only came for the deal and teach your regulars to wait for the next one, while a call to a past customer costs you nothing but a few minutes.
What day do contractors get the most calls?
On the home service accounts we manage, Monday brought 23% of Local Services leads, more than any other day, and 95% came on weekdays between 8 am and 5 pm. Put your best phone person on Monday and keep someone on the phone all through the workday.
How do I find new customers as a contractor?
Keep your Google Business Profile current, ask every happy customer for a review the day you finish, and answer every call fast. Local Services ads and Google Search ads can add new callers on top of that, as long as someone picks up when the phone rings.
See how we run Google Ads for home service businesses
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