Bluebonnet Plumbing scales without a dispatcher.
Austin solo plumber, 60-hour weeks, missing about 40% of incoming calls because he was under sinks. Hated the idea of hiring an office assistant — said it would cost more in payroll than the lost jobs. We wired text-back so the system itself acts as the dispatcher. He ended up adding an apprentice 7 months later, but never an office hire.
- Trade
- Plumbing · residential
- Service area
- Austin + Round Rock + Cedar Park
- Plan
- Never Miss a Lead
- Length
- 8 months · still active
- Step 1Week 0Workflow audit
Tracked one week of his calls — 47 inbound, 28 answered, 12 voicemails returned, 7 booked. He was missing more than he booked.
- Step 2Week 2Text-back live
Auto-text + Calendly link. Tested for 3 days before going live — first version's auto-text was too long, cut it down to two sentences before launch.
- Step 3Month 2Calendar integration
Customers can book a slot directly from SMS via Calendly link. Booking rate from text replies climbed from ~31% to ~52%.
- Step 4Month 5Capacity hit
Booking 30+ jobs / mo solo. Started a 2-week waitlist for non-emergency work. Some customers went elsewhere because of the wait.
- Step 5Month 7First hire
Hired an apprentice to keep up with demand. Still no office staff — system runs intake. Owner described it as "the cheapest dispatcher I've ever had."
"I'm allergic to having an office. The text-back is basically a dispatcher I don't have to manage. Booked twice the work this year, no payroll added except the apprentice."
See if your shop fits the next file.
Thirty-minute demo. We pull up your Google Business Profile live and tell you straight whether the system would move the needle.