She took this home service business from $8M to $11M in 2 years
She took this home service business from $8M to $11M in 2 years
Growing a home service business isn’t just about pouring more money into ads.
In fact, one of the biggest growth stories we’ve seen recently, from an $8M roofing and fencing company pushing toward $11M, had very little to do with increasing ad spend.
Instead, it came down to fixing what was already broken.
I sat down with Marie Elliot, one of our newest consultants at Phlash, to break down exactly what she did inside that business, and the lessons every home service owner should take seriously.
The Starting Point: A Strong Brand… With Hidden Problems
When Marie joined the company, things looked solid on the surface:
- ~$8M in revenue
- 100+ year-old brand
- Strong reputation in the community
- Six sales reps in the field
- Mix of roofing and fencing jobs (~$10K avg ticket)
- Heavy referral and repeat business
But underneath?
There were cracks everywhere.
- A failing SEO agency
- Broken voicemail system (for 4 months)
- No structured follow-up process
- Disconnected tech stack
- Inconsistent branding across multiple websites
Sound familiar?
This is where most businesses get stuck, because they assume growth requires more leads, when in reality…
The bucket is leaking.
Lesson #1: Fix Your Systems Before You Buy More Leads
One of the first issues Marie uncovered wasn’t even marketing.
It was missed opportunities.
- Voicemails weren’t being recorded
- Leads weren’t being followed up properly
- No clear process after sending estimates
From the owner’s perspective, it looked like:
“Marketing isn’t working.”
But in reality:
The business couldn’t handle the leads it already had.
What They Fixed:
- Restored voicemail and call tracking
- Built a structured follow-up cadence:
- Day 2 → follow-up
- Day 4 → follow-up
- Escalation to sales manager if ignored
- Introduced accountability across the team
Result: More deals closed, without increasing lead volume.
Lesson #2: Repairs Are the Gateway to Bigger Jobs
Here’s a nuance most home service businesses miss:
Customers don’t search for roof replacement.
They search for roof leak repair.
Marie leaned into this.
Strategy:
- Market for repairs (lower cost, higher volume)
- Train sales team to:
- Educate homeowners on long-term issues
- Position replacements as the smarter investment
- Help customers navigate insurance claims
This created a pipeline where:
- Cheap leads → repair jobs
- Repair jobs → replacement opportunities
Instead of chasing expensive replacement leads, they built a system that created them.
Lesson #3: Your Sales Process Is Your Marketing
Another major unlock?
Removing friction in the buying process.
Originally, the company required homeowners to:
- Be present
- Schedule a full in-person proposal
That sounds good in theory, but it killed conversions.
The Fix:
If a homeowner couldn’t meet live, the team would:
- Record a Loom video proposal
- Walk through:
- Photos from the job site
- Scope of work
- Product choices
- Send via email + text
- Follow up within 2–3 days
Impact:
- More estimates delivered
- Faster decision-making
- Higher close rates on otherwise “lost” leads
Lesson #4: SEO Isn’t About Hacks Anymore
The previous SEO agency?
Let’s just say… not great.
They were:
- Creating spammy backlinks (including irrelevant directories)
- Using outsourced, low-quality content
- Leaving security holes in the website
- Managing multiple inconsistent sites
At one point, the website even crashed completely.
What Changed:
- Cleaned up technical issues
- Consolidated websites (down to two, strategically)
- Focused on real content + brand authority
One interesting move:
They kept a second fencing-specific site because it was already ranking well.
The lesson: Don’t assume, check the data first.
Lesson #5: Reviews Are a Growth Engine
Marie helped grow reviews by 200%+ in 18 months.
Here’s how:
Simple, Repeatable System:
- QR code cards given after every job
- Personalized with technician names
- Incentives for employees mentioned in reviews
- Coaching techs on how to ask properly
Why It Worked:
- Made it easy for customers (especially older ones)
- Created internal motivation
- Increased review volume and quality (photos included)
They now sit at 500+ reviews, with strong local authority.
Lesson #6: Ads Are Not the Magic Lever
Contrary to what most businesses think…
Ads were not the main growth driver.
What They Learned:
- PMAX campaigns brought low-quality leads
- Meta ads underperformed
- Local Services Ads (LSAs) worked best
Why LSAs?
- Higher intent leads
- Ability to dispute bad leads
- Direct connection with customers
But the key wasn’t just running ads, it was:
Testing, tracking, and reallocating budget based on data.
Lesson #7: Data Drives Everything
One of the biggest shifts came from introducing real reporting.
Marie started asking questions like:
- Which job types close best?
- Which sales reps perform best by category?
- Where are leads actually converting?
The leadership team didn’t know.
Once they had that visibility:
- Sales coaching improved
- Marketing focus sharpened
- Decisions became data-driven
You can’t scale what you don’t understand.
Lesson #8: In-House vs Agency Isn’t Either/Or
At this stage (~$8M+), the company benefited from:
- In-house leadership (Marie) for strategy and internal alignment
- External support for execution (ads, etc.)
Why this worked:
- Internal = speed, context, ownership
- External = specialized execution
The mistake most companies make? Trying to hire one unicorn to do everything.
Key Insight
This company didn’t grow by doing more marketing.
They grew by:
- Fixing operational gaps
- Building better systems
- Using data to guide decisions
- Making marketing, sales, and operations work together
Only then did marketing actually scale.
Final Take
If your business is stuck between $5M–$10M, ask yourself:
- Are we missing leads, or mishandling them?
- Do we have clear follow-up systems?
- Are we using data, or guessing?
- Is our marketing aligned with our sales process?
Because most of the time…
Growth isn’t about adding more.
It’s about fixing what’s already there.