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Pick a topic below or search. Every feature explained in plain language, a walkthrough for each trade, setup steps and how to win more work from the calls you miss.
56 articles
Missed-call capture: what happens in the first 60 seconds
The moment your phone rings out, JobLock takes over the conversation instead of sending the caller to voicemail.
7 min read
The instant SMS reply, and why it beats a callback
A text that arrives in seconds keeps you in the running. A callback forty minutes later almost never does.
6 min readPhoto qualification: see the job before you leave the van
Customers photograph the damage while it is still happening, so you load the right parts the first time.
7 min readAnatomy of a JobLock dispatch card
Name, postcode, urgency, photos, answers and a written brief — one card, everything you need to ring back.
6 min readHow JobLock reads a job before you do
The AI reads the description, the answers and the photos, then suggests a likely fault, the parts and the specialty needed.
7 min readUrgency scoring: triaging your day automatically
Not every lead deserves the same response. JobLock sorts them so the burst pipe jumps the quote enquiry.
6 min read
Smart dispatch: sending each job to the right person
Add specialties to each team member and captured jobs route to whoever actually does that kind of work.
6 min read
Custom questions: the two-minute form that qualifies for you
Ask the same three questions you always ask on the phone — once, in writing, automatically.
6 min readMessage templates: replying properly in one tap
Save the replies you send twenty times a week and drop them into any lead with the details already filled in.
5 min read
Calendar sync: scheduled jobs land in your Outlook
Book a captured job into a slot and it appears in the calendar you already live in.
5 min readYour public profile: a proper page without a website build
Services, prices, credentials, gallery and reviews on one shareable link you control from the dashboard.
6 min readThe Monday morning email: your week in five numbers
Calls captured, leads converted, conversion rate, average response time and performance per team member.
5 min readCall logs and job history: the paper trail you never kept
Every intercepted call and every captured job, searchable, with what was asked and what was sent.
5 min readTeam lines: one system, several phones
Each tradesperson keeps their own number and their own missed calls, while the office sees one dashboard.
5 min readThe dashboard numbers worth checking every morning
Jobs needing action, calls captured today, this month's pipeline and your average response time.
5 min readJobLock for plumbers: catching emergencies while you are under a sink
Burst pipes do not wait. Here is how plumbers capture them without stopping work.
7 min readJobLock for electricians: qualifying faults before you drive
A photo of the consumer unit is worth ten minutes on the phone.
7 min readJobLock for heating engineers: boiler faults captured with the error code
The display photo tells you more than five minutes of description.
7 min readJobLock for locksmiths: winning lockouts in the first ninety seconds
Lockouts are decided by whoever replies first, full stop.
6 min readJobLock for roofers: qualifying storm damage without a survey
Photos of the ceiling stain decide whether it is a tarpaulin tonight or a quote next week.
7 min readJobLock for drainage engineers: knowing whether the jetter comes out
Blocked or backed up? The answer decides which van goes.
6 min readJobLock for pest control: sizing the treatment from a photo
Nest size and access decide the price. Both are visible in a photo.
6 min readJobLock for builders: filtering serious enquiries from tyre-kickers
Photos and scope on the way in mean fewer wasted evening site visits.
7 min readJobLock for landscapers: quoting gardens from photos
Access, current surface and size — visible before you drive across the county.
6 min readJobLock for solar installers: pre-qualifying roofs before a survey
Orientation, roof type and current bill decide whether a survey is worth booking.
7 min readJobLock for HVAC engineers: capturing cooling failures in peak week
A model plate photo means the right refrigerant on the first visit.
6 min readJobLock for carpenters: quoting fitted work from room photos
Measurements and photos beat a vague phone description every time.
6 min readJobLock for welders and fabricators: on-site repair or workshop job?
A photo of the crack answers the only question that matters.
6 min readJobLock for bricklayers: sizing rebuilds without leaving the scaffold
Wall length and footing condition are both visible in two photos.
6 min readJobLock for gas engineers: triaging gas smells and no-heat calls safely
Some calls need an emergency line, not a callback. The intake decides which.
7 min readJobLock for tilers: pricing square metres from two photos
Substrate and surface area decide the price. Both are visible before you visit.
6 min readJobLock for plasterers: skim or re-board, decided from a photo
A photo of the wall tells you whether it is a skim, a patch or a full re-board.
6 min readJobLock for glaziers: boarding up tonight or measuring tomorrow
Broken or cracked? Single or double glazed? Two questions decide the van load.
6 min readJobLock for flooring fitters: measuring up before the first visit
Subfloor condition is the whole quote, and it shows up in a photo.
6 min readJobLock for appliance repair engineers: the model plate photo rule
No model number, no part. The intake gets it before you drive out.
6 min readJobLock for small multi-trade firms: routing work to the right van
When you sell three trades, the challenge is sorting leads, not getting them.
7 min readSetting up JobLock in four steps
Trade, your details, your service area, call forwarding. Fifteen minutes, no card required.
6 min readHow to set up call forwarding on your mobile
One code dialled from your handset, and unanswered calls start being captured instead of lost.
5 min readWriting a greeting customers actually stay on the line for
Fifteen seconds, your name, and a promise that a text is on its way.
5 min readChoosing the right qualifying questions
Three to five questions. Any more and customers abandon the form.
6 min readBuilding the four message templates worth having
On my way, running late, here is my quote, and outside my area.
5 min readAdding your team and setting their specialties
Names, mobiles and specialties, so jobs route themselves to the right person.
5 min readConnecting your Outlook calendar
Connect once from the Integrations page and scheduled jobs appear in your own calendar.
4 min readPublishing your public profile properly
A short checklist to make your profile page worth sending to a customer.
6 min readHow to read a dispatch card in ten seconds
Urgency, then photos, then value. In that order, every time.
5 min readManaging your plan, lead quota and billing
Where your lead allowance shows, what happens when you approach it, and how to change plan.
5 min readThe ninety-second rule that decides who gets the job
In emergency trades, the business that responds first wins most of the time, regardless of price.
7 min read
What missed calls actually cost a trade business
Work out your own number in three lines of arithmetic. Most people are shocked.
7 min readWhy voicemail stopped working for trades
Voicemail was built for offices where somebody eventually listens. Trades do not work that way.
6 min readWhy customers would rather text you than call back
Texting is faster, quieter and easier to do one-handed while dealing with the problem.
6 min readPricing emergency callouts with confidence
Knowing the job before you speak is what lets you hold your price.
7 min readFollowing up the quotes that go quiet
Most trade quotes are never followed up once. One message recovers a surprising share.
6 min readTurning captured jobs into reviews
The best moment to ask is the hour after you fixed their emergency.
5 min readSurviving the seasonal peak without losing work
The first cold snap and the first heatwave are where a year of growth is won or lost.
6 min readKnowing when to put a second van on the road
Captured pipeline, not gut feeling, is what tells you the work is really there.
6 min readMeasuring the real return on lead capture
Two numbers tell you whether it works: recovered leads and conversion rate.
6 min read