Why we build one product per trade

A pest control company sends a technician to a house for a quarterly treatment. A lash studio books a chair for a two-hour fill and wants a deposit before the client walks in. Software built for any small business asks both of them to fit their day around the same screens, the same booking form and the same reminder text.

Illumination Lab takes the other route. We build one product per trade, each on the same core system, and shape it around how that trade already runs.

What stays the same underneath

Every product we build runs on one core:

• A CRM that keeps each customer, conversation and job in one place.
• Scheduling and online booking.
• Two-way texting with customers.
• A Voice AI receptionist that answers calls and books appointments around the clock.

Sharing that core is what lets us build a product for a new trade without starting from nothing, so the work goes into the parts that trade will notice.

What changes from trade to trade

The parts a customer notices are the parts that differ.

• The questions on a call. Someone calling a garage door company should be asked whether the door is stuck open. Someone calling a golf course wants a tee time and to know if carts are included. The receptionist should ask what that trade's own staff would ask.
• The booking rules. Job length, travel between stops, deposits and how far ahead people book all depend on the trade.
• The follow-up rhythm. Some trades live on recurring visits. Others do one large job and then ask for a review.
• The words. People trust a business that talks the way their trade talks, in every text and on every call.

Questions to ask any software vendor

Whether or not you work with us, these questions show whether a tool was built for your trade or just sold to it:

1. What does the receptionist say to a caller in my trade, word for word?
2. How does booking handle my job lengths, my travel time and my deposits?
3. Which follow-up messages come set up for my kind of customer, and can I change them?
4. What happens when a caller needs a person?
5. Who do I talk to when something goes wrong?

A vendor who answers in your trade's language, with examples from a day like yours, has likely built for it. A vendor who answers with a feature list likely has not.

Talk to us

If you run a local service business and want to know whether we build for your trade, send us a note. A real person reads and answers every message.