The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

🎯 Why This Form Exists

This whole thing started as a favor for friends — I’m retired, you know?! Well... I was. I was basically their on-call fixer. But what began as a side gig quickly turned into a full-blown beast.

At first, I could handle everything manually: voicemails, texts, random emails, scribbled notes on napkins. It wasn’t too bad… until it was. As my reputation and my business grew — and word of my "undeniable charm" spread across the land — so did the chaos. Some good folks have waited days (sometimes weeks 🙈) just to hear back, and some not at all. And that ate at me...badly. I hated the thought of people thinking I was unreliable, or worse — that I didn’t care.

This business is something I built from scratch, and I’m proud of what it’s become. But I hit a wall. I couldn’t keep up with the volume, do all the admin, actually do the work, and still have some semblance of a life all at the same time. — I barely had time to love on my five-pound Yorkie I’d fight a battalion of Navy SEALs for.

Something had to give...So I built this system.
That’s right… I built it. Ain’t nothing ol’ Ho Ho can’t do.

This form onboarding method helps me stay organized and respond in a fair, honest order. It gives me all the info I need up front. It automates the repetitive junk I used to spend hours doing — and helps me reply faster, book jobs quicker, and keeps good folks from being neglected. Hopefully it will help me not lose my damn mind or my good name in the process.

Trust me — I hate forms too. In my skydiving days, I had to fill out a waiver at every single dropzone. Big eye rolls, read nothing, sign everything, just get me through it. I get it. But this form system of onboarding is the only way I can keep doing quality work, stay sane, and help everyone who needs it.

⏳ What Happens After You Submit

Once you hit submit, your info goes straight into my system — not a black hole like before. I get an alert, you get a confirmation, an invitation to your customer portal, and you’re officially in the queue and fully onboarded.

From there, I review everything and figure out what’s needed. Some jobs require a site visit before I can give a quote. Others, I can ballpark with the info you gave me. Either way, I’ll reach out — usually within a few days — to get things rolling.

Behind the scenes, the form instantly creates a contact in my CRM, adds you to my phone, drops a reminder in my calendar, and organizes your request so I don’t lose it — all automatically. That used to take me 30–45 minutes per person. Now? Five minutes from you, and you’re fully in the system.

This isn’t Amazon Prime.
You probabl won't get instant replies, immediate service, or automated estimates but it's a serious improvement. I’m a real human, doing real work, and I read every submission myself. But thanks to this setup, I won’t lose track of people anymore — and nobody gets skipped just because they were the tenth person to text me while I was in a crawlspace or under a sink.

❓ What to Include in Your Request

This being successful relies heavily on you. Please ive me something to work with. The more details, the better and the faster I can help.

✅ What’s going on? Be as specific as possible and paint the big picture along with the details.

📍 Where exactly? Inside, outside, upstairs, crawlspace, attic, driveway, etc.. — location is important.

📸 Got photos or video? Upload them. You can't post too many. Videos?.. Yes Please. It might save me a trip, get your project done quicker, and sometimes I can tell right away whether it’s a one hour service call or a “bring breakfast, lunch, and dinner” kind of day.

⏰ What’s your timeline? “Whenever” is fine. “Emergency / time-sensitive” bumps you up the list. (It needs to be a genuine emergency. Crying wolf to skip the list can get you fired. Be considerate of your neighbors and their needs too please.

Bottom line:The more I know, the more successful this will be and the faster I'll be able to get you taken care of. — or at least I'll be able to tell you how screwed you are in a very timely fashion😉.

📬 How You’ll Hear From Me

Once you hit submit, you’ll get a confirmation by email — and by text, if you opted in. You’ll also be invited to a customer portal where you can view quotes, invoices, and all the history in one place.

Shortly after I’ll reach out just as soon as I can. I’ll look at your preferred timeline, the size of the job, and how it fits into the schedule. If I can make it happen, I will — bare minimum I'll touch base and let you know one way or another.

Communication should be much smoother now. This system will help me stay on top of things. A gentle nudge after a bit is fine, but please be patient — even if you don’t hear from me right away, progress is happening behind the scenes.

If you didn’t opt in to texts, no problem — you’ll still get email updates. Just know texts are certainly preferred and voicemails almost certainly get buried. I’ll definitely call once we’re further along or if I need clarification, but early on, email or text helps me keep a clear trail of what’s been said and what needs doing.

If your job needs a site visit, I’ll offer some time slots that match what you selected. I usually do visits every other weekend, though this system may speed that up a bit. If I can quote based on what you submitted, you’ll get a detailed estimate — worst-case scenario pricing included — and a heads-up if anything could change.

The main takeaway? You won’t get ghosted — but I won’t spam you either. Once you’re in the system, you’ll hear from me, even if it’s just a quick check-in to say “no news yet, but I’ve got you on my radar.”

🎁 That’s a Wrap

Yeah yeah, I know — it’s a lot. But I put a lot of time and effort into building this so I can provide better service for you all, and I just want it to be successful for all of our sakes.

If anyone has made it this far, you just might have that ridiculous OCD attention to detail just like Ol' Ho Ho — and frankly, you're my kind of peeps.

Whether you’re brand new or coming back for more — you’re in good hands now. Click the Ho Ho for the form that fits your situation and I’ll take it from there.

Thanks for your understanding and your patience. Service and communication WILL improve, so will my sanity — so let’s get after it!! Submit that baby and let’s rock!!!

🎅
– Ward (a.k.a. Ho Ho)