Client Work

Case studies from real home service companiesThe situation, what the review found, what got installed, and what the owner said happened.

No stock success stories. Each of these is a company that came in with a specific problem — wasted ad spend, no tracking, a third agency in three years — and the work that followed, with the owner's own words on the result.

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HVAC, plumbing, landscaping
Diagnosis before tactics
Client-reported outcomes only
PlumbingThe $497 Marketing Audit

A plumbing company paying for clicks that could never become jobs

An owner-led plumbing company was running Google Ads every month with no one checking which searches were actually triggering the ads, and no way to tie a phone call back to the money spent.

What the review found

  • Search terms report reviewed line by line: spend was landing on informational and DIY searches, not emergency or replacement intent.
  • No call tracking, so no ad, keyword, or landing page could be judged by booked jobs.
  • One general services page carrying every job type, instead of a page per job the company actually wants.
  • Google Business Profile categories and services incomplete for the work they sell.

What we put in place

  • Intent-split campaigns: emergency work separated from replacement and maintenance searches.
  • Negative keyword list built from the actual search terms, then reviewed on a schedule.
  • Call tracking and form tracking so every lead is attributed to a source.
  • A page per job type with honest price ranges and a phone number in reach on mobile.
  • A prioritized 90-day plan the owner could hand to anyone.

Result, in the client's words

“Before the audit, I had no idea our Google Ads were burning $3K/month on irrelevant keywords. Chris identified the problem, built us a roadmap, and we were profitable within 60 days.”

James CarterPlumbing Company Owner

HVACDone-For-You Marketing

An HVAC company on its third marketing vendor in three years

The company had cycled through two agencies. Each one started with a pitch and a package instead of a review, and nobody could say which channel was producing booked jobs.

What the review found

  • Diagnosis first, before any channel recommendation: goals, service mix, average ticket, and lead handling reviewed together.
  • Missed-call and answer-rate review — leads were arriving and not being worked.
  • Local search coverage checked against the service area they actually dispatch to.
  • Reporting rebuilt around booked jobs and cost per booked job instead of impressions.

What we put in place

  • One team running local SEO, Google Business Profile, Google Ads and LSA, reviews, and the website together.
  • Follow-up on inbound leads so calls and forms get worked the same day.
  • One monthly report: booked jobs and cost per booked job by channel.
  • Full ownership of the domain, website, content, and ad accounts kept with the company.

Result, in the client's words

“We tried two agencies before finding Chris. The difference? He started with a diagnosis instead of a sales pitch. Our leads tripled in 90 days.”

Mike HarrisonHVAC Company Owner

LandscapingStrategy Session

$5,000 a month in ads with no read on what was working

A landscaping company was spending steadily on paid media each month without a clear view of which campaigns, keywords, or service lines were returning work.

What the review found

  • Account walkthrough on screen: budget split by campaign, then by search intent.
  • Spend isolated on job types with low margin or long sales cycles.
  • Conversion tracking verified — several form and call conversions were double counted.
  • Seasonality reviewed against the company's crew capacity, not the calendar.

What we put in place

  • Budget shifted to the job types the company wants more of.
  • Tracking cleaned up so one lead counts once.
  • A weekly 20-minute routine for the owner: search terms, calls, and booked work.
  • Clear rules for when to raise or pull budget by season.

Result, in the client's words

“We were spending $5K/month on ads with no idea what was working. After one session, we cut waste and doubled our leads within 60 days.”

Jennifer WalshLandscaping Business Owner

LandscapingInsourced Marketing Blueprint™

Bringing marketing in-house instead of renewing an agency retainer

The owner wanted the marketing function inside the company — someone accountable, on payroll, who understood the work — instead of a retainer that took the knowledge with it when it ended.

What the review found

  • Reviewed what the agency was actually delivering versus what the retainer covered.
  • Defined the role: what a marketing coordinator owns weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
  • Mapped which tasks stay in-house and which stay with specialists.

What we put in place

  • A 12-week training program for the owner plus the new marketing hire.
  • Templates, SOPs, checklists, and reporting the employee keeps.
  • A Marketing Operating System the company runs and improves without us.

Result, in the client's words

“The Insourced Marketing Blueprint paid for itself in the first month. We hired a marketing coordinator and she was up and running in two weeks using the templates and checklists. We're generating more leads now than we ever did with our agency.”

David RuizLandscaping Company Owner

HVACStrategy Session

An HVAC owner with five vendors and no order of operations

Every vendor had a recommendation and each one sounded urgent. The owner needed to know what to fix first and what could wait.

What the review found

  • Whole marketing picture reviewed in one sitting: website, local search, ads, reviews, lead handling.
  • Constraint identified — the bottleneck came before traffic, in how leads were answered and followed up.
  • Overlapping vendor scopes and duplicate tools listed with what each was costing.

What we put in place

  • A short ordered fix list: answer rate and follow-up first, then profile accuracy, then service pages, then paid search.
  • One place to see leads, so nothing depends on memory.
  • A decision on which vendors to keep, consolidate, or end.

Result, in the client's words

“I came in overwhelmed and left with total clarity. Chris broke down our entire marketing strategy and told us exactly what to fix first.”

Marcus JohnsonHVAC Company Owner

Outcomes above are reported by the clients themselves, in their own words, and describe their situation and market. They are examples of work completed — not a promise of rankings, lead volume, revenue, or timelines for any other company.

Questions owners ask

Does Chris Heidlebaugh have real home service client examples?
Yes. Published engagements include plumbing, HVAC, and landscaping companies across audits, strategy sessions, in-house marketing training, and full done-for-you marketing. Each case study lists the situation, what the review found, what was put in place, and the client's own reported result.
Are results guaranteed?
Outcomes above are reported by the clients themselves, in their own words, and describe their situation and market. They are examples of work completed — not a promise of rankings, lead volume, revenue, or timelines for any other company.
How does an engagement start?
Every engagement starts with the $497 Marketing Audit so no one is sold work they do not need. After the audit an owner can do it themselves, have their team trained, or have Chris's team run it.
Which trades does Chris work with?
U.S. home service companies — HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, garage door, landscaping, remodeling, and related trades — typically owner-led teams from $1M to $50M in revenue.

Want to know what your own numbers say?

Every engagement above started the same way: a $497 Marketing Audit that shows what's working, what's wasting money, and what to fix first.

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