How to run CEO Engine

A ready-to-send follow-up sequence for an unpaid invoice.

Use it when

An invoice is past its due date and you don't want to make the phone call.

Have ready

Client name, amount owed, how many days late, and how the relationship has been.

Then do this

Send step one today. If it's still unpaid on the day listed for step two, send that one. Record the payment on the invoice when it lands.

## Step 1 — Friendly nudge (send today)

**Subject:** Invoice 1188 — $4,200, quick one

Hi Dave,

Invoice 1188 for the Maple Street bathroom is sitting at 27 days — $4,200. I know it goes through the office rather than you, so this is just so you've got it in hand.

Could you let me know who to chase directly? Happy to send it straight to them and stop bothering you.

Thanks,
[YOUR NAME] · Ridgeway Plumbing & Heating

**Text version (287 characters):**
Hi Dave, Ridgeway here. Invoice 1188 ($4,200) is 27 days out. Who in the office should I send it to directly? Saves you chasing it.

---

## Step 2 — Firm reminder (send day 34)

**Subject:** Invoice 1188 now 34 days — before the 14th job starts

Hi Dave,

Invoice 1188 ($4,200) is now 34 days overdue, which is the third time this year we've gone past a month.

We're booked to start your Elm Court job on the 14th. I need 1188 cleared before then — not a threat, just how we keep the cash working. If it's easier, I can take card over the phone today.

...

---

## Step 3 — Final notice (send day 45)

**Subject:** Invoice 1188 — $4,200 — pausing work from Monday

...late fee of $63 (1.5% monthly) applied from day 45 · Elm Court paused until cleared...

---

## If they still ignore you

1. **Day 50** — call the office directly, not Dave. Ask for a payment date, not an explanation.
2. **Day 55** — apply the $63 late fee formally in writing and confirm Elm Court is off the schedule.
3. **Day 60** — small-claims letter before action, or hand to collections. On $4,200 collections typically costs 10–15% ($420–$630) — worth it against 60+ days.
4. **Going forward** — Harper & Sons move to 50% deposit before any new booking. That's the actual fix.

Lead ranked, next move decided, outreach message written.

Use it when

A quote request or enquiry has gone quiet, or you have several leads and don't know which to call first.

Have ready

Lead name, where they came from, what they want, rough job value, when you last spoke.

Then do this

Send the message as written. Keep the two objection lines nearby for the call back.

## Lead score: HOT

A fixed shutdown window on a commercial premises with a stated budget-sized job. Their deadline is real and it's close — that's urgency you didn't have to manufacture.

## Best next action — call Marcus tomorrow before 10am

Practice managers are reachable early. A call beats email on a lead this warm; the email below is your backup if he doesn't pick up.

**Subject:** Riverbend refit — holding your Christmas week

Hi Marcus,

You mentioned wanting the boiler and hot water done while the practice is shut over Christmas. That week books out by early November for us, so I wanted to get to you before it goes.

I can walk the site this week and have a fixed price with you within 48 hours. Would Thursday morning or Friday afternoon suit?

...

## If they push back

- **"We're still getting quotes."** — "Completely fair. One thing worth checking on the others: are they quoting to work through the shutdown, or just to normal hours? That's usually where the price gap comes from."
- **"It feels expensive."** — "It's not a cheap week to work, you're right. What it buys you is opening on the 2nd with no chair days lost. One lost day of surgery is roughly [YOUR ESTIMATE] — that's the comparison, not the boiler."

## No reply cadence

Day 3 text · Day 7 call · Day 12 email with the shutdown slots left · Day 20 close the file and put him on the spring service list.

A clear, itemised quote with pricing rationale.

Use it when

You need to price a job and send it today without underselling yourself.

Have ready

The client, the scope in your own words, your known costs, and the margin you want.

Then do this

Send the client-facing part. Read the private section — it tells you where you're too cheap and what to add on.

Quote 2041 · Riverbend Dental · valid 21 days

| # | Item | Qty | Unit | Total |
|---|------|-----|------|-------|
| 1 | Removal & safe disposal of existing boiler | 1 | $340 | $340 |
| 2 | 32kW system boiler, supplied & fitted | 1 | $2,180 | $2,180 |
| 3 | 210L unvented cylinder incl. safety kit | 1 | $1,460 | $1,460 |
| 4 | Relocate plant to rear cupboard | 1 | $890 | $890 |
| 5 | Pipework — 4 surgeries + sterilisation room | 5 | $410 | $2,050 |
| 6 | Shutdown-week working premium | 1 | $760 | $760 |
| 7 | Commission, test & certification | 1 | $420 | $420 |

**Subtotal $8,100 · Tax [YOUR RATE] · Total $8,100 + tax**

**Included:** all materials, disposal, certification, 2-year workmanship warranty, manufacturer's 10-year on the boiler.
**Excluded:** making good tiling or decoration, electrical board upgrade if required (quoted separately if found).
**Terms:** 40% on booking ($3,240), balance on certification. Work reserved to 27–31 Dec on receipt of deposit.

---

## For your eyes only

- Direct cost: $3,580 materials + $5,200 labour = **$8,780**… your quote is **$8,100**. **This job loses $680.**
- The arithmetic you missed: 5 days × 2 people × $520 = $5,200, not 5 × $520.
- **Price it at $11,400** to hold 30% ($8,780 ÷ 0.70 = $12,543 for true 30% on cost; $11,400 gives you 23% and stays defensible).
- **Upsell worth $1,250:** annual commercial service plan at $625/yr, two years prepaid. Costs you 3 hours a visit and locks the account.

A 4-week content and offer plan with copy written.

Use it when

The diary is thinner than you'd like, or you keep meaning to post and never do.

Have ready

What you want more of, where your customers actually see you, and any offer you're running.

Then do this

Schedule week one on the day you read it. Everything is already written — you're copying, not creating.

## Week 1 — "The check nobody books"

**Post 1 (Facebook, Tue):**
"We pulled a boiler apart in Elmswood last week that had been making 'a bit of a noise' for two years. Two years of noise, $1,900 of damage. The noise is the cheap part — that's why we do the free check."
📷 Photo of the part. Caption ends: "Booking link in comments."

**Post 2 (Thu):** Before/after of the same plant room. Hook: "Same house. Eleven days apart."
**Post 3 (Sat):** Poll — "How old is your boiler? Under 5 / 5-10 / 10+ / genuinely no idea." The 'no idea' voters are your list.

**Email (Wed) — Subject: "Your boiler is about to have its hardest month"**
Full body written out, 180 words, one link, one PS offering the check.

**Offline action:** 40 door-hangers on the two streets either side of the Elmswood job. People buy from the van they've seen.

**Watch this week:** booked checks. Target 6.

## Week 2 — "Price of waiting"
...

## Week 3 — "Proof"
...

## Week 4 — "The upgrade conversation"
...

## Your one ad

**Headline:** Boiler making a noise? Free 20-minute check.
**Body:** Ridgeway have been in [YOUR AREA] for [YOUR YEARS] years. We'll tell you if it's nothing — most of the time it is.
**CTA:** Book a check
**Budget:** $12/day, radius 8 miles, run weeks 2–4.

**The one metric:** booked checks per week. Not likes, not reach. Checks.

A competitor report with pricing position, gaps to attack and what to change this month.

Use it when

You keep losing jobs to the same rival, or you're being beaten on price.

Have ready

Who you lose to, what customers say when they pick them, your typical price and theirs.

Then do this

Use the word-for-word script the next time somebody says they got a cheaper quote. Work the four-week list one item a week.

## Where you sit

| Rival | Who they win | Their price vs yours | Biggest strength | Biggest weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Heating | Anyone comparing three quotes | $1,400 vs $1,800 = **$400 under, 22.2% cheaper** ($400 ÷ $1,800) | Same-day response from 6 vans | 6 vans means whoever's free, not their best |
| Duval & Son | Customers who judge on presentation | Level — **$0 gap** | Reviews and paperwork | No capacity edge on you at all |
| Facebook cash trader | Price-only jobs under $650 | Below your minimum callout | Cheap | No certificate, no warranty, no recourse |

## Why you lose, honestly

1. **You lose on speed, not price.** Your evidence line: "Apex came out same day." A 22% gap is losable; a two-day wait isn't.
2. **You look smaller than you are.** Your line: "Duval's van and paperwork look smarter." Against an equal price, presentation decides it.

## Three gaps to attack

**Gap 1 — Same-day diagnosis, fixed $89.**
Apex sends whoever's free; you send the owner. Wording for your quote and site: *"We'll be there today for $89, and it's the person who owns the business who turns up. If we do the repair, the $89 comes off."*
30-day test: count same-day bookings. Under 4 and the price is wrong, not the offer.

**Gap 2 — The 22% answered in writing.** ...
**Gap 3 — Certificate as the weapon against the cash trader.** ...

## Your counter-offer — "The Ridgeway Same-Day"

$1,800 unchanged, plus: on-site today, written certificate, 2-year workmanship warranty, and one free service at 12 months.
Cost to deliver: the 12-month service is 2 hours ≈ $130. **You've answered a $400 objection with $130.** Margin left on a $1,800 job: [YOUR COST BASE] − $130.

## Say this when they mention a cheaper quote

**Phone:** "That'll be Apex, and $1,400 is a fair price — they're not doing anything wrong. The difference is who turns up and what you hold afterwards. I'll be there today, you'll get a certificate and two years' cover. If the $400 is the deciding factor I'd genuinely take their quote, and I'll say so."

**Text:** "Understood on price. Ours includes same-day, certificate and 2 years' workmanship. If you want, I'll come today at no charge to confirm they've scoped it right."

## This month

| Week | Action | Who | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Put the $89 same-day line on every quote and the website | You | 40 min |
| 2 | Rewrite the quote template — warranty and certificate on page 1 | You | 1 hr |
| 3 | Ask your last 6 happy customers for a review, by name, by text | You | 30 min |
| 4 | Count same-day bookings, keep or kill the $89 | You | 15 min |

A 90-day cash projection with risks and cuts.

Use it when

You're not sure whether next month covers itself.

Have ready

Monthly revenue, fixed costs, money owed to you, and anything big coming up.

Then do this

Look at the tightest week first, then act on the three biggest cuts before they arrive.

Assumptions stated up front: revenue flat at $38,000 · materials at 32% of revenue ($12,160) · receivables collected 60% in month 1, 40% in month 2 · opening balance [YOUR CURRENT BANK].

| | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 (tax) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | [YOUR BALANCE] | $12,780 | $18,120 |
| Collections | $30,400 | $38,000 | $38,000 |
| Receivables in | $7,200 | $4,800 | — |
| **Inflows** | **$37,600** | **$42,800** | **$38,000** |
| Fixed | $19,260 | $19,260 | $19,260 |
| Materials | $12,160 | $12,160 | $12,160 |
| One-offs | $1,800 tyres | — | $9,400 tax |
| **Outflows** | **$33,220** | **$31,420** | **$40,820** |
| **Closing** | **$12,780** | **$18,120** | **$15,300** |

**Tightest week: week 2 of month 3.** Payroll ($7,000 half-month) lands 4 days before the tax payment. You need $16,400 available that week and the projection has you at $15,300 by month end — it's survivable only if the two 30-day invoices are in.

## Three biggest cuts

1. **Payroll timing, not payroll size — $0 cut, $7,000 of breathing room.** Move to monthly-on-the-28th and the collision disappears.
2. **Materials at 32% is 4 points high — $1,520/month.** Two suppliers on the same 8 lines, neither on account terms. Consolidating gets 5–7%.
3. **Software $260 → about $150.** You're paying for seats and two overlapping tools.

## Two ways to pull cash forward

1. **The $12,000 receivable book.** Two invoices over 30 days ≈ $6,000. Run the Revenue Chaser on both today — historically that lands 70% inside 10 days ≈ $4,200.
2. **40% deposits on jobs over $2,000.** On $38,000/month with roughly 8 such jobs, that's $6,000+ arriving 2 weeks earlier every month, permanently.

## Break-even

Fixed $19,260 ÷ (1 − 0.32) = **$28,324 revenue a month.** You clear break-even by $9,676. **Do not buy the third van before the March tax payment clears** — a $650/month payment plus a wage moves break-even to roughly $34,000 and eats the margin you just found.

A step-by-step SOP your team can actually follow.

Use it when

You're the only person who knows how something gets done.

Have ready

The process name, roughly how you do it today, and who performs it.

Then do this

Print the checklist version and put it where the work happens.

## SOP 01 — Booking and prepping a job

| # | Step | Owner | Time | Tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Answer or return the call within 2 working hours | You | 5 min | Phone |
| 2 | Capture the 6 fixed details (below) into Clients — never the pad | You | 3 min | CEO Engine |
| 3 | Confirm in writing same day | You | 2 min | Text template |
| 4 | Parts check against the job type list | Apprentice | 10 min | Van stock sheet |
| 5 | Order anything missing, note the arrival date | Apprentice | 10 min | Supplier |
| 6 | **Gate: parts in hand before the date is confirmed** | You | 1 min | — |
| 7 | Day-before confirmation text to customer | Apprentice | 2 min | Template |
| 8 | Van loaded the night before against the checklist | Apprentice | 15 min | Checklist |

**Step 2 — the six details, every time:** name · address · what's wrong in their words · make/model and age · access and parking · when they're actually in.

**Step 3 wording:** "Hi [NAME], Ridgeway here — booked you for [DAY] between [WINDOW]. Bringing [PART]. If anything changes, reply to this text and it comes straight to me."

## Print-and-pin checklist
☐ 6 details in Clients ☐ Written confirmation sent ☐ Parts checked ☐ Missing parts ordered + date ☐ Parts in hand ☐ Day-before text ☐ Van loaded

## Three failure points

1. **Job lives in your phone, not the system.** Safeguard: step 2 happens while still on the call. If it isn't in Clients, the job doesn't exist.
2. **Date confirmed before parts arrive — this is your half-day loss.** Safeguard: step 6 is a hard gate. Give a window, not a date, until parts are in hand.
3. **Van loaded on the morning.** Safeguard: loading is a night-before task with a signature on the sheet.

## Automate first
Steps 3 and 7 — two saved text templates. 4 minutes a job, roughly 40 jobs a month = **2.5 hours a month back for 10 minutes of setup.**

Job ad, screening questions, and a scorecard.

Use it when

You're about to advertise a role.

Have ready

The role, the pay range, and your non-negotiables.

Then do this

Post the ad as written, use the phone questions in order, score every candidate on the same sheet.

## The ad

**Second-year plumbing apprentice — $24–28/hr — [YOUR TOWN]**

Two vans, both of them ours, no agency work. You'll be on domestic and small commercial jobs with the owner, not parked on a site handing up tools.

**You'll fit if:** you turn up when you said you would, you can hold a conversation with a customer in their kitchen, and you've got a clean licence.
**You won't if:** you need chasing, or you'd rather be on your phone in the van.

Occasional Saturday, paid at time and a half. Apply with a text to [YOUR NUMBER] — one paragraph on the last job you were proud of.

*(The "you won't if" section is doing the work. It halves your unsuitable applications.)*

## Eight phone-screen questions

1. "Talk me through a job you did last week, start to finish." — **Want:** sequence and detail. **Red flag:** can't remember.
2. "A customer asks you something you don't know the answer to. What comes out of your mouth?" — **Want:** "I'll check with [name] and come back to you." **Red flag:** guessing.
3. "What time did you start today?" — **Want:** a number, instantly.
4. "What's your licence like?" — asked flat, listen for the pause.
5. "Tell me about a customer who was annoyed." ...
6. "What do you want to be doing in two years?" ...
7. "Saturdays occasionally, time and a half — problem?" ...
8. "Anything you'd want me to know before we go further?" ...

## Scorecard (1–5 each)

| Criterion | 1 | 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Reliability | Vague on times | Specific, unprompted |
| Customer manner | Mumbles, avoids | Would send them in alone |
| Hands-on skill | Needs watching | Works unsupervised on known jobs |
| Coachability | Defensive | Asks, writes it down |
| Wanting this job | Any job will do | Knows who you are |

Hire at 18+. Never hire under 3 on customer manner — that was your stated non-negotiable.

## Paid trial
One full day, $200 flat. Send them to a straightforward service call **with** you, and let them run the customer conversation while you stay quiet. You'll know by 11am.

## First 30 days
Week 1 shadow + SOP 01 · Week 2 own the parts check · Week 3 run one customer visit a day · Week 4 sit-down against the same scorecard.

A reply that protects the relationship and your margin.

Use it when

A message has landed that you don't want to answer while annoyed.

Have ready

What happened, your honest read on fault, and the outcome you want.

Then do this

Send the reply. Make the one policy change at the bottom so it doesn't happen again.

**Subject:** Your plasterer — and what I'm doing about it

Hi [NAME],

You're right to be annoyed, and I'm not going to talk you out of it. The cylinder arrived damaged from the supplier and I didn't tell you fast enough — that's the bit that's on me. You'd have kept the plasterer if I'd called you on the Tuesday morning instead of hoping it'd be fine.

The two days I can explain. The plasterer's second visit I can't, so here's what I'd like to do — your pick:

**Option A** — I cover the plasterer's return visit on production of his invoice, up to $300.
**Option B** — $600 of credit against the first of your rental properties, valid 12 months, plus you go to the front of the diary.
**Option C** — $250 off this invoice today, settled and closed.

I'd suggest B, honestly — it's the most money back to you and it's not costing you a favour. But A if you'd rather it was cash-neutral now.

Either way the certificate and warranty paperwork is attached and the system's running as it should.

[YOUR SIGN-OFF]

**Text version:** "Hi [NAME] — fair point on the plasterer, the delay was a damaged cylinder but I should've called you on the Tuesday. Three options in the email — I'd take the credit one, it's worth the most to you. Ring me if easier."

## Ranked by what it actually costs you

| | Cash out | Real cost | Keeps her |
|---|---|---|---|
| C — $250 off | $250 | $250 | Probably |
| A — plasterer to $300 | $300 | $300 | Yes |
| B — $600 credit | $0 now | ≈$390 of labour if redeemed | Yes, and books the next job |

**B is the cheapest yes.** Never lead with C — a discount admits the work was worth less. It wasn't.

## If she escalates or posts about it

"We got it wrong on communication and offered three ways to put it right, including full cover of her plasterer's return visit. That offer still stands." Public, calm, no detail, no argument.

## The policy change that prevents a repeat

**Any delivery that arrives damaged means a customer phone call within one hour — before you've worked out the fix.** People forgive the delay. They don't forgive finding out late.