Contracts
Setting Better Payment Terms Before Work Begins
Deposits, progress payments, final payments, and expectations that should be clear before your crew ever arrives.
6 min readComing soon
JAKE'S LIST RESOURCES
Practical guides forsmarter service businesses.
Straightforward information to help you evaluate customers, protect your cash flow, prevent disputes, and make better decisions before and during the job.
Customer screening
Payment protection
Better job practices
Start here
Before you take the next job.
A few good habits before work begins can help prevent some of the most expensive problems service businesses face.
Featured
Customer Screening
How to Check a Customer Before Taking the Job
A practical pre-job process for evaluating a new customer before committing your crew, materials, schedule, and money.
5 min readRead Guide
Featured
Customer Screening
Customer Red Flags to Watch for Before a Job
Warning signs to pay attention to during the first call, estimate, and conversations before deciding whether a job is right for your business.
6 min readRead Guide
Featured
Payment Risk
How to Prevent Customer Payment Disputes
Practical ways service businesses can set expectations, document the job, and reduce the risk of payment conflicts.
6 min readRead Guide
Resource library
Better information. Better jobs.
Resources built around the real decisions service businesses make every day.
Scope Changes
Handling Change Orders Without Losing Money
A practical approach to documenting additional work, getting approval, and keeping scope changes from eating into your margin.
5 min readComing soon
Communication
Setting Customer Expectations Before the Job Starts
How clear communication around scope, scheduling, access, payment, and responsibilities can prevent problems later.
6 min readComing soon
Protect the job before it starts
Good jobs start with good decisions.
Customer intelligence is one part of protecting your business. Strong processes around estimates, documentation, payment terms, and communication matter too.
Check first
Make customer research part of the normal process before committing to a job.
Set expectations
Clear scope, payment terms, and communication help both sides know what to expect.
Document the job
Good records can make a major difference when expectations or scope change.
Protect the business
Your crew, schedule, materials, and cash flow are business assets worth protecting.
Put it into practice
Got a new lead?Check Jake's List first.
Search the property address and review available service business experiences, property intelligence, and risk signals before deciding how you want to approach the job.
Check a CustomerCustomer intelligence
Service business experiences
Available risk signals
Property intelligence
Customer reviews
Your experience can help the next business.
Jake's List isn't just about checking customers. Service businesses can also share their own customer experiences after a job is completed.
Review a CustomerKnow who you're working for.
Start with 3 free customer searches and see what Jake's List can tell you before the next job begins.