Compare · vs. a marketing agency
A predictable system, not a retainer.
A full-service marketing agency sells strategy, ads, and campaigns. Contractor Systems sells the website, the follow-up, the review funnel, and the lead inbox the agency's work would land in. One monthly subscription. No creative hours to count. No long-term contract.
$297/mo · $297 one-time setup · Month to month
- MMaria G.Website form
Roof leak over garage, wants estimate this week
NewJust now - #(941) 555-0188Missed call
Texted back in 4s · replied: "yes, AC not cooling"
Needs reply8:42 AM - DDan R.Google
Estimate sent Mon · follow-up #2 scheduled
QuotedYesterday
Up front
$297/mo does not include managed Google Ads, Meta Ads, Local Services Ads, or large-scale SEO content production. It covers the system the ad leads would come into. That's the honest line between us and a full-service agency.
Side by side
What each one is for, line by line.
What you're buying
Contractor Systems
A productized monthly system: a professional contractor website, a lead inbox for calls/forms/texts/Google messages, missed-call text-back, follow-up sequences, a 5-star review funnel, booking, and a tracked business number.
Full-service agency
Services billed by retainer: strategy, ad management, creative, SEO, content, sometimes development. Scope varies by agreement.
How pricing works
Contractor Systems
$297/mo, $297 one-time setup. Quarterly waives setup. Annual waives setup and gives you one month free. One-time setup equal to your first month, then month to month. No long-term contract. Cancel anytime.
Full-service agency
Typically a monthly retainer (hourly block or flat), plus the ad spend you pay to Google and Meta directly. Setup fees and 6–12 month minimums are common.
What's included at the base price
Contractor Systems
Website build and hosting, CRM/automation, missed-call text-back, follow-up sequences, estimate follow-up, 5-star review funnel, snap-a-picture project pages, auto-posting of project pages and reviews to Instagram and Facebook, a tracked business number, booking and reminders, ongoing support.
Full-service agency
Depends on the retainer tier. Website build is often a separate project. SEO, PPC management, and content creation are usually scoped line-items.
What is NOT included at $297/mo
Contractor Systems
Paid-ad spend management (Google Ads, Meta Ads, LSAs), paid-media creative, SEO content production at scale, and brand strategy work. The system handles the leads that come in. It isn't a replacement for paid acquisition.
Full-service agency
Depends on scope. A full-service agency may bundle all of this; a smaller one may not. Read the SOW carefully.
Who runs it
Contractor Systems
We build, connect, and operate the system. You approve the messages. We watch the sequences in the first weeks and tune for your trade and season.
Full-service agency
An account manager and specialists on the agency side, with monthly reporting. Your time is required for approvals, strategy calls, and creative review.
Reporting
Contractor Systems
Every lead and conversation lives in one inbox with its source attached. UTM, referral, and placement are captured on every submission so you can see which channel delivered which booked job.
Full-service agency
Monthly dashboards for traffic, ad spend, and leads. Depth varies by agency.
Commitment
Contractor Systems
Month to month on monthly billing. Quarterly and annual plans available with the setup fee waived. Cancel anytime.
Full-service agency
6 to 12-month minimums are common.
Agency pricing varies widely by provider, scope, and market. The description above reflects common patterns, not a specific agency. Where exact figures matter, ask any provider for a scope-of-work line-item quote.
Why contractors choose a system over a retainer
Three concrete reasons.
01
Predictable monthly cost, no retainer math
One price. One line on the P&L. No creative hours to count, no "strategy call" tiers to pick between, no bill that spikes the month a campaign ships. The website, the inbox, the follow-up, the reviews, and the business number are all in the subscription.
02
The front office is handled before you spend on ads
If a lead comes in and the phone isn't answered, if a quote goes out and no one follows up, if a happy customer never gets asked for a review — more traffic won't fix that. Contractor Systems makes sure the leads you have today actually turn into booked estimates. That's often more valuable than a bigger ad budget.
03
Nothing's locked behind an agency login
You keep your website domain, your Google Business Profile, your business phone number, and your customer list. If a bigger agency relationship makes sense next year, the handoff is clean. Nothing we build makes you dependent on us.
The front office that catches what the ads bring in.
Running ads without a front office that answers is paying twice. The leads you spent on either get caught by missed-call text-back and nurtured by a follow-up sequence written in your voice, or they bounce. If you're planning to spend on marketing, the system that handles the inbound is the first thing worth paying for.
New Google review from Linda N. · reply drafted for you
Which option fits your business?
Where each one wins.
Pick a full-service marketing agency if…
- ✓You already have a working front office and your bottleneck is pipeline, not conversion.
- ✓You have the budget for meaningful paid-media spend, custom creative, and ongoing strategy work.
- ✓You want senior strategists running Google Ads, Meta Ads, Local Services Ads, and SEO as a managed service.
- ✓You're comfortable with a 6–12 month minimum and the time required for approvals and reporting cycles.
Pick Contractor Systems if…
- ✓Your bottleneck is calls going to voicemail and estimates going quiet, not traffic.
- ✓You want a predictable monthly price and no long-term contract.
- ✓You'd rather have the website, inbox, follow-up, reviews, and business number running — even if you add paid media later.
For home-service pros
Built around how a trade actually books work.
We'd rather be honest than win the wrong fit.
If you need extensive advertising, large-scale creative, and senior strategic help, a full-service agency is probably the right answer and we'll say so. If you're a contractor who just wants calls answered, leads followed up, and reviews earned without juggling eight tools, that's exactly what this is for.
Questions
Straight answers.
Is Contractor Systems a replacement for a marketing agency?+
For most small and mid-sized contractors who don't yet have an agency, it covers the systems a good one would set up anyway: the website, the inbox, the follow-up, and the reviews. For contractors who already run significant paid campaigns, it works alongside a specialist agency — the agency drives traffic, our system catches and nurtures the leads.
Does the $297 price include Google Ads or Meta Ads management?+
No. Paid-ad spend management (Google Ads, Meta Ads, Local Services Ads) is not included at $297/mo. The leads from those channels land in the Contractor Systems inbox and get the same follow-up, missed-call text-back, and review treatment as any other lead, but we aren't managing the campaigns themselves at this price. If you need paid-media management, say so during the demo and we'll be straight about whether we're the fit.
What about SEO?+
The website is built to be fast on mobile, structured clearly for search, and set up with a Google Business Profile connection. Every new project page you add from the field becomes a page a search can find. Ongoing SEO content production and link-building beyond that is not included at the base price.
Why is this cheaper than a typical agency retainer?+
Two reasons. First, it's productized: one offer, built out of a tested framework, which is cheaper to deliver than custom agency hours. Second, the scope is narrower on purpose — we don't do paid-media management, brand strategy, or custom ad creative at this price, so we're not pricing in those services.
Can I cancel?+
One-time setup equal to your first month, then month to month. No long-term contract. Cancel anytime. You keep your website, your Google Business Profile, your business number, and your customer list.
What if I need a case study or a specific industry example?+
See the results page for a case study and the examples page for websites by trade. If your situation isn't represented and you'd like a direct reference, ask during the demo.
Pay for the system first. Add scale later.
Twenty minutes. We'll show you the website, the inbox, the follow-up, and the review funnel on real screens, and tell you honestly if a full-service agency would serve you better.