Best AI Productivity Tools for Home Service Businesses
AI is on everyone’s mind right now—and we all have questions. How does AI actually work? Can it help me get more done? How can I level the playing field as a small business?
Thankfully, there are home service business owners with the answers. Judith Virag, owner of Clean Club Calgary, Paul Jamison, host of the Green Industry Podcast, and Phil Risher, owner of Phlash Consulting, have all used large language models (LLMs) and AI tools to help them run their businesses.
We’ll explore their advice for using AI tools to make replying to customers, creating marketing campaigns, and writing documents much easier. But first, let’s look at six AI productivity tools you can start using right now.
6 of the best AI tools for home service pros
1. Jobber Copilot
Included with any Jobber plan | See pricing plans
What do a business coach, data analyst, and marketing pro all have in common? Their many skills are available for you when using Jobber Copilot—an AI tool that helps you make the most from what you do best.
Jobber Copilot is the best AI tool for home service businesses because it was built specifically for them. The tool uses your business data and industry expertise to provide tailored strategies specific to your business. Copilot alerts you to insights you might have missed so you can make better decisions and improve your business.
Copilot can even help you improve your marketing by writing high-quality content or suggesting marketing strategies for your business. Think of it like a business coach in your back pocket.
2. ChatGPT (or Gemini)
Free versions available | ChatGPT pricing plans | Gemini pricing plans
AI writing tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are popular for a reason. If you can think of it, these AI tools can help you write it. Everything from writing SOPs and contracts to email marketing campaigns and social media strategies. The possibilities are infinite.
The key to using these text-generating AI tools is to write good prompts. Prompting is how we communicate with an AI system. We provide specific instructions or questions so the AI can create the response we want.
Our advice? Start with research and trying different prompts. Before you know it, you’ll be prompting like a pro. (To get started, check out this video on prompt engineering on writing prompts for popular AI tools.)
3. ManyChat
Free version available | See pricing plans
If responding to DMs has got you overwhelmed, enlist the help of an AI chatbot. ManyChat automatically responds to customer inquiries on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. These responses are fast and personalized—and you can even use it to respond to comments on your business’ social media posts and stories.
Use this AI powered tool to keep up with your inbox, get your audience more engaged, and add interested customers to your mailing list. But most of all, save yourself time from responding to endless social media messages.
4. Cumulus Pro
Free trial available | See pricing plans
If you’re still using paper checklists, it’s time for an upgrade. Cumulus Pro uses your standard operating procedures (SOPs) to easily train employees on tasks and track the work happening on your job site.
Easily convert your current SOPs to digital ones, before sharing with your employees who can follow them from a tablet or phone. From there, you can use the productivity tool to track the quality of the work, who completed it, and when it’s done. Saving you time and rework by ensuring it gets done correctly the first time.
5. GetResponse
Free trial available | See pricing plans
We all get behind on our emails, but when it comes to your services business, a late response can cost you potential customers. That’s where an AI solution like GetResponse comes in handy. The tool uses AI to respond to emails that come in from your website’s contact form. It will add that contact to your email list and send them emails or text updates, turning these routine tasks into an easy way to book more jobs.
And the best part? It uses AI to answer customer questions about your business, so you don’t have to. That way, customer requests get answered quickly and accurately while you keep your time for other important tasks. It’s a win-win.
6. Checkr
Hiring is a lengthy process, and if you want to do background checks, the process can take even longer. Unfortunately, skipping this research can lead to poor customer experiences, damaged company equipment, and you spending even more time on hiring.
That’s why Checkr is so helpful. By using their fast background check software, you can be confident that every new employee has a stellar driving record or verified education and employment history. This gives you more time to onboard, train, and get new staff to be productive faster.
Five ways you can use AI in your business
Now that you understand which AI tools are best for your business, how do you use them? Judith, Paul, and Phil have been using AI productivity apps to help them manage five different areas of their cleaning, contracting, and home service consulting businesses.
1. Automating communication with your customers
AI tools can help with workflow automation or automate routine or repetitive tasks, like drafting emails or replying to frequently asked customer questions. Paul, the host of the Green Industry Podcast, explains his AI prompting process by starting with his own words first, “I prompt the AI tool by including a copy of an email I’ve already drafted—my first pass at writing it—and AI does another pass. Then, I tweak the email with my own words, removing anything I wouldn’t say. It saves me so much time responding to customers.”
Paul also automates quick responses to customer communications on social media by using an AI chatbot. He uses ManyChat to automatically respond to inquiries with fast and personalized answers to his customers’ questions. “I’m always transparent with clients; they know that when the bot is responding, it’s my virtual assistant who’s here to help them. And if someone wants to talk to me, they can reach me right away. But this saves me time trying to respond to each and every DM or email,” Paul explains.
Similarly, Phil, owner of Phlash Consulting, uses an AI-powered tool called Delphi.ai to help respond to customer questions. This tool takes all your public business information—your podcasts, blog content, YouTube videos, and social media posts—and builds an AI assistant that responds to customer questions with your expertise in your voice.
As a busy consultant, it’s hard to answer everyone’s questions. But having the support of an AI assistant means I can help as many people as possible.
AI tools can also help you convert curious conversations into committed customers. There are AI tools like OMQ or GetResponse that integrate with your website’s contact form to automatically follow up with your business’ promotional emails or text updates. “AI task management tools like these can help you book more jobs and get more leads through the door,” says Phil.
2. Writing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and internal documents
A lot of small business owners struggle to write all the documentation needed—it’s a lot of admin work, especially when you’d rather be on the job. For Judith, owner of Clean Club Calgary, AI has helped her write everything from contracts to SOPs. “I ask AI to generate an SOP for a small residential and commercial cleaning company and then I’ll edit it to fit our needs. You can also use AI to explain portions of the writing it created, so that you’re clear on everything you’re putting your name to,” Judith says.
AI writing tools can help you cut your admin work down significantly. Just ensure you remove any sensitive business data to reduce privacy risks. And your process includes reading and editing everything AI generates to ensure there aren’t any mistakes or inaccuracies.
READ MORE: Learn how to write a standard operating procedure
3. Automating your replies to Google and Yelp reviews
You can even use AI to respond to your Google or Yelp reviews. Replying to reviews is something most small businesses should do but rarely have the time to do. If you automate tasks like these, it can help create an engaged online presence and show your current and potential customers that you care about their business.
Phil suggests using a tool like Zapier to connect AI to your Google Business Profile. When any reviews come in, AI can automatically respond to them—whether positive or negative, it’ll respond based on your preferences. Leaving your customer feeling seen and removing more mundane tasks from your to-do list.
READ MORE: Get tips for responding to negative reviews
4. Improving employee culture
It might be surprising, but AI tools can help you manage people, too. If you’re worried about having a hard conversation with an employee, talking through what you want to say with AI can help. Judith has done it. “I use AI to help me word a difficult employee email. It helps me find the right words and communicate as soon as something needs to be said.”
Tools can also encourage employees to stay committed to quality work. HR productivity apps like Automate Motivate help employees see their achievements and positive feedback in real time. Whether that’s receiving a five-star review from a customer or coming in on time.
Employees can even use points they gain from achievements in the app to receive prizes, like a gift card. These kinds of incentives can encourage employee behaviors you want to see more of and create a fun and lively company culture. “I had a client who implemented this app for their employees to help their off-site owner recognize and reward hard work. It really helped company morale and productivity,” Phil shares.
5. Building quality marketing campaigns
AI can do much more than write good emails. If you want to run a promotional special for cleaning or landscaping, and you’re not sure where to start, you can ask Jobber Copilot, ChatGPT, or Google’s Gemini for a marketing plan specific to your business, audience, and geographic location.
You can get as specific as you want, like asking for a monthly marketing calendar or social media ad copy. Use AI to help you update your website copy or draft a marketing email campaign encouraging new and old customers to book with you.
From planning to writing marketing copy to strategizing on publishing, AI can help guide you through the entire marketing process. But don’t forget that anything AI creates will still take a bit of editing and personalizing to fit your business.
Pro Tip: Using a tool like Jobber Campaigns, you can easily create and send marketing emails using pre-built templates. With the help of AI, you can use the ‘Rewrite’ button to fine-tune your email copy or use Jobber Copilot to write email drafts for you.
Some AI quirks to consider
AI can seem too good to be true—sometimes, it can be. Here are three best practices you can do to make the AI journey go smoothly for your services business.
AI isn’t real intelligence, in other words, it needs prompting
What we call AI is really just a computer trained on billions of pieces of human language and knowledge. Because that system knows so much about how we write and speak, it can pretty accurately guess what the next word should be. But it’s not thinking or creating new ideas—it’s not magic.
Generative AI (noun): The systems that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on. For instance, ChatGPT is a form of generative AI that helps with creating content and recalling information.
So, artificial intelligence works best when you prompt it with specific background knowledge or your own information instead of asking the productivity tool to create something out of nothing. Don’t expect AI to do all the work for you. It can help you do a lot, but you’ll still have to review and edit anything AI creates to ensure it doesn’t contain mistakes, often called hallucinations.
There are some limits to using AI productivity tools
Unless you prompt your AI app with specific details about your business or ask it to write more like a human, the responses you receive can end up sounding alien and strange.
But, giving AI tools access to your business information can be risky. Ensure you’re using trustworthy AI tools and you’re not giving them access to information that you’d regret getting out or being used to train the AI model (which means it can repeat that information back to other users). Remove identifiers (like names, emails, etc.) to help reduce your privacy risks.
Keep the human touch wherever you can
Your business is run by humans, for humans. Don’t get caught up in the hype of handing over all the human interactions between you and your customers to AI technology. Or replacing all the writing on your website with AI-generated copy.
According to Google’s new search guidelines, their algorithm is checking websites for repetitive AI-generated content and will punish websites that overuse AI. Ensure anything that represents your business online demonstrates that you have experience, expertise, and authority. Google will rank your business as trustworthy if they believe it’s run by humans. That’s how you’ll stand out, while still gaining all the time savings AI has to offer.
From overwhelming to overachieving—AI can help you do more, with less effort
AI can seem like an overwhelming challenge. But it all starts with learning and experimenting.
I watched YouTube videos, listened to podcasts, and then gave ChatGPT a try.
A lot of folks are afraid of technology when it’s here to serve us and make things easier.
In truth, trying AI doesn’t have to be any different than trying out a new tool. In fact, all three business owners didn’t know a single thing about AI until they tried it for themselves. “You’ll be surprised how easy it is to get started. If you think it’ll save you some time and some money, explore a few tools and see what could work for your business,” Phil explains.
Now, AI productivity tools are helping home service business owners stay focused on what’s important to them—serving their customers. And with any luck, AI can do the same for you.
Watch and learn
Want more task automation tips from Judith Virag, Paul Jamison, and Phil Risher? Get actionable insights with this episode of the Masters of Home Service podcast.