Custom Trades & Craft Businesses
Your craft is world-class. Your client experience shouldn't lag.
Custom cabinet makers, millworkers, metalworkers, and high-skill fabricators build extraordinary things. The gap is everything around the build: proposals that take too long, clients who go quiet mid-project, invoices that sit unpaid. We fix the business layer so you can focus on the work.
30 minutes · your custom AI Scorecard within 24 hours of our call.
Recognize your week?
High-end clients expect a high-end experience. Not just a high-end product.
Long sales cycles go cold without follow-up
01 · The problem
A custom cabinet or millwork project has a 4–8 week decision window. Most shops send a proposal and wait. A single well-timed follow-up can be the difference between a $30k job and silence.
Clients feel left out during the build
02 · The problem
Eight weeks of silence between deposit and delivery makes even excited clients anxious. A few proactive updates (photos, milestones, delivery windows) turn anxiety into anticipation and generate referrals.
Verbal change orders become disputes
03 · The problem
A client asks for a small change. You agree. Nobody writes it down. At invoicing time, the scope is disputed and you absorb the cost. Documenting changes in real time is the only protection.
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Eight weeks of silence
- Week 1 The deposit lands and the project begins.
- Week 4 No update has gone to the client.
- Week 7 They email asking where their piece is.
Eight weeks, kept in the loop
- Week 1 Milestones are tracked as the work moves.
- Week 4 You approve a short photo update.
- Week 7 The client hears from you before they ask.
What you get back. The anxious emails. Proposals written at night. The status call you didn't need to take.
Illustrative example. Nothing goes out without your approval.
What we'd build
Six systems every custom trade business needs.
Proposal Follow-Up
01
Automated touchpoints after every proposal: week 1, week 2, week 4. Keeps your name in front of a client through a long decision window without feeling pushy.
Build Progress Updates
02
Milestone updates and photos sent to clients during production. Keeps them informed, builds excitement, and dramatically reduces inbound "just checking in" messages.
Change Order Documentation
03
Every scope change captured in writing, sent for acknowledgment, and logged automatically. No more verbal agreements that turn into billing disputes.
Deposit & Milestone Invoicing
04
Invoices triggered automatically at project milestones (deposit, mid-build, delivery) with payment reminders that run until you're paid.
Referral & Repeat Outreach
05
Post-delivery check-ins, review requests, and referral prompts to your best clients. The people most likely to send you work are clients who loved the last project.
Pipeline & Project Dashboard
06
A live view of active proposals, projects in production, outstanding invoices, and pending change orders, so nothing slips through during a busy build season.
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Custom trades
Custom quotes drafted from your shop notes
Dimensions, materials and photos from the visit become a clear quote draft. You set the price and send it.
Built-in cabinets, custom quote
Cabinet run along the north wall, with a pull-out pantry
Species and finish taken from your shop notes; photos attached
You enter the price
Prepared from shop notes
How it works
Your own AIOS, set up for your shop.
We map your client and project flow, identify where revenue and relationships leak, and build AI automations that run quietly in the background.
Your Scorecard
01 · FREE SCORECARD CALL
On a free 30-minute call, we map your full client journey (proposals, build updates, invoicing, change orders, referrals) and send you a scorecard within 24 hours of our call showing exactly where your business leaks.
Set up with your team
02 · BUILD IT WITH YOU
We build your client communication and project ops systems, connect them to the tools you already use, and test every touchpoint before go-live. Your first workflows go live at setup, and the rest switch on over your first 90 days.
We keep it working
03 · RUN
Your AI systems run in the background: following up on proposals, sending build updates, routing invoices, logging change orders. We monitor and keep improving what's working.
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Questions, answered.
What AI systems do you build for custom trade businesses?
We build proposal follow-up sequences, build progress update systems, change order documentation workflows, deposit and milestone invoicing, referral and repeat client outreach, and a pipeline and project dashboard.
How do you handle long sales cycles for custom work?
We build automated touchpoints that go out at week 1, 2, and 4 after a proposal (keeping your name in front of the client through a long decision window without feeling pushy. Most custom shops close significantly more proposals with structured follow-up.
What is the free AI strategy call for custom trades businesses?
It's a free 30-minute call where we map your client and project flow, identify where revenue leaks, and send you a custom AI Scorecard within 24 hours of our call) no pitch, no prep needed.
Start here
Find out where your shop leaks.
Book a free 30-minute AI strategy call. We map your client and project flow live and you get a custom AI Scorecard within 24 hours of our call: a clear picture of where you're losing revenue and what to fix first. A free 30-minute conversation, followed by a personalized written scorecard within 24 hours of the call. Keep the recommendations whether or not you work with SierraWorks.
Start free today→Free · Yours to keep · No obligation