A PROPOSAL FOR
Meridian Clean
A discovery-first engagement to build same-day quoting and recover supervisor QA from paper.
Prepared by
Connor O'Brien · Colby
connor@getcolby.com
Where the work breaks down
Quoting and QA are the two bottlenecks the team feels every week.
Site walkthroughs price well, but the lag from walk to email is killing the smaller end of the book. QA inspections are still on paper and a quarter of them never reach ops.
From the interviewWe lose the small ones. By the time the quote lands, they've already picked someone.
- 01
Quote turnaround 6.4 days · 31% of leads go cold before reply.
- 02
Supervisor QA logged on paper · 22% never reach ops.
- 03
Recurring contract churn concentrated in months 4–7.
02 · APPROACHCommercial construction · GCThree weeks, then build
Embed, prioritize, ship. Same team end-to-end.
We work inside the business, not over the top of it. Week three ends in a readout with a build plan per item, then we ship, one scoped build at a time.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Interviews, audit, baseline metrics.
- Estimator + PM ride-along
- Procore + Sage tap
- Bid win-rate baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Payoff × effort
- Risk lens
- Owner committed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded squad, daily demos, daily updates.
- Estimating assistant on prior bids
- Change-order capture in field
- Hand-off + maintenance plan
What we'd build first
Two bets, each scoped and priced on its own.
Selected against payoff, effort, risk, and the team's own ranking. Two more held for the backlog with rationale.
B-01build
Denial triage + appeal-letter drafting
14-day rework backlog. 8% of claims aged past appeal window, direct revenue at risk.
Lens · Payoff
B-02build
Client-facing live reporting portal
Four clients churned over visibility. Reporting takes 3 days/month today.
Lens · Retention
B-03backlog
Coder throughput dashboard
Useful but compounds after the two builds above land.
Lens · Operations
Where the work breaks down
Intake is the gate, and it's leaking.
Inbound leads land in three inboxes, get triaged once a day, and lose 18% before the first call. The lawyers do not need a CRM. They need triage that does not sleep.
From the interviewEvery Monday we find ten leads from Friday no one called yet.
- 01
Intake response 9.4 hours median · industry benchmark 11 minutes.
- 02
Three intake inboxes · zero shared triage signal.
- 03
18% of qualified leads churn before first contact.
02 · APPROACHResidential landscaping · $11MThree weeks, then build
Discovery → prioritize → ship. No big-bang reveal.
Same crew from kickoff to handoff. Demos every day so the team can change their mind cheaply.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Ride-alongs, audit, baseline metrics.
- Foreman + dispatcher shadow
- Quickbooks + ServiceTitan tap
- Route density baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Crew-time ROI
- Customer-visible
- Owner signed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded build squad. Daily demos.
- Quote-from-photo for residential
- Crew route optimizer
- Owner dashboard handoff
What we'd build first
Two builds, each scoped and priced on its own.
Ranked on payoff, effort, risk, and the branch managers' own vote. Two more parked in the backlog with the reasoning written down.
B-01build
Timesheet reconciliation across worker and client records
Friday close runs 6 hours. 1 in 9 placements has an hour mismatch that eats margin.
Lens · Payoff
B-02build
Redeploy alerts when an assignment ends
Workers sit idle 4 to 6 days between placements. Faster redeploy lifts billable hours.
Lens · Utilization
B-03backlog
Client-facing fill-rate dashboard
Strong retention play that compounds once the two builds above land.
Lens · Retention
Three weeks, then build
Discovery, prioritize, ship. Same crew start to finish.
We sit inside dispatch for two weeks before we propose anything. Week three closes with a ranked build plan, then we ship one scoped build at a time.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Dispatch shadow, intake audit, baseline metrics.
- Coordinator + tech ride-along
- Email + text intake tap
- SLA-breach baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Payoff × effort
- Risk lens
- Owner committed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded squad, daily demos.
- Work-order routing by trade
- SLA clock with escalation
- Monthly property report
A PROPOSAL FOR
Atlas Mechanical
A discovery-first engagement to cut dispatch drive time and capture change orders in the field.
Prepared by
Connor O'Brien · Colby
connor@getcolby.com
Where the work breaks down
Route reschedules and renewal lapses leak revenue every month.
Cancellations get rebooked by phone and sticky note, so techs run light days and heavy days in the same week. Annual renewals lapse because no one owns the 60-day reminder.
From the interviewWe found 40 accounts past renewal that nobody had called.
- 01
Route density swings 30% week to week · no rebooking logic.
- 02
Renewal reminders live in one manager's head.
- 03
12% of recurring accounts lapse before anyone notices.
A PROPOSAL FOR
Meridian Clean
A discovery-first engagement to build same-day quoting and recover supervisor QA from paper.
Prepared by
Connor O'Brien · Colby
connor@getcolby.com
Where the work breaks down
Quoting and QA are the two bottlenecks the team feels every week.
Site walkthroughs price well, but the lag from walk to email is killing the smaller end of the book. QA inspections are still on paper and a quarter of them never reach ops.
From the interviewWe lose the small ones. By the time the quote lands, they've already picked someone.
- 01
Quote turnaround 6.4 days · 31% of leads go cold before reply.
- 02
Supervisor QA logged on paper · 22% never reach ops.
- 03
Recurring contract churn concentrated in months 4–7.
02 · APPROACHCommercial construction · GCThree weeks, then build
Embed, prioritize, ship. Same team end-to-end.
We work inside the business, not over the top of it. Week three ends in a readout with a build plan per item, then we ship, one scoped build at a time.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Interviews, audit, baseline metrics.
- Estimator + PM ride-along
- Procore + Sage tap
- Bid win-rate baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Payoff × effort
- Risk lens
- Owner committed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded squad, daily demos, daily updates.
- Estimating assistant on prior bids
- Change-order capture in field
- Hand-off + maintenance plan
What we'd build first
Two bets, each scoped and priced on its own.
Selected against payoff, effort, risk, and the team's own ranking. Two more held for the backlog with rationale.
B-01build
Denial triage + appeal-letter drafting
14-day rework backlog. 8% of claims aged past appeal window, direct revenue at risk.
Lens · Payoff
B-02build
Client-facing live reporting portal
Four clients churned over visibility. Reporting takes 3 days/month today.
Lens · Retention
B-03backlog
Coder throughput dashboard
Useful but compounds after the two builds above land.
Lens · Operations
Where the work breaks down
Intake is the gate, and it's leaking.
Inbound leads land in three inboxes, get triaged once a day, and lose 18% before the first call. The lawyers do not need a CRM. They need triage that does not sleep.
From the interviewEvery Monday we find ten leads from Friday no one called yet.
- 01
Intake response 9.4 hours median · industry benchmark 11 minutes.
- 02
Three intake inboxes · zero shared triage signal.
- 03
18% of qualified leads churn before first contact.
02 · APPROACHResidential landscaping · $11MThree weeks, then build
Discovery → prioritize → ship. No big-bang reveal.
Same crew from kickoff to handoff. Demos every day so the team can change their mind cheaply.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Ride-alongs, audit, baseline metrics.
- Foreman + dispatcher shadow
- Quickbooks + ServiceTitan tap
- Route density baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Crew-time ROI
- Customer-visible
- Owner signed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded build squad. Daily demos.
- Quote-from-photo for residential
- Crew route optimizer
- Owner dashboard handoff
What we'd build first
Two builds, each scoped and priced on its own.
Ranked on payoff, effort, risk, and the branch managers' own vote. Two more parked in the backlog with the reasoning written down.
B-01build
Timesheet reconciliation across worker and client records
Friday close runs 6 hours. 1 in 9 placements has an hour mismatch that eats margin.
Lens · Payoff
B-02build
Redeploy alerts when an assignment ends
Workers sit idle 4 to 6 days between placements. Faster redeploy lifts billable hours.
Lens · Utilization
B-03backlog
Client-facing fill-rate dashboard
Strong retention play that compounds once the two builds above land.
Lens · Retention
Three weeks, then build
Discovery, prioritize, ship. Same crew start to finish.
We sit inside dispatch for two weeks before we propose anything. Week three closes with a ranked build plan, then we ship one scoped build at a time.
01Weeks 1–2
Discover
Dispatch shadow, intake audit, baseline metrics.
- Coordinator + tech ride-along
- Email + text intake tap
- SLA-breach baseline
02Week 3
Prioritize
30 ideas → a ranked build plan.
- Payoff × effort
- Risk lens
- Owner committed
03Scoped per build
Build
Embedded squad, daily demos.
- Work-order routing by trade
- SLA clock with escalation
- Monthly property report
A PROPOSAL FOR
Atlas Mechanical
A discovery-first engagement to cut dispatch drive time and capture change orders in the field.
Prepared by
Connor O'Brien · Colby
connor@getcolby.com
Where the work breaks down
Route reschedules and renewal lapses leak revenue every month.
Cancellations get rebooked by phone and sticky note, so techs run light days and heavy days in the same week. Annual renewals lapse because no one owns the 60-day reminder.
From the interviewWe found 40 accounts past renewal that nobody had called.
- 01
Route density swings 30% week to week · no rebooking logic.
- 02
Renewal reminders live in one manager's head.
- 03
12% of recurring accounts lapse before anyone notices.
