Raise the Trades · Indianapolis
Home service growth without the guesswork.
Practical marketing. Better follow-up. AI that actually does useful work.
I help independent HVAC, plumbing, electrical and other home-service contractors grow through smarter marketing, better customer follow-up and practical AI automation. I handle the strategy and the implementation.
Work directly with me, from identifying the problem to putting the fix in place.
The idea behind Raise the Trades
More leads won't fix a business that can't hold the ones it has.
A new lead isn't worth much if the phone goes unanswered, the estimate sits untouched or the customer never hears from you again. I look at the whole picture before recommending where to spend your money.
Ways to work together
Here's what you can hire me to do.
Some contractors need an outside perspective. Others need someone to take the work off their plate. We can start with a focused project or work together over time.
Revenue Engine Audit
A close look at your website, local visibility, leads, call handling, estimates and follow-up. You'll get a prioritized plan for what to fix first.
You get: Clear findings and a practical 90-day action plan.
Talk about an auditMarketing & Growth Management
Ongoing, hands-on help with local marketing, lead conversion, estimate follow-up, reviews, retention and reporting. Strategy and execution, together.
You get: A marketing partner who plans, builds and manages the work.
Explore marketing helpAI & Automation Implementation
Useful tools for missed-call recovery, AI receptionists, estimate follow-up, customer communication and repetitive admin — chosen for your actual workflow.
You get: Working automations, not another software recommendation.
Explore AI for contractorsWhat I work on
The work behind better growth.
From local search to estimate follow-up and repeat business, these are the marketing and customer systems I can improve, build and manage for you.
Acquisition
Get found by the right homeowners
Local search, Google Business Profile, paid demand and marketing strategy built around profitable work.
Conversion
Turn more inquiries into booked jobs
Improve missed-call recovery, speed-to-lead, booking and follow-up before the homeowner calls someone else.
Estimates
Close more of the work you've already quoted
Build consistent estimate follow-up so good jobs don't disappear because everyone got busy.
Retention
Bring more customers back
Reviews, referrals, maintenance, reactivation and repeat-business systems that make each customer more valuable.
Automation
Stop relying on someone to remember
Turn repeatable work into repeatable process so leads, customers and follow-up don't fall through the cracks.
AI
Put AI to work where it earns its keep
Call handling, follow-up, communication and repetitive admin — when AI can do the job faster or cheaper without making the experience worse.
The Ten Leaks™
Revenue can disappear at every step.
From the first search to the next referral, there are ten places where opportunity commonly gets lost.
Found
The right homeowners never discover your company.
Called
They call. Nobody answers. They call the next name.
Booked
An inquiry never becomes an appointment.
Quoted
Too much time passes between the visit and the number.
Closed
The quote goes out. Nothing consistently chases it.
Served
Good work gets undermined by a sloppy experience.
Paid
Billing and collection take longer than they should.
Reviewed
Happy customers disappear without leaving public proof.
Referred
Great customers would recommend you. Nobody asks.
Rebooked
Past customers go cold while competitors keep marketing.
home services
Why Raise the Trades
I've spent 15+ years on both sides of the home-services business.
I'm Elizabeth Northern. I spent nearly a decade at Angie's List and Angi, helping build the marketing and customer acquisition systems that connected homeowners with contractors. I've spent my career working on what happens before, during, and after a customer reaches out.
My family also built and sold an HVAC company. I've seen home services from both sides of the lead: the company generating it and the contractor paying for it.
I know the difference between a lead on a dashboard and a job that actually puts money in a contractor's pocket.
“Contractors don't need another marketing report telling them how many people clicked an ad. They need to know how many jobs they booked, what those jobs were worth, and whether the marketing made them money.”
Elizabeth Northern · Founder, Raise the TradesGet Started
Tell me what's going on in your business.
Missed calls? Estimates going cold? Marketing that isn't producing? Tell me what you're trying to improve, and I'll help you figure out a practical place to start.
Let's TalkNo sales team. No automated pitch. You'll hear directly from Elizabeth.