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Compass & Coin · Process Improvement & AutomationCase Study

Proof, not promises

Watertight Masonry: Process Improvement and Automation on the Back Office

Real proof, not a pitch: ask the owner, Tim, how his automated back office turned leads into customers, customers into operations, and operations execution into cash.

10–15

emails/day — plus 5–10 texts/day

$0

per week for spam & admin messages

$0.10

per week for an active customer thread

$0.50

per week for a new opportunity

Cost scales with what a message actually needs — routine noise costs nothing, a live opportunity gets the most attention.

Built for any tradeMasonryRoofingConcreteLandscaping & SnowHVACPlumbingElectricalPainting & SidingRemodeling

The real deployment

One owner. No office staff. Leads from every direction.

Before Watertight Masonry ran CASPER, the owner, Tim, was running everything through QuickBooks himself, by hand, roughly 50 hours a week. His only help was one part-time bookkeeper, working under 10 hours a week.

Problem

The owner was on the job site. Calls came in from a scaffold. Customers texted every hour. Estimates and invoices got written at 10 PM, on nights and weekends, after the real work was done.

Solution

  • CASPER answers, sorts, and files every message.
  • CASPER texts and emails new leads for the five core elements — name, address, phone, email, job type.
  • CASPER built the scheduling system and a milestone process, and monitors and sends billing reminders.
CUSTOMER REACHES OUTPhone callTextEmailWeb formCASPERReads it. Sorts it.Replies. Files it.WORK GETS DONECustomer fileQuickBooksJob scheduleOwner summary
Every channel gets logged in a Master Customer Database. Nothing relies on memory — phone calls can be recorded and logged too.
1

Never miss a lead

Problem

Leads call while you’re on a roof. By tomorrow, they’ve called someone else.

Solution

  • CASPER replies in minutes — nights and weekends included.
  • Collects name, address, email, phone, and job type.
  • Creates the customer in QuickBooks and Google Contacts.
New lead · Tuesday 8:02 PMNeed my chimney looked at.Are you taking new work?Thanks for reaching out! Yes.What’s your street addressand email? (8:04 PM)123 Main St, Waukesha. me@...Got it! The owner will call youFriday to set up your estimate.Lead capturedName and phoneStreet addressEmailJob type: chimney repairAdded to QuickBooks + Google Contacts+ Master Customer Database
Example conversation — names and details are illustrative. CASPER texts and emails like your office admin, not a robot.
2

One file per customer

Problem

Customer history is spread across your phone, inbox, and truck dashboard.

Solution

  • Files every call, text, and email to the right customer.
  • Attaches key dates of estimates, invoices, and customer responses.
  • Open one customer, see the whole story.
TextsEmailsEstimatesInvoicesJ. Sample · TuckpointingON TRACK09/24Text: “When can you start?” → added to schedule09/10Email: photos of wall received and saved08/31Estimate #1042 approved ($4,000)08/28New lead from voicemail, details collectedButtons: Email customer · Open QuickBooks · Text customer
Illustrative customer card. Newest activity on top, logged without anyone typing it in.
3

Schedule changes in three clicks

Problem

One rain day means a dozen phone calls to push every job back.

Solution

  • Shows every job on one calendar, with the weather.
  • Move one job and the jobs behind it shift too.
  • Notify the customer of the new date in 3 clicks.
MonTueWedThuFriMonRain dayPatio jobChimney jobWall jobshifts automatically123Pick jobConfirm dateSendCustomer notified
Dashed box = old date. Solid box = new date. The customer hears about it before they have to ask.
4

Follow-up on autopilot

Problem

Estimates go cold. Invoices go past due. Nobody has time to chase.

Solution

  • Answers right away, on the customer’s channel.
  • Sends a friendly nudge at 24 hours if there’s no reply.
  • Alerts the owner at 48 hours. Flags overdue invoices.
NowReply sentsame channel24 hoursFriendly nudgeif no answer48 hoursOwner alertyou decide next stepSame clock for unpaid invoices: overdue ones get flagged on the Unpaid list every morning.
Same clock applies to unpaid invoices: overdue ones get flagged on the Unpaid list every morning. No customer goes quiet long enough to lose the job, or the payment.
5

Checks itself every day

Problem

Most automations break quietly. You find out months later.

Solution

  • Runs a daily health check on every moving part.
  • Sends the owner one short pass/fail report.
  • Logs every fix, so the same problem stays fixed.
Daily Health Check · 6:00 AMEmail sortingText repliesQuickBooks syncJob scheduleFollow-up clockPASSREVIEWPASSPASSPASSFlagged +fixed
Illustrative report. Silence is treated as a warning, not as “all good.” Anything flagged gets fixed and logged the same day.
6

Costs less than a phone call

Problem

Office help is expensive. Most “AI tools” charge per seat and per message, whether you need the thinking or not.

Solution

  • Routine work runs on simple, low-cost rules.
  • Paid AI reasoning is used only when judgment is actually needed.

Illustrative — Cost Per Judgment

Simple judgment (local model)$0
Complex judgment (smart model, follows your rules)$0.10 – $0.25
Daily health check (full system audit)$0.17 – $0.23 / day

Actual cost depends on your message volume and the tools you already pay for.

Estimated Monthly Cost & Savings — Illustrative

CASPER runtime (Claude Pro plan)$20 / mo
Time saved on lead capture alone~10 hrs / mo
Lost opportunities recovered (~2/mo)$6,000 – $12,000 / mo

Figures are illustrative based on Watertight Masonry’s volumes and should be updated to current actuals before being quoted to a prospect.

Real example — CASPER caught a hosting cost creep. Watertight’s Squarespace hosting had quietly crept up 50% before anyone noticed. CASPER flagged it, and the site was rebuilt on Cloudflare + Astro — running on the same $20/month Claude Pro plan, with $0/month hosting and roughly an $11 one-time setup fee. Tim now saves about 30 hours a year in manual website maintenance, plus hundreds of dollars a month in hosting fees. It’s all handled by CASPER now.

Systems Watertight already owned

Nothing new to buy

CASPER was built on top of the tools Watertight already had:

QuickBooks OnlineGmailGoogle VoiceGoogle ContactsGoogle DriveYour phone
1Walk-throughWe map how workflows today2ConnectHook up your email,phone, QuickBooks3Test runCASPER drafts,you approve4Go liveCheck-ins + customtools fill any gaps
You stay in control. Nothing goes to a customer until you trust it.

Talk to the owner

This isn’t a demo environment

Watertight Masonry runs on CASPER every day, and Tim will tell you plainly what worked, what didn’t, and what he’d do differently.

Respectfully,

Tim Kempen

Principal, Compass & Coin
Owner, Watertight Masonry LLC

See CASPER run on a real job file.

A 20-minute demo at your shop or ours. Bring one messy week of calls and texts, and we’ll show you what CASPER would have done with it.

Serving Waukesha, Milwaukee, Washington, Ozaukee, Jefferson, Racine, Kenosha, and Walworth counties.

🔒 No software pitch. No spam. Direct call with James Kempen.

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Schedule a Free Process Review

60–90 minutes on the phone with James Kempen. We’ll pinpoint exactly where time and revenue are leaking in your operation.

🔒 No software pitch. No spam. Direct call with James Kempen.