If you're searching for a MoreJobCalls review, you probably want to hear from a builder, not from me. Fair. So this page is mostly Jonathan talking. I'll add context where it helps, and I'll keep the numbers exactly as he said them.
Jonathan builds decks in eastern North Carolina. When we started, he was still working a full-time job and running his deck business on the side. He'd been burned by the usual places before. His biggest worry going in wasn't whether marketing works in general. It was timing: "If I'm giving up a guaranteed paycheck, I got to make sure that I've got that consistent work."
What He Tried Before
Every deck builder I talk to has the same story about bought leads. Jonathan's version was as clean as any I've heard:
"I've pulled leads from Facebook. I've pulled leads from Angie. I've pulled leads from Thumbtack. I've pulled leads from all sorts of different places, and they all seem to be the same. It's all, oh, I want a deck, but I don't want to pay that price. Or I have the money to do this, but I'm not ready to move forward yet. You know, I'll call you back in six months."
That's the trap. Either the homeowner can't afford it, or they can afford it and want to talk again next spring. Neither one fills a schedule this month. And when you're only seeing a few people, every bid feels like it has to win, so you price low. Jonathan said it himself: "Before, I was only seeing three, maybe four people a month," and he priced "pretty low just to try to stay competitive."
If that sounds familiar, I wrote up every Angi alternative a deck builder actually has, compared on exclusivity and cost per sat appointment.
The First Month, In His Words
Here's what changed once the MoreJobCalls System™ started putting exclusive sales appointments on his calendar. Two different time frames are in this table, so read the second column carefully:
| What he reported | When | Before |
|---|---|---|
| Appointments booked | 9 in the first week of going live | "Three, maybe four people a month" |
| Appointments he ran himself, and sold | Ran 8, sold 6 (running total at the check-in, just under four weeks in) | Bought leads that "all seem to be the same" |
| Price | $8 to $9 a square foot higher than he usually sells at, "and they're biting right away" | Priced low to stay competitive |
| Day job | Gave six weeks' notice after three sales in a row | Worried about giving up a guaranteed paycheck |
To be clear about the timeline: the nine appointments were week one. The eight run and six sold is everything he'd personally run by the time we talked. A few other appointments in that stretch went to sales reps he'd hired. More on them in a second.
How fast it hit surprised him. "I didn't really have any preset expectation there, but I was very pleased with how quick it hit." And the quality of the people surprised him more: "I was not expecting to run into people that have money and are ready to go."
Why the Appointments Felt Different
I asked him what was actually different about the people showing up. His answer was intent:
"Specifically with the people that are coming in through this system, the quality of the leads are so much better. The intent of most of them, not all of them, but the intent of most of them is very high. A lot of them are looking to move quickly... I really don't have to try as hard to sell it."
Notice he said "not all of them." I like that. Nobody gets a calendar full of perfect buyers, and a review that claims otherwise should make you suspicious.
Then he described what a good appointment looks like now: "We might have talked about their deck for 10 minutes. The rest of the time, I just sat there and we just had a conversation, and they wrote me a check before I left. I mean, it was super simple, like very stress-free appointment." He said that's how most of them have been.
One of the six was a labor-only job at the beach, the market he most wants to grow into: "It's still a $20,000 job, labor-only. It's about 1,800 square feet at the beach." That homeowner was impressed enough with how Jonathan ran the appointment that he connected him with two home builders who want to work with him, "just based off of our face-to-face conversation."
Raising His Price
This is the part I'd want every deck builder to hear. Jonathan didn't raise his price because I told him to. He raised it because he had options:
"I started them out eight, nine dollars higher than what I usually sell at per square foot, and they're biting right away."
When I asked what gave him the confidence, he said "the intent, mostly," plus the volume. "I don't have to eat a potential two or three grand on this one just to fill the schedule, because I've got three more appointments today." And: "Knowing that I've got so many opportunities to make the sale, I don't feel so hard pressed to undercut myself."
That's the real value of a full calendar. It's not just more jobs. It's the freedom to quote your real number and let the wrong buyer walk. On a deck, a few dollars a square foot is often the difference between a job that pays you and a job that pays your crew.
The Sales Reps Who Quit (And the Follow-Up That Didn't)
Not everything went smoothly, and he didn't pretend it did. Since we kicked off, he'd hired and trained three sales reps, and all three left. One ran most of the appointments for two weeks and quit before following up with anyone.
So Jonathan called that rep's appointments himself. "I've already followed up with two of his appointments and sold both of them." His advice to the rep, which is good advice for anybody: "Some of these people you met with a week ago, go ahead and call them, see if they've made a decision."
We get the appointments onto the calendar. What happens after the first visit still matters, and most unsold quotes aren't dead. They're just unfollowed. If you want the playbook, speed to lead for deck builders covers the response-time side of it.
Three in a Row, Then Notice at the Day Job
I asked what made him decide to give notice. "I sold three appointments in a row... after that third one I was like, I'm gonna be good." He thought: "If I could have one of these a week, I'll be all right."
He gave six weeks' notice, not two, and he's still collecting that paycheck while he builds the pipeline. He told me he's nervous, "but I definitely think I made the right choice at the right time." And what he's looking forward to isn't the money first. "I'm more excited about the time I'm going to get back than the money that I'll be able to make."
What I'd Take From This Call
If you build decks and you're weighing a marketing partner, here's what Jonathan's first month points to:
- Judge the source by intent, not volume. His old lead sources gave him names. The difference here was people who could afford the job and wanted it built soon.
- Go to the appointments yourself first. He ran eight and sold six. Until a rep proves they can follow up, the owner is usually the best closer in the company.
- Follow up on every quote. Two of the rep's abandoned appointments turned into sales with one phone call each.
- Let the calendar set your price. When you've got three more appointments today, you don't have to give away two or three grand to win this one.
- Don't drag out the decision. His words: "Go ahead and pull the trigger on it. Don't wait three weeks and have three meetings before pulling the trigger."
His Review, Verbatim
"It works. It works. I'm impressed. I've worked with a lot of people trying to market this thing. And by far, your system has knocked everybody else's out of the park."
And at the end of the call: "If I come across anybody, man, absolutely, you've got my recommendation. I've been more than pleased. You've kept me very busy."
The appointments are the part I put my money behind: 100 exclusive appointment opportunities in 100 days, or you get paid three ways: a 100% refund, a $2,000 check from us, and we keep working for free until we hit 100, in writing. It goes to good-fit partners only, which is why there's an application and a strategy call. You can see everything we run for deck companies on the deck builder marketing page.