Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Local Roofer Uses Google Maps to Get Emergency Calls
Transcript
- Lucas: So it's mid-July, which in much of the country means one thing: thunderstorm season. And if you're a roofer in a place like Akron, Ohio, that means the phone should be ringing off the hook—but only if people can actually find you. Luna: Right, because when a tree branch goes through your ceiling at 9 PM, you're not flipping through the Yellow Pages. You're typing 'roofer near me' into Google. Lucas: Exactly. And that 'near me' search is a completely different animal from someone planning a kitchen remodel. The intent is urgent, the timeline is immediate, and the business that shows up first—or most convincingly—gets the call. Luna: So today we're looking at a specific roofer who figured out how to own that moment. What's the case? Lucas: It's a company called Akron Roof Right—small operation, three crews, been around since 2019. Owner's name is Derek. He came to us after a storm in 2023 generated maybe three emergency calls total. He knew he was leaving money on the table. Luna: Three calls from a storm that knocked out power across half the county? That's brutal. Lucas: Brutal but common. Most roofers treat their Google Business Profile like a digital business card—hours, phone number, maybe a few photos. They don't treat it as a live operations tool. Derek decided to change that. Luna: Okay, so what was the first thing he did? Lucas: First thing: he updated his service area. Not just 'Akron' but specific neighborhoods and suburbs. Google allows up to 20 service areas on a profile. He added every township within a 30-minute drive. That immediately widened the net for who would see him in a 'near me' result. Luna: Makes sense. If someone in Cuyahoga Falls searches for a roofer, and his profile only says Akron, Google might not show him. Lucas: Exactly. And this is something a lot of service-area businesses miss. They think 'near me' means their city name. But Google is hyper-local. If you haven't told Google you serve a specific zip code, you're invisible in that search. Luna: So step one is coverage. What's step two? Lucas: Step two was about speed. Derek started posting to his Google Business Profile within hours of a storm hitting. Not a generic 'we offer roofing services' post. Specific, time-stamped content. 'We're in Green Valley right now assessing damage. Call us for a same-day inspection.' With photos of actual storm damage he was already working on. Luna: So he's showing proof of presence and urgency at the same time. That's smart. Lucas: It's the difference between a profile that looks like a museum exhibit and one that looks like a live command center. Google's algorithm rewards recency and relevance. A post from yesterday signals you're active. A post from three months ago? Dead weight. Luna: And the photos—he's using real job-site photos, not stock images? Lucas: All real. Derek carries a good phone and takes clear, well-lit photos of the damage before his crew starts work. He uploads them directly to the profile. Homeowners see a photo of a torn-off shingle on a house that looks like theirs, they think, 'This guy gets it.' Luna: That builds trust faster than any five-star review, honestly. Lucas: Reviews are still important, but for emergency services, the order of operations is: can you help me right now, have you done this before, and then—are you reputable. Reviews answer number three. The posts and photos answer one and two. Luna: And what about the Q&A section? Does he use that? Lucas: He does, and this is where it gets really tactical. Derek monitors the Q&A on his profile. Whenever someone asks a question—even a basic one like 'Do you do flat roofs?'—he answers within an hour. But for emergency scenarios, he goes further. He actually seeds questions himself. Luna: Wait, he posts questions pretending to be a customer? Lucas: He does, and it's perfectly allowed. He'll ask something like 'Can you tarp my roof tonight if there's a leak?' and then answer it as the business: 'Yes, we have a 24/7 emergency crew. Call our number and we'll have someone out within two hours.' That Q&A now lives permanently on his profile for anyone searching during a storm. Luna: That's clever. It's like having a FAQ written from the customer's actual mindset. Lucas: And the key is, the questions reflect real concerns. Not 'What are your business hours?' but 'Do you work with insurance claims?' and 'Can you do a temporary repair if I can't afford the whole roof right now?' Those are the questions that matter at 10 PM when water is dripping into your living room. Luna: So he's basically turning his Google profile into a 24/7 salesperson that answers the top five objections before the customer even calls. Lucas: Exactly. And the results bear that out. After implementing this playbook for the 2024 storm season, Derek went from an average of three emergency calls per storm event to over twenty. His total revenue from emergency repairs alone jumped about 300 percent year-over-year. Luna: Three hundred percent—that's not incremental. That's a business transformation. Lucas: It is. And the investment was his time. No ad spend. No fancy software. Just a disciplined approach to keeping his Google profile live and relevant. Luna: I think the part that's most impressive is the speed. Most business owners treat their Google profile like a set-it-and-forget-it thing. Derek treats it like a news feed. Lucas: And that's the mindset shift that matters. If you run a business that gets called in moments of crisis—plumber, electrician, locksmith, tree service, even a tow truck company—your Google profile should reflect the urgency of the moment, not the comfort of your office. Luna: So what would you say to the skeptic who thinks, 'I don't have time to post photos during a storm, I'm too busy working'? Lucas: I'd say: you don't have to do it yourself. Derek's wife handles the profile. She's at home with the kids, and when a storm hits, he texts her two photos and a sentence. She posts it in under two minutes. That's it. Luna: So it's about having a system, not necessarily doing it yourself. Lucas: Right. And honestly, if these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used—maybe you've tweaked your own Google profile based on something we talked about—that's exactly why we do this show. It's ad-free, listener-supported, and the only way that stays true is if people who find value in it toss something in the hat. Luna: Yeah, it's the smallest thing. If today felt worth a coffee to you, that's the link: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: And we mean it. No tiers, no perks, no guilt. Just a way to keep these conversations coming without sponsors calling the shots. Luna: Alright. Back to the roofer. So the posts and Q&A are the main drivers, but what about reviews? Where do they fit in the emergency scenario? Lucas: Reviews matter, but they're not the first thing a panicked homeowner looks at. That said, Derek did start asking every emergency customer to leave a review mentioning the speed of response. Phrases like 'same-day service' and 'arrived within an hour' get baked into his review profile, which helps his ranking for future emergency searches. Luna: So he's using the reviews to reinforce the same urgency message. Lucas: Exactly. And it compounds. More reviews with those keywords, higher ranking for those keywords, more calls. It's a flywheel. Luna: Let's talk about Google's algorithm for a second. How much does proximity matter versus recency in an emergency search? Lucas: Both matter, but recency gets the edge in a storm scenario. Google knows that a business that posted an hour ago is more likely to be open and available than one that hasn't posted in a month. So if Derek posts at 8 PM, he's going to outrank a competitor who hasn't touched their profile in weeks, even if that competitor is physically closer. Luna: That's a big incentive to stay active. Lucas: Huge. And it's not just about posting. It's about responding to reviews, answering Q&A, even updating your profile photo. Every signal of activity tells Google, 'This business is alive.' Luna: So what's one thing a local business owner could do today to start moving in this direction? Lucas: Open your Google Business Profile and check your service areas. Are they as specific as they could be? Add every neighborhood and zip code you realistically serve. That's a 10-minute task that immediately improves your visibility. Luna: And if you're not a roofer, does this apply to you? Lucas: Absolutely. Any business that gets called for urgent, time-sensitive needs. Plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, tow trucks, pest control, tree services. The playbook is identical: update your service areas, post time-sensitive content, seed your Q&A, and ask for reviews that mention speed. Luna: It's almost like a checklist for dominating the emergency search moment. Lucas: It is. And the beauty is, most competitors aren't doing it. The barrier is not skill—it's discipline. Luna: So Derek's story is proof that a small operation with a smart system can outmaneuver bigger companies that move slowly. Lucas: Exactly. Bigger companies often have more reviews, but they don't have the agility to post a photo at 9 PM on a Tuesday. That's the small business edge. Luna: I love that. One last question: what's the one metric Derek watches most closely now? Lucas: He told me he watches the 'calls' metric in his Google Business Profile insights. Not profile views, not direction requests. Calls. Because a call during a storm is a potential job. Everything else is vanity. Luna: That's a good reminder for all of us. Track what actually pays the bills. Lucas: So if you're listening and you run a service business, take a hard look at your Google profile. Is it working for you when it matters most? Or is it just sitting there? Luna: And if you want to see what a well-optimized profile looks like, search for a roofer in Akron. Derek's profile is essentially a case study. Lucas: We'll link to it in the show notes. For now, the takeaway is: your Google profile is not a business card. It's a live broadcast channel. Use it like one.