Missed calls are missed jobs. The LA&M Front Desk is an automated receptionist that answers the calls your team can't get to, day or night, in your business's name. It asks what the caller needs, books the appointment on your calendar, alerts you right away when something is urgent, and sends you a recap of every call. Jarrett sets it up for your trade, so there is no software for you to learn, and it is billed through Local Advertising & Marketing like everything else.
That number is our own front desk, running the same setup you would get. To hear it handle a call for a business like yours, say "demo for" plus your trade, like "demo for heating and air." The full front desk needs an active website; if you do not have one, Front Desk + Website includes it.
Best for
HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other home-service trades
Service businesses that miss calls while the crew is on a job
Offices that close at 5 but still get calls at night
Owners who want every caller's details without phone tag
Businesses anywhere in the U.S., not only the Black Hills
What is included
The full automated front desk toolkit
Answers 24/7, including nights, weekends, and holidays
Uses your business name, services, hours, and service area
Books appointments and estimates on your calendar
Urgent calls: an immediate alert with the caller's details, or a transfer to your cell
A recap of every call by email, plus a weekly summary
Missed-call text-back once carrier texting registration is approved (we handle the registration)
Replies to texts, website chat, and inquiry emails from the same approved answers (texting after carrier registration)
You keep your number: unanswered calls forward to your front desk
Set up and tuned for your trade by Jarrett, with no software for you to learn
Built your way: you choose what it asks callers, which jobs it books or turns away, what counts as urgent, which prices it can give, and what it never says. Add or drop anything anytime
$297/month, no setup fee, no contract. Phone and text usage is usually $5 to $50 a month. Usage only rises when more calls and texts come in
Requires an active website: website chat runs on it, and carriers require its privacy and terms pages before business texting is approved. No website? Front Desk + Website is $397/month: everything above plus a website of up to 5 pages with your services, service area, and hours, a contact form, and the privacy and terms pages
Just need a website? Website is $97/month: up to 5 pages, no build fee, with hosting, your domain, and basic updates included. Add the front desk anytime
Want ads that bring the calls in too? Front Desk + Website with Google search ads is $2,500/month, or with Google search plus Facebook and Instagram ads $5,000/month. Advertising plans have a 3-month minimum
Try it for your trade
See it answer for a business like yours
Chat with a sample company in your trade, or call the demo line. 11 trade demos:
Both Front Desk plans include the automated answering. Phone and text usage is usually $5 to $50 a month, paid from a small prepaid balance on your card. Usage only rises when more calls and texts come in. The Website plan has no usage charges. Checkout is secure through Stripe, and your account is set up as soon as you pay. Questions first? Ask us or call (605) 600-7292.
Add advertising
Front Desk + Advertising
Bring in new customers and answer every one of them, all on one monthly bill. Pick a ready-made lead generation bundle, or have us build a custom plan around your full advertising budget.
Excellent for lead generation
Be found when they search
Front Desk + Website + Search Ads
$2,500/month
3-month minimum. No setup fee.
$397 covers your automated front desk and website. The other $2,103 a month goes entirely to your Google search ad campaign: the ads themselves and managing them. No separate management fee.
Everything in Front Desk + Website
Google search ads in your service area, for the services you want more of
Calls from the ads that you cannot pick up are answered by your automated front desk
Campaign setup, ad writing, and ongoing management included
$397 covers your automated front desk and website. The other $4,603 a month goes entirely to your Google search and Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns: the ads themselves and managing them, split between the two in your marketing plan. No separate management fee.
Everything in Front Desk + Website
Google search ads and Facebook and Instagram ads, run together
The split between search and social is set in your marketing plan and adjusted as results come in
Campaign setup, ad creation, and ongoing management included
Tell us your overall advertising budget. Your front desk (and a website, if you need one) comes first, and the rest goes to a managed media plan across the channels that fit your goals. No separate management fee.
Your automated front desk, plus a website if you need one
A media plan built from your total ad budget: search, social, streaming TV, display, geofencing, and local radio where available
Your whole budget and every channel managed in one place, on one monthly bill
The two lead generation bundles are billed monthly with a 3-month minimum, and you agree to our terms at checkout. Custom plans are quoted after a free planning call, and their terms are set in your written plan. Ads start after we set up your ad accounts and you approve the ads. Ad platforms set their own rules, and no one can guarantee results from advertising. Questions? Call (605) 600-7292.
Want to know if automated front desk is the right fit for your business?
Yes. Call (605) 600-7292. That is our own front desk. Say "demo for" plus your trade, like "demo for heating and air," and it will show you how it would handle a call for a business like yours. Demo calls never book anything.
Does it only work for one kind of business?
No. It is set up around your business: your trade, services, hours, service area, and the questions your callers actually ask. Home-service trades like HVAC and plumbing are the most common fit because so many of their calls come in while the crew is on a job.
Can I choose what it says and does?
Yes, all of it. You decide which services it books and which it politely turns away, the questions it asks callers, what counts as an emergency, whether urgent calls ring your cell or just get flagged, which prices it can give (or none), and anything it should never say. Want something added or dropped later? Email or call Jarrett and it gets changed.
Do I have to change my phone number?
No. You forward unanswered or busy calls to your front desk number, so your customers keep calling the number they already have.
Will callers know it is automated?
It sounds natural, and it tells callers it is an automated assistant if they ask. It never pretends to be a person.
What if it is a real emergency?
It collects the details and alerts you right away, or transfers the call to your cell if you choose.
Can it quote prices?
Only prices you give us in writing, such as a diagnostic fee. It will not quote prices you have not approved, and it will not promise arrival times. Otherwise it books the visit.
How long does setup take?
Call answering is usually live within a few business days of receiving your setup details. Text messaging depends on carrier registration, which can take days to weeks. We handle that paperwork.
Do I need a website?
Yes, for the full front desk. Website chat runs on your website, and carriers only approve business texting when your website has privacy and terms pages and a form where customers agree to receive texts. If you already have an active website, the Front Desk plan is $297/month and we tell you exactly what to add (usually a privacy page, a terms page, and the chat snippet). If you do not have one, choose Front Desk + Website at $397/month, which includes a website of up to 5 pages built for you.
What if I do not have a website?
The full front desk needs an active website, so choose Front Desk + Website at $397/month. You get everything in the front desk plan plus a website of up to 5 pages built for you, with no build fee: your services, service area, hours, a click-to-call button that rings your front desk, and a contact form. It also includes the privacy and terms pages that carriers require before a business can send texts. Hosting and basic updates are included, and the domain is registered in your name, so it stays yours.
Can I get just a website?
Yes. Website is $97/month with no build fee and no contract, and it covers everything: a website of up to 5 pages, hosting, your domain registered in your name, and basic updates. You can add the front desk anytime, which moves you to the $397 plan. See website plans.
What does it cost?
$297/month with no setup fee and no contract, or $397/month with a website of up to 5 pages included. The automated answering is included in both. A website on its own, without the front desk, is $97/month. Phone and text usage is usually $5 to $50 a month, paid from a small prepaid balance on your card. Usage only goes up when more calls and texts come in.
Does it answer texts, website chat, and email too?
Yes. The same assistant answers texts, chat on your website, and inquiry emails, using the same approved answers as the phone. For email, you forward your inquiry address (like info@) to your front desk inbox. Texting starts once carrier registration is approved.
Can you also run ads that bring in the calls?
Yes. Front Desk + Website + Search Ads is $2,500/month and adds Google search ads in your service area. Front Desk + Website + Search & Meta Ads is $5,000/month and adds Facebook and Instagram ads on top of search. In each bundle, $397 covers the front desk and website, and the rest goes entirely to your ad campaign, the ads themselves and managing them, with no separate management fee ($2,103 a month on the Search plan, $4,603 on Search & Meta). Campaign setup and the ads are included, and calls from the ads that you cannot pick up are answered by your front desk. Advertising plans have a 3-month minimum, then continue month to month. Want to put your whole advertising budget in one place? The Custom Media Plan + Front Desk builds a multi-channel plan around your total budget, with a website included if you need one; it is quoted after a free planning call. See the plans.
Can I cancel?
Anytime, by email, on the Front Desk and Website plans. Advertising plans have a 3-month minimum, and after that you can cancel anytime. We remove the forwarding instructions and hand back your call records. On the website plans, the website comes down when the service ends.
Does it work with my scheduling software?
It books into a connected calendar. Other software integrations are scoped case by case.
Pillar 1 · Advertising is an asset
Advertising is an investment, not just an expense.
The IRS treats advertising as an ordinary and necessary business expense under Internal Revenue Code §162 — meaning it is 100% deductible in the year you spend it (per Publication 535). Unlike trucks, equipment, or furniture, you do not depreciate it over five or seven years. Every advertising dollar reduces your taxable income the same year.
Tax-favored capital deployment. A $10,000 truck depreciates over 5+ years. $10,000 in advertising deducts in full this year. After tax, every $1,000 of ad spend effectively costs $700–$750 in most brackets.
Builds brand equity over time. The audience you reach this quarter is still in your retargeting pool next year. Brand recognition compounds. Cost per acquisition typically falls in year 2+ as the audience warms.
Recorded as goodwill at sale. When a business is acquired, the brand premium is recognized as a real intangible asset (§197). The value was always there — selling the business just makes it visible on the balance sheet.
Pausing has a long tail. Businesses that stop advertising "for one quarter to save money" usually see results lag 2–3 quarters afterward — not from the pause itself, but from the equity that bled out during it.
Putting an entire ad budget on one platform is the marketing equivalent of putting an entire 401(k) into one stock — it might work, but it is exposed. A diversified mix across complementary channels reaches more of your audience, hits the 5–7 exposure threshold consumers need before they act, and protects against single-platform risk.
No single channel reaches everyone. Facebook, Google, radio, CTV — each touches a different slice of your market at different times of day. A diversified mix covers more of the day, more devices, and more decision contexts.
Effective frequency without burnout. Stacking radio + audio + search + retargeting + geofence delivers 6–8 weekly touches across fresh contexts — without one channel becoming repetitive enough to annoy.
Channels compound each other. Radio raises branded search volume — making Google Ads cheaper. Display retargeting converts better on audio-warmed audiences. Geofencing converts better when followed by search. The portfolio is worth more than the sum of its channels.
Platform-risk reduction. Algorithm shifts, ad-account flags, CPM spikes, policy changes — any of these can cut a single-channel program off overnight. Diversification means a bad month on one platform is tolerable, not a crisis.
Full-funnel coverage. Every channel does a different job: brand-equity (radio, streaming audio, CTV), audience-building (geo, social, display), and conversion (search, retargeting, email). A real plan funds all three layers.
