iMessage for junk removal and hauling

Junk removal is one of the purest photo-to-price businesses there is. The customer has a pile of stuff, you have a truck priced by volume, and the only question is how much of the truck the pile fills. Everything about the messaging follows from that.

Two messages to a booked job

export const quote = {
  askForPhotos: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: send a couple of photos of the pile — stand back so we ` +
    `can see the whole lot. If it's in a basement or upstairs, say so, ` +
    `that changes the labour.`,
 
  priced: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: that's about ${c.fraction} of a truck — ${c.price}, ` +
    `all in, including disposal fees. We could be there ${c.slot}. ` +
    `Reply BOOK and it's yours.`,
 
  // The line that prevents the driveway argument.
  caveat: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: that's based on the photos. If there's more than we can ` +
    `see, the crew will re-quote before loading anything — ` +
    `you'll never get a surprise on the invoice.`,
};

Speed is the differentiator

Junk removal enquiries are almost always same-day or next-day intent — someone is clearing a house, a tenant has left a mess, a renovation is blocked. Whoever answers first usually wins, which makes this a textbook speed to lead business.

Messages to a booked job

2Messages to a booked job

Photo set doing the selling

1Photo set doing the selling

What most enquiries want

Same dayWhat most enquiries want

Reply usually wins the job

FirstReply usually wins the job

What you cannot take, said early

Every hauler has a prohibited list — paint, chemicals, tyres, asbestos, some electronics. Discovering it in the driveway wastes everyone's morning. Put it in the quote message, not on a page nobody reads.

export const exclusions = {
  upfront: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: one thing — we can't take ${c.prohibitedShort}. ` +
    `If any of that's in the pile, tell me now and I'll point you at ` +
    `somewhere that can: ${c.link}`,
 
  found: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: crew found ${c.item}, which we're not licensed for. ` +
    `We've left it and taken the rest — price adjusted to ${c.newPrice}. ` +
    `${c.disposalAdvice}`,
};

Landlords and agents are the repeat business

One-off domestic clearances do not repeat. Letting agents, landlords and property managers clear a property every time a tenancy ends, which makes them worth a different relationship — a saved thread, a known price list, and a standing 'send me a photo and I'll book it' arrangement.

That overlaps directly with property management, where turnaround speed between tenancies is the thing being bought.