TactStack guides
How do I do that in TactStack?
Straight answers to the things owners and office managers actually need to set up: workflows, booking, AI agents, quotes, invoices, reviews, and the move from whatever you are running today. Each guide gives you the short answer first, then the steps.
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Automation
How do I build a workflow in TactStack?A workflow in TactStack is a trigger plus a list of actions. You pick the event that starts it, such as a new lead or a completed job, then stack the steps that should happen automatically: send a text, wait, assign an owner, update the record, notify someone. You test it on yourself, then turn it on.about 12 minIntermediateAutomationHow do I create an AI agent to answer calls and chats?Pick the channel the agent should cover, give it a narrow job, feed it the facts about your business, define what it is allowed to do, and set the handoff rule for anything outside that scope. Then test it with the questions your customers actually ask, and turn it on for after-hours first.about 20 minAdvancedAutomationHow do I train an AI agent on my business?Give the agent your real answers: services, service area, pricing ranges, hours, and the twenty questions customers ask every week. Define what it must never do, test it with your own hardest questions, and review transcripts weekly until the answers sound like you.about 30 minAdvancedAutomationHow do I hand a conversation from an AI agent to a person?Define the triggers that end the agent's turn: frustration, a request for a human, an out-of-scope question, or repeated confusion. On handoff, notify the right person, hand over the full transcript, and stop the agent so the customer is never talking to both.about 15 minIntermediateAutomationHow do I use an AI agent to follow up with leads?Put an agent on the follow-up nobody has time for: the second, third, and fourth touch on leads that went quiet. It answers questions, offers times from your live calendar, and hands warm replies straight to a person while cold ones stay in nurture.about 20 minIntermediateAutomationHow do I review and improve AI conversations?Read a sample of transcripts every week, focused on the ones that escalated, ended without a booking, or ran unusually long. Fix the wrong answer at the source, add the missing question, and track booking rate over time so improvement is measurable.about 15 minIntermediateAutomation
Communication
How do I set up missed call text back?Turn on the automation that fires when a call to your business number goes unanswered. Within seconds the caller receives a text that names your business, apologizes for the miss, and asks one question. Replies land in your shared inbox, and an assistant can carry the conversation until someone is free.about 8 minStarterCommunicationHow do I send a text message campaign in TactStack?Build the list from a filter rather than a spreadsheet, confirm everyone on it has opted in, write one short message with a single ask, send a test to yourself, schedule it inside business hours, and route the replies to a real inbox so somebody answers the people who respond.about 10 minIntermediateCommunicationHow do I automatically ask customers for reviews?Trigger the request from a real completion event, wait a couple of hours, send one short text with a direct link to the profile you want to grow, follow up once by email if there is no response, and route replies so an unhappy customer reaches a person before they reach a public review form.about 10 minStarterCommunicationHow do I get all my customer messages in one inbox in TactStack?Connect your business texts, email, website chat, and social messages to the shared inbox, then assign every conversation an owner. One thread per customer shows calls, texts, and emails in order, so anyone can pick up where the last person left off without asking around.about 15 minStarterCommunicationHow do I add live chat to my website in TactStack?Drop the chat widget on your site, ask for a name and number in the first exchange, and route the conversation into your shared inbox. When nobody is available, an assistant answers common questions and books the appointment so a late-night visitor never leaves empty-handed.about 10 minStarterCommunicationHow do I message customers on the channels they already use?Connect text, email, web chat, and your social messaging accounts so a customer can start anywhere and your team answers from one place. Pick a primary channel per customer, respect their preference, and let automation follow the same channel they chose instead of forcing them onto yours.about 12 minIntermediateCommunication
Phones
How do I route calls to the right person in TactStack?Point your business number at a routing rule instead of a single phone. Ring the front desk first, roll to a second person after a few rings, then fall back to an after-hours path. Every leg is tracked, so a call that nobody answers still creates a record and a follow-up instead of disappearing.about 12 minStarterPhonesHow do I set up a business phone number in TactStack?Add a number in the platform, either a new local one or your existing number ported over, register it for business texting, set your answering hours, then point it at a routing rule. From that point every call and text lands on the customer record instead of a personal phone.about 20 minStarterPhonesHow do I record and review calls in TactStack?Turn on recording for your business number, add the disclosure your state requires, and let every call attach itself to the customer record with a transcript and summary. Then review a handful each week to see where calls stall, who books, and which questions keep coming up.about 10 minStarterPhonesHow do I build a phone menu for callers in TactStack?Create a short greeting with two or three numbered choices, send each choice to the team or assistant that handles it, and always give callers a way to reach a human. Keep it to one level. Every extra menu layer costs you callers who hang up and dial a competitor.about 12 minIntermediatePhonesHow do I text customers from my business number in TactStack?Once your number is registered for business texting, the same line that rings also sends and receives texts in a shared inbox. Anyone on the team can reply from a phone or laptop, every message lands on the customer record, and nobody has to hand out a personal cell number.about 10 minStarterPhonesHow do I handle after-hours calls in TactStack?Build a separate schedule for nights, weekends, and holidays that answers with an assistant or a triage greeting, books non-urgent work straight onto tomorrow's calendar, and pages the on-call person only for true emergencies. Callers get a real answer and your team gets its evening back.about 15 minIntermediatePhones
Marketing
How do I capture leads with a form that actually converts?Keep the form to the fields you truly need, put it where people already are, and connect it straight into your pipeline so a submission triggers an instant text and a real follow-up task. Every extra field costs you leads, so earn each one.about 12 minStarterMarketingHow do I build a landing page for a service or offer?Build one page for one offer with a single action: a clear headline about the outcome, proof from real customers, and a form or booking widget above the fold. Remove the navigation so the only thing to do is the thing you want done.about 25 minIntermediateMarketingHow do I organize my contacts into lists I can actually use?Tag contacts by the things that change how you talk to them: service history, job type, location, and status. Then build lists that update themselves from those rules, so a campaign always reaches the right people without anyone rebuilding a spreadsheet.about 20 minIntermediateMarketingHow do I know which ads are actually booking jobs?Connect the ad click to the booked job by carrying campaign data into the contact record and using a tracking number for calls. Then report cost per booked job by campaign instead of cost per click, and move money toward what produces revenue.about 25 minAdvancedMarketingHow do I run a seasonal campaign to my customer list?Pick a segment that genuinely needs the seasonal service, send a short message with a booking link a few weeks before the rush, and follow up once with the people who clicked but did not book. Own your calendar before the season owns it for you.about 20 minIntermediateMarketingHow do I post to all my social accounts from one place?Connect your accounts once, build a few weeks of posts in one sitting, and schedule them from a single calendar. Job photos, before-and-afters, and short answers to common questions cover most of what a local business needs to post.about 15 minStarterMarketing
Website
How do I build a website page that actually books jobs?Put one clear offer, one call to action, and a short booking form above the fold. Cut navigation that leads people away, show proof near the button, and connect the form straight into your calendar so a visitor can book without waiting on a callback.about 25 minIntermediateWebsiteHow do I publish a blog that brings in local searches?Write posts that answer the specific questions local customers search, name your service area in the content, and link every post back to a booking page. Publish on a consistent schedule rather than in bursts, and answer one question per post.about 30 minIntermediateWebsiteHow do I set up a page for each town I serve?Create one page per town with the town name in the title, a short local detail, your services, and a booking form. Avoid copying the same page with only the name swapped, since duplicate pages hurt every one of them in search results.about 30 minIntermediateWebsiteHow do I show before and after photos and proof of my work?Collect before and after photos on every job as part of the workflow, not as an afterthought. Pair each set with a short caption describing the problem and the fix, and place them near your booking pages where a visitor is deciding whether to trust you.about 20 minStarterWebsiteHow do I build a thank you page that keeps selling?After someone books or submits a form, confirm what happens next and offer one more relevant action, like following you, referring a friend, or booking a related service. A thank you page that only says thanks wastes a visitor who is already engaged.about 15 minStarterWebsiteHow do I run a lead magnet download campaign?Build a short form gated behind something genuinely useful, a checklist, pricing guide, or seasonal maintenance sheet, then deliver the download automatically by email once the form is submitted. The contact drops into a nurture sequence that follows up over the next few weeks instead of going cold after the download.about 17 minIntermediateWebsite
Sales
How do I build a sales pipeline in TactStack?Name the stages after things the customer does, not things you feel. Create one pipeline per sales motion, add an opportunity for every real request, automate the movement you can prove, and require a next step with a date on every open card. Then run a five-minute weekly review off the board.about 15 minIntermediateSalesHow do I send a quote or estimate in TactStack?Build the quote from a saved template of your priced items, add options the customer can choose, send it by text and email for electronic signature, and let follow-up chase it for you. When they accept, the job goes on the calendar and the invoice is already prepared.about 12 minIntermediateSalesHow do I score and prioritize leads in TactStack?Give every lead points for the things that predict a sale in your business: job type, urgency, budget signal, source, and how fast they responded. The score sorts your call list so the person with the best chance of booking today gets contacted first instead of whoever is at the top.about 20 minAdvancedSalesHow do I track where every lead came from in TactStack?Capture the source on every inbound path: tracking numbers per channel, hidden source fields on forms, and a required source question for walk-ins and referrals. Then report on booked jobs and revenue by source, not just lead counts, so you can see which spend actually pays.about 20 minIntermediateSalesHow do I automate follow-up at each pipeline stage?Attach an automation to each stage so entering it triggers the right message and task, and sitting in it too long triggers an escalation. New lead gets a fast text, quote sent gets a check-in, and anything stalled surfaces on someone's list before it goes cold.about 20 minIntermediateSalesHow do I win back old estimates that never closed?Pull every quote from the last twelve months that never became a job, segment by value and reason, then run a short reactivation sequence with a real reason to talk now: a price change, a seasonal window, or a simple honest question about whether the project is still on the table.about 20 minIntermediateSales
Money
How do I invoice a customer and take payment in TactStack?Connect your payment processor, build the invoice from the accepted quote or the completed job, send it by text and email with a pay link, and let automated reminders chase what is unpaid. For recurring work, put the customer on a schedule so it bills itself.about 12 minStarterMoneyHow do I set up recurring billing for service plans?Create a plan with a price and a billing interval, put customers on it with a card on file, and let the system charge, receipt, and retry on its own. Pair the plan with the recurring visits it pays for so service and revenue stay in step.about 20 minIntermediateMoneyHow do I collect a deposit before scheduling a job?Require a deposit at booking or on quote acceptance, taken through the same link the customer already has. The slot only holds once payment clears, the amount credits against the final invoice, and your no-show problem largely disappears.about 12 minStarterMoneyHow do I chase unpaid invoices automatically?Set a reminder ladder that starts politely on the due date and escalates over the following weeks, with a payment link in every message. Stop the sequence the second payment lands and escalate the stubborn ones to a person rather than a seventh email.about 12 minStarterMoneyHow do I build a price book my whole team uses?Put your standard services into a shared catalog with names, descriptions, and prices, then build quotes by selecting items instead of typing. Pricing stops varying by who answered the phone, and updating a price once updates it everywhere.about 25 minIntermediateMoneyHow do I issue a refund or adjust an invoice?Adjust before payment with a revised invoice, and after payment with a full or partial refund against the original transaction. Record the reason, notify the customer immediately, and keep the original document intact so your books and your story match.about 10 minStarterMoney
Team
How do I assign and track tasks across my team?Create tasks against the customer record they belong to, with one owner and a due date, and let workflows create the routine ones automatically. Everyone works from one list, overdue items surface on their own, and nothing depends on remembering.about 12 minStarterTeamHow do I control what each team member can see and do?Give people the access their job needs and nothing more: techs see their own schedule and job details, office staff handle customers and invoices, and owners see financials and settings. Review it whenever someone changes roles or leaves.about 15 minIntermediateTeamHow do I onboard a new team member into the system?Run the same sequence every time: create the login with the right role, connect their calendar and phone routing, walk them through the three screens they will actually use, and check their work at the end of week one.about 20 minStarterTeamHow do I build a job checklist crews actually complete?Keep it to the steps that matter, make it work on a phone with photo capture, and attach it to the job so completion is recorded. Checklists that protect the tech from a callback get finished; checklists that feel like surveillance do not.about 15 minIntermediateTeamHow do I set up notifications without overwhelming my team?Notify people only about things they must act on, route by role rather than to everyone, and use quiet hours for anything that is not urgent. When every event pings the whole team, people mute the app and miss the message that mattered.about 12 minStarterTeamHow do I run the business from my phone?Install the mobile app and set up notifications for the handful of things that need your attention today: new leads, missed calls, and unpaid invoices past due. Handle scheduling, messaging, and payments from the app so you are not tied to a desk to keep the business moving.about 15 minStarterTeam
Insights
How do I build a dashboard that shows how the business is doing?Pick the handful of numbers that would change a decision this week: leads, booked jobs, revenue, average job value, and unpaid invoices. Put them on one screen with last period for comparison, and review it on the same day every week.about 20 minIntermediateInsightsHow do I see which marketing actually produces jobs?Report booked jobs and revenue by source rather than leads by source, and put spend next to it. The channel with the most inquiries is often not the one paying the bills, and you cannot tell them apart until revenue is in the same table.about 20 minIntermediateInsightsHow do I track team performance fairly?Measure a few things each person can control: jobs completed, callback rate, close rate, and response time. Compare people to their own trend rather than to each other, and use the numbers to coach rather than to score.about 15 minIntermediateInsightsHow do I follow a lead from first click to paid invoice?Tag the source at first contact, keep that tag on the contact record through every stage, and report revenue against it once the invoice is paid. One record, one source, one number at the end, so you can trace any dollar back to where it started.about 20 minIntermediateInsightsHow do I track what actually happens on my calls?Log an outcome on every call the moment it ends: booked, quoted, no answer, or not a fit. Roll those tags up by source and by staff member so you can see which calls turn into jobs and where calls are getting lost before booking.about 15 minStarterInsightsHow do I measure how fast my team responds to leads?Record the timestamp a lead comes in and the timestamp of the first real response, then report the gap by hour of day and by staff member. Fast response correlates directly with booking rate, so this single number is worth watching closely.about 15 minStarterInsights
Data
How do I merge duplicate contacts?Find duplicates by matching phone number and email rather than name, review the merge before confirming it, and keep the record with the most complete history as the survivor. Merging by hand a few at a time beats a bulk tool with no review.about 15 minStarterDataHow do I tag and segment contacts without making a mess?Agree on a short, fixed list of tags before anyone starts tagging, keep tags factual rather than subjective, and review the list monthly to retire ones nobody uses. A small controlled tag list stays useful for years, while an open one turns unusable within months.about 20 minIntermediateDataHow do I set up custom fields for my trade?Add only the fields your team actually references when quoting or scheduling, like equipment age or property type, and use dropdowns instead of free text wherever the answers repeat. Fewer, well-structured fields beat a long list nobody fills in consistently.about 20 minIntermediateDataHow do I clean out dead records without losing history?Archive inactive contacts instead of deleting them, using clear criteria like no activity for a set period, so job history and past revenue stay intact for reporting. Archiving keeps active lists clean while the full record remains available if that customer ever returns.about 20 minIntermediateDataHow do I export my data for backup?Export contacts, pipelines, and financial records on a recurring schedule, not just once before a migration. Use the built-in export tools for each object type, save files to a location outside the platform, and confirm the file actually opens and contains the fields you expect before you rely on it.about 15 minStarterDataHow do I handle an opt out or delete request?Confirm the request in writing, stop all messaging to that contact immediately, and either suppress or fully delete the record depending on what was asked. Log the date and method of the request so you can prove compliance later, and check that connected automations respect the change.about 15 minIntermediateData
Support
Why are my texts not sending?Most stuck texts trace back to an unverified sending number, a carrier filter flagging spammy language, or a contact who opted out. Check the message log for the failure reason first, since it usually points straight to the fix instead of leaving you guessing.about 15 minStarterSupportWhy did my workflow not run?A workflow that does not run almost always has a trigger condition that was not actually met, is paused, or has a filter silently excluding the contact. Check the workflow's execution history before touching any settings, since it shows exactly where the contact stopped or never entered.about 15 minStarterSupportWhy are my leads not showing up?Missing leads usually mean a form or integration silently failed, a duplicate check merged them somewhere unexpected, or a filter is hiding them from the view you are checking. Search directly by phone or email rather than scrolling a list to confirm whether the record exists at all.about 15 minStarterSupportWhy is my calendar showing the wrong availability?Wrong availability is usually a timezone mismatch, an unsynced external calendar, or buffer and travel time settings overlapping in a way that blocks slots unexpectedly. Compare the calendar's actual settings against what you expect before assuming the booking tool itself is broken.about 15 minStarterSupportWhy am I getting duplicate notifications?Duplicate notifications almost always come from overlapping workflows or the same trigger set up in two places, such as a personal alert and a team alert both firing on the same event. Check every active workflow touching that trigger before assuming it is a platform glitch.about 15 minStarterSupportWhy are payments not posting?A payment that shows as taken but does not post usually points to a delayed processor sync, a failed webhook to your accounting connection, or a payment attached to the wrong invoice or job. Check the payment's own status log first to see exactly where it stalled.about 15 minIntermediateSupport
Setup
How do I set up a booking calendar in TactStack?Create a calendar for the job type you want customers to book, set the hours, buffers, and how far ahead people can schedule, connect the personal calendars of whoever gets assigned, then share the booking link or drop it on your site. Confirmations and reminders ride along with the calendar instead of being sent by hand.about 15 minStarterSetupHow do I import my contacts and job history?Export from your current systems, clean and deduplicate the file, map each column to a field, import a small test batch first, verify it, then load the rest. Job history, notes, and consent come with it, and you run both systems in parallel for a couple of weeks before switching fully.about 25 minAdvancedSetupHow do I schedule multiple crews or bays on one calendar?Create a calendar per crew, truck, or bay, group them under one booking link, and let the system offer only slots where a resource is genuinely free. Customers see one simple set of times while dispatch sees who is assigned, where they are, and what is still open.about 20 minIntermediateSetupHow do I add travel time and buffers between appointments?Add buffer before and after each appointment type so the calendar books the real length of a job, not the wrench time. Set longer buffers for jobs that run over, cap how far apart back-to-back stops can be, and the schedule stops falling apart by mid-afternoon.about 10 minStarterSetupHow do I send appointment reminders that cut no-shows?Send an instant confirmation, a reminder the day before, and a short heads-up a couple of hours out, all by text with a reschedule link. Ask for a simple confirmation reply, and route anyone who does not respond to a quick human call before the truck rolls.about 12 minStarterSetupHow do I let customers reschedule or cancel themselves?Include a self-service link in every confirmation and reminder that opens your live availability. Set rules for how close to the appointment changes are allowed, notify the assigned crew automatically, and free the slot instantly so someone else can take it.about 10 minStarterSetup