Setup guide

Up and running in an afternoon.

No tech skills, no onboarding call needed. Follow these eight steps in order and you'll be answering calls, taking online bookings, and getting paid — all on autopilot.

About an hour total

Most owners finish setup in a single sitting.

No tech skills needed

If you can fill out a form, you can do this.

We're here to help

Stuck on a step? Book a quick screen-share demo.

  1. 1Create your account 2 min

    Sign up and pick your trade

    Start your 14-day free trial — no credit card. Tell Helm what kind of work you do (cleaning, HVAC, landscaping, anything) and it pre-loads services, pricing rules, and follow-up messages tuned to your trade.

    • No credit card required to start
    • Choose your industry — Helm does the heavy lifting
    • Your workspace is ready in under a minute
  2. 2Set your prices 10 min

    Review your services & pricing

    Open Services & pricing in the sidebar. Your trade's template is already loaded — just tweak the base price, per-bedroom or per-square-foot rates, durations, and any add-ons so they match what you actually charge.

    • Edit the ready-made services for your trade
    • Set base price, per-unit rates, and add-ons
    • These prices power every quote, booking, and AI call
  3. 3Tell customers who you are 5 min

    Add your business info

    Add your business name, phone, address, and hours under Settings. This is what shows on your booking page, invoices, texts, and the messages your AI receptionist reads to callers.

    • Business name, phone, service area, and hours
    • Upload your logo and pick your brand colors
    • Everything customers see stays consistent
  4. 4Get bookings online 5 min

    Put the booking widget on your website

    Copy one line of code from the Embed page and paste it into your website — or share your hosted booking link directly. Customers answer a few questions, watch the price update live, and book themselves in.

    • One line of code, or a ready-to-share link
    • Works on any website builder (Wix, Squarespace, WordPress…)
    • No website yet? Use Helm's instant micro-site
  5. 5Never miss a call 5 min

    Activate your AI receptionist

    Paste your website link and Helm learns your business automatically. Pick a phone-number area code and hit Activate — you get a real number that answers 24/7, quotes from your pricing, and books straight into your calendar.

    • Imports your services and service area from your site
    • Gets you a local phone number in one click
    • Answers, quotes, and books — even at 9pm
  6. 6Get found 15 min

    Show up on Google

    Follow the in-app checklist to set up (or claim) your free Google Business Profile and add your booking link. When happy customers leave 5 stars, Helm automatically sends them to your review page — so your rating climbs on its own.

    • Step-by-step Google Business Profile checklist
    • Auto review requests after a great job (just once — no spam)
    • Your booking link, front and center on Google
  7. 7Get paid 10 min

    Connect payments

    Link your bank through Stripe under Billing & plans. Once it's connected, finishing a job auto-creates the invoice, charges the card (with tips), and marks it paid — usually before you've packed up the truck.

    • Secure bank connection via Stripe
    • Auto-invoice the moment a job is done
    • Card, ACH, or cash — plus tips and gentle reminders
  8. 8Grow Ongoing

    Go live and let it run

    You're operational. Now turn on the automations that bring work back: appointment reminders, win-back texts for quiet customers, and occasional promo campaigns with coupon codes. Check your morning briefing for the three things that need you today.

    • 24h + 1h reminders cut no-shows automatically
    • Win-back and promo campaigns refill a slow week
    • A daily briefing of what actually matters
That's it — you're live.

Calls get answered, your site takes bookings, jobs get scheduled, invoices send themselves, and reviews roll in. You just do the work.

Want us to walk you through it?

Grab a free 20-minute screen-share. We'll set up your trade, your prices, and your AI receptionist live — and you can ask anything.

Ready to set it up?

Start your 14-day free trial and follow along — you'll be operational before your coffee's cold.