The Hidden Reason Your Competitors Get More Calls (And How to Fix It in 15 Minutes)

The Hidden Reason Your Competitors Get More Calls (And How to Fix It in 15 Minutes)

I was reviewing a local plumber's Google Business Profile last month when I noticed something frustrating. His work was excellent—5-star reviews, decades of experience, competitive pricing. But he was losing calls to competitors who weren't nearly as qualified.

The culprit? His services section was practically empty.

He had listed exactly two services: "Plumbing" and "Emergency Plumbing." Meanwhile, his top competitor had 23 detailed services listed—everything from "tankless water heater installation" to "sewer line video inspection."

Guess who Google showed more often? Guess who captured more of those specific, high-intent searches?

This isn't an isolated case. I see this pattern constantly. Businesses with comprehensive service listings consistently outrank and out-convert businesses that treat this feature as an afterthought.

The good news? Fixing this takes about 15 minutes. Let me walk you through it.

Why Your Services Section Actually Matters

Before we dive into the how-to, you need to understand why this matters so much.

Every service you list is a keyword opportunity. When someone searches "sump pump repair near me" on Google, businesses that have explicitly listed "Sump Pump Repair" as a service have a ranking advantage over those who just list "Plumbing."

Think of each service as a fishing line in the water. The more lines you have out, the more fish you catch.

But there's a second benefit most people miss: trust signals.

When potential customers land on your profile and see a comprehensive list of specific services, it communicates expertise. You're not a generalist hoping something sticks—you're a specialist who knows exactly what you do.

The Complete Step-by-Step Process

Let me break this down into a simple workflow you can follow right now.

Step 1: Access Your Google Business Profile Dashboard

Head to business.google.com and log in with the Google account that manages your business profile.

If you have multiple locations, select the specific location you want to update. (Yes, you'll need to repeat this process for each location—but trust me, it's worth it.)

Quick troubleshooting: Don't see your business? You might need to claim your profile first or request access from the current owner.

Step 2: Navigate to the Services Section

Once you're in your dashboard, look for the "Edit profile" section. You should see several options including Info, Hours, and crucially, "Services."

Click into Services. This is where the magic happens.

On some dashboard layouts, you might need to scroll down a bit or look in a secondary menu—Google occasionally reorganizes the interface. If you're stuck, search for "Services" in the dashboard search bar.

Step 3: Start Adding Services Strategically

Here's where most businesses make their first mistake. They add 3-4 generic services and call it done.

Don't do that.

Click "Add service" and think like your customer, not like your business.

Bad example (too generic):

Dental Services

Cleanings

Procedures

Good example (specific and searchable):

Teeth Cleaning and Polishing

Dental Crown Installation

Root Canal Therapy

Teeth Whitening Treatment

Dental Implants

Emergency Toothache Relief

Wisdom Teeth Removal

Pediatric Dental Care

See the difference? The second list matches how people actually search.

Pro tip from the field: Open an incognito browser and start typing your service into Google. Look at the autocomplete suggestions—those are real searches from real customers. Those phrases should become your service names.

Step 4: Write Descriptions That Convert

For each service, you have space for a description. Don't waste it.

Keep descriptions between 1-3 sentences. Include:

What the service is

Who it's for (if relevant)

Why customers choose you for this

Weak description:"We install water heaters."

Strong description:"Professional water heater installation for homes and businesses. We work with tank and tankless systems, handle all permits, and offer same-day emergency replacement when your old unit fails."

Notice how the strong version addresses concerns, mentions variety, and includes an emergency hook? That's what converts browsers into callers.

Step 5: Add Pricing (When It Makes Sense)

Google lets you add price ranges for services. Whether you should use this feature depends on your industry.

Use pricing when:

Your services have standard, predictable costs

Price transparency is competitive advantage

Customers expect to see pricing upfront

Skip pricing when:

Every job requires custom quotes

Your competitors don't list prices (it might make you look expensive)

Pricing varies significantly by project scope

There's no universal right answer here. Test it. You can always adjust.

Step 6: Save and Verify

Click "Save" or "Apply" (depending on your dashboard version).

Your changes go live immediately—but here's the catch: they might not appear instantly in search results. Google needs a bit of time to reprocess your profile. Give it 24-48 hours for full propagation.

Verification tip: After saving, open an incognito browser and search for your business name. Click through to your profile. Do your services appear? If not, wait a day and check again.

The Strategic Service Audit

Now that you know how to add services, let's talk about which services to add.

This is where amateur hour ends and strategy begins.

Tactic 1: Mine Your Competitor Intelligence

Search for your primary service on Google. Look at the top 3 competitors in the local pack.

Click into each profile. Scroll to their services section. Screenshot or write down every service they list.

Now compare their lists to yours. What are they listing that you're not? Those gaps represent missed opportunities.

I recently did this for an HVAC company. They had 6 services listed. Their top competitor had 28. We added 18 services that day—all services they already performed but never bothered to list. Within three weeks, their profile impressions increased 34%.

Tactic 2: Think in Customer Language, Not Industry Jargon

You might call it "periodontal scaling and root planing." Your customers call it "deep cleaning for gum disease."

List both.

You might call it "HVAC preventative maintenance." Your customers call it "AC tune-up" or "furnace inspection."

List all of them.

This isn't about gaming the system—it's about meeting customers where they are linguistically.

Tactic 3: Capture Seasonal and Emergency Searches

Some services spike at specific times:

"Furnace repair" peaks in winter

"AC not cooling" spikes in summer

"Emergency pipe burst" trends during freezes

List these seasonal variations as separate services. When someone's AC dies on the hottest day of the year, they're not searching "HVAC services." They're searching "emergency AC repair" or "AC not working."

Be there for those specific, urgent queries.

Tactic 4: Don't Forget Service Variations

The same core service can be listed multiple ways based on:

Property type:

Residential Roof Repair

Commercial Roof Repair

Urgency level:

Routine Gutter Cleaning

Emergency Gutter Repair

Material or method:

Asphalt Shingle Replacement

Metal Roof Installation

Each variation captures a different segment of search traffic.

The Maintenance Schedule

Adding services once isn't enough. Treating your Google Business Profile like a "set it and forget it" billboard is how you fall behind.

Monthly task (5 minutes): Review your services section. Are there any new offerings? Any seasonal services to add or remove?

Quarterly task (15 minutes): Check your top 3 competitors again. What have they added? What's working in your industry?

Annual task (30 minutes): Complete service audit. Remove outdated offerings. Rewrite descriptions that feel stale. Update pricing if relevant.

I set calendar reminders for clients. When you systematize this, it stops being a burden and becomes a competitive advantage.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

After helping hundreds of businesses optimize their service listings, I've seen these errors repeatedly:

❌ Listing products instead of services. You're a furniture store? Don't list "sectional sofas" as a service. List "furniture delivery and assembly" or "interior design consultation."

❌ Being vague to cast a wider net. "General contracting" is worse than listing "kitchen remodeling," "bathroom renovation," and "home additions" separately.

❌ Using internal terminology. If your team calls it a "comprehensive oral examination" but patients call it a "dental checkup," guess which one you should list?

❌ Stopping at 5-6 services. Google doesn't limit you. I've seen successful profiles with 40+ services. If you genuinely offer it, list it.

❌ Never updating. Your competitors are adding services. Industry trends shift. Customer language evolves. Annual reviews are mandatory.

The Real-World Results

Let me share a quick case study that makes this concrete.

A local electrician I worked with had 4 generic services listed:

Electrical Work

Installations

Repairs

Emergency Service

We spent 20 minutes expanding this to 27 specific services:

Electrical Panel Upgrades

Ceiling Fan Installation

Outlet and Switch Replacement

Landscape Lighting Setup

EV Charger Installation

Smoke Detector Installation

Home Generator Connection

And 20 more...

Results after 60 days:

Profile views increased 47%

Website clicks up 31%

Phone calls up 23%

Now ranking for 18 additional search terms

Same business. Same quality. Just better visibility because we matched how customers actually search.

Your Action Plan for Today

Close this tab. Open your Google Business Profile. Spend the next 15 minutes adding services.

Here's your checklist:

✅ Add at least 10 specific services (more if you offer them)

✅ Write 1-2 sentence descriptions for each

✅ Use customer language, not industry jargon

✅ Check your top competitor's services for ideas

✅ Include seasonal and emergency variations

✅ Set a calendar reminder to review monthly

This is one of those rare optimizations where effort directly correlates with results. The more thorough you are, the more search visibility you gain.

The Competitive Intelligence Shortcut

Want to see exactly which services your competitors list that you're missing? Want to know which services are trending in your industry nationally?

The manual approach works—open 10 competitor profiles, write everything down, cross-reference, find gaps.

Or you can get that analysis done for you. A competitive service audit shows you:

Every service your top local competitors list

Services you're currently missing

Services trending in your industry

Recommended service descriptions that convert

It's market research that would take hours, delivered in minutes.

Either way—manual or automated—the key is taking action on the insights.

The Bottom Line

Your services section isn't optional decoration on your Google Business Profile. It's a ranking factor, a conversion tool, and a competitive differentiator all rolled into one.

The businesses getting more calls aren't necessarily better at what they do. They're just better at telling Google—and potential customers—exactly what they do.

Every service you add is a new doorway for customers to find you.

How many doorways does your profile have right now?

And more importantly—how many could it have by the end of today?