Plenty of good ServiceM8 partners will configure your account and train you. Most charge $350–$2,000 upfront and finish at go-live. We're $0 upfront — and the automation keeps running after.
A typical ServiceM8 setup partner does real, valuable work: account configuration, templates, forms, and training. Published rates run from around $350 for a starter session to $1,800–$2,000+ for a full QuickStart, paid upfront. ServiceM8's own setup rebate can offset some of that as account credit.
But that's where most stop — you're handed a configured system and left to run the automation yourself. The invoice chasing, the portfolio posts, the lead capture, the ongoing phone-agent tuning: that's the part that actually saves you hours every week, and it's the part that usually isn't in the package.
Partner figures are published setup rates (e.g. Salty Coaching $350–$1,800; Maximum Efficiency ~$2,000), one-off and excluding the ServiceM8 subscription — not audited quotes.
| Typical setup partner | TooledUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront setup fee | $350–$2,000 | $0 |
| ServiceM8 configured | Yes | Yes |
| Training | Yes (often office-based) | Yes — on-site, on your data |
| Xero invoice chasers | Rarely ongoing | Running automatically |
| Portfolio / social autopilot | No | Yes |
| Lead capture into jobs | No | Yes |
| Phone Agent tuning | One-off, if at all | Ongoing |
| What happens after go-live | You're on your own | Automation keeps running |
| Ongoing | SM8 subscription only | ~$189–299/mo all-in |
Not at all — many are excellent at configuration and training. The difference is scope: they typically sell a one-off setup, while we sell an ongoing built-and-running system with the automation included and nothing upfront.
ServiceM8 offers up to ~$2,000 in account credit (applied as 50% off your subscription until used) when you set up via a directory partner. It can offset an upfront setup fee — but since we're $0 upfront, there's no setup fee to offset in the first place.
The Business Pack has a 24-month minimum term because it carries the setup labour with no upfront charge. If you already run ServiceM8, our Add-ons tier is month-to-month with no lock-in.
Book a free call. We'll build your ServiceM8 stack with $0 upfront and keep the automation running long after go-live.