Outfitter Learn · Trust and control · Overview
What needs my approval, and what runs on its own?
Anything that spends your money waits for your OK. Ads run at budgets you choose, and no postcard mails until you approve its price. Anything that commits you to a customer, like a confirmed job time or a price, stays with you. The everyday office work runs on its own. That means answering calls, sending you every message and making the website changes you ask for.
Who it’s for: Owners who want the office handled but want the final word on money, prices and their calendar.
How the split works in a normal week
- Runs on its own: a call you can’t take gets answered, and the message lands in your texts and email.
- Runs on its own: you text a website change, and it’s live.
- Needs you: a homeowner gets a pre-scheduled time, and you confirm it.
- Needs you: a postcard drop shows its price first, and nothing mails until you approve.
- Needs you: you pick the ad budget, and you can change it or stop any time.
What runs on its own
The work that keeps you up at night doesn’t need a signature. When you’re on a job or asleep, Front Desk picks up and answers from what you taught her. Then she texts and emails you every message. Ask for a website change and it goes live. Leads reach you the moment they come in. Follow-up with homeowners continues by text and call-back, so a lead doesn’t go cold while you’re on a roof.
What stays with you
Three things are always yours: money, prices and your calendar. Emma doesn’t pick your ad budget; you do, and you can change it any time. She doesn’t invent prices; she uses only the ones you gave her. She doesn’t fill your Thursday; she offers the caller a time and you confirm it.
Hiring works the same way. Emma runs the ad and sends you every applicant, but she never texts them. The call and the hire are yours.
Compared with hiring someone for the office
A new office hire takes weeks before you trust them with the checkbook. And you still can’t hear every call they take. With Emma the rules are set from day one. Every call, text, ad and change she makes is recorded, so you can check exactly what happened and when. There’s no contract either. If it isn’t bringing in work you can see, you turn it off.
What it costs
Approving costs nothing. What runs is paid from one token balance. 1 token = 1 cent, and you can buy any amount from $35. Ads are your ad spend plus 30%. Postcards are about 53 cents delivered, and Front Desk calls 35 cents a minute. Auto-refill is on when you start, and you can turn it off any time.
What it won’t do
- Spending money, like ads and postcards, waits for your OK.
- Emma can only do what she’s been given permission to do.
- Front Desk never states a time as confirmed on your behalf.
- Nothing irreversible happens without you in the loop.
An example
Monday, a plumber is under sinks all day. Front Desk takes his missed calls, marks a leaking water heater as urgent and pre-schedules two estimates. He reads the texts at lunch, confirms both times and approves a postcard drop he’d been sitting on. Five minutes of decisions; the rest ran without him.
Common questions
See it for your business
Everything on this page is part of Outfitter. Free to join, no contracts, and you only pay for what runs.
Meet Emma →Keep reading
Last updated October 11, 2026. Prices and features change; if something here is out of date, call or text (507) 628-0400 and we’ll fix it.