The online booking integration with Google Local Services Ads gives customers the ability to see when you’re available so that they can book your services directly from your Local Services ad. To learn more about Local Services Ads by Google, click here.
Once a service is booked via your Google Local Services Ads, you will start getting jobs in your Job Inbox channel in Housecall Pro, so that you never miss a new opportunity.
Note: Google Local Services Ads are not currently available in Canada.
To Connect the Integration:
You must be part of the Google Guaranteed program to use the Housecall and Local Services Ads integration.
Once you are Google Guaranteed, you can connect the integration.
Set up your business hours
Go to your account Settings by clicking the gear icon, located in the top right corner of your Housecall Pro home page or dashboard on the desktop.
Select Business hours from the left-hand menu.
Configure your business hours by clicking EDIT on the right side of the section labeled Online booking windows.
Set up your Online booking windows in the pop-up screen and click SAVE when done.
Navigate to the left-hand Settings menu again and select Employees & permissions, to ensure that all employees you would like available for online booking are selected.
To do this, click the pencil icon to the right of each employee you would like to make available to be booked. Then select Permissions on the left side, and toggle on Online booking availability. Click SAVE when done.
Note: This is how to set your online booking windows for Google LSA, but NOT for Reserve with Google. The Reserve with Google integration uses the availability you have entered for Online Booking under Settings -> Online booking -> Booking settings. Additional instructions can be found here.)
Enable Google Local Services under the Job Inbox app card and enable the toggle on the LSA app card
To enable Google Local Services in the job inbox, head to the Housecall Pro app store by clicking on the My Apps box icon in the top right corner of Housecall Pro on the desktop. This looks like a grid of nine small boxes and is located next to the Settings gear icon.
From the drop-down selection, click Go to App store.
Locate the Job Inbox app card by scrolling or using the search feature located toward the top of the Apps page. When you've located the Job Inbox app card, select Learn More.
Toggle the Job Inbox app to Active if it's not on already. Then toggle on Google Local Services listed under the Job Partners section on the right of the app page. Once that's on, hit the back arrow in the top left corner to return to the app store.
Next, find the Local Services Ads app card by either scrolling or using the search feature located toward the top of the Apps page, and click Learn More on the Google Local Services Ads app card.
On the app page, you will see a toggle to activate the app. Once you click on the toggle, you'll receive a pop-up message letting you know that Housecall has started the matching process with Google to enable booking on your Google Business page. Items that can be booked on Google will be added to your price list in a category named "Google". To ensure your pricing information on Google is correct, you will be prompted to configure your Google price list. You have the option to skip that step until later, or SET UP PRICE BOOK ITEMS.
Configure your Google price list in your price book
After clicking on SET UP PRICE BOOK ITEMS, You'll see that a Google category has been added to each of your industries.
Once you click on your Google category, you'll see that all of your price book services have been automatically added.
Google has predefined a set of items that will be available for booking for your industries, meaning:
You CANNOT move other items into the category
You CANNOT define your own items to be booked on Google's Local Services Ads
The title of items CANNOT be changed, but you can change the description and price
Once you have navigated to the Google category in a selected Industry, you can edit the description and/or price of a service, or remove services by clicking on the three dots on the right side of each service listed.
Link your Google account to Housecall Pro
Navigate to your Inbox tab located on the top banner of Housecall Pro on the desktop and click on the Job Inbox channel from the left-hand menu. Then click into the Google Local Services channel group. Then click Connect to Google button located centrally in the open channel thread.
You will be redirected to Google to link your account. Once you log in to your Google account, the account status will show as pending. If your account is in the pending status for more than a few minutes, it might be because you did not complete the process of getting Google Guaranteed. Please ensure that has been completed before trying to link your Google account again.
How the integration works
✅ Once you successfully connect your Google Local Services Ads account, you will start getting jobs directly in your Job Inbox channel. This means that customers can book your services online and you will immediately see them on your calendar and in your Job Inbox channel group. To see booked jobs here, navigate to your Inbox tab located on the top banner of Housecall Pro on the desktop and click on the Job Inbox channel from the left-hand menu.
When you click Learn More on an online booking, a pop-up window will open where you can view the job details and contact information, as well as the ability to chat directly with the customer. When you click on the blue Chat Customer Now button, you will be redirected to the customer's channel group where you can chat directly with the customer in a dedicated thread.
When you connect your Google Local Services Ads with Housecall Pro, you'll see your bookings directly in your Housecall Pro inbox, making it easier to keep jobs booked online in one manageable location.