This playbook breaks down practical lessons from A Smart Move CEO Lindsay Curtis on scaling a moving company, using virtual assistants, answering leads faster, managing rental totes, and protecting your business from avoidable claims.

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How Moving Company Owners Can Finally Work On the Business

Many moving company owners say they want to “work on the business,” but they are still answering messages, fixing schedules, chasing leads, and handling problems all day.

In a conversation with Movified, Lindsay Curtis, CEO of A Smart Move in San Diego, shared what changed when her moving business added trained virtual assistants, tightened customer communication, and focused on systems instead of chaos.

What Should You Delegate First If You Want to Scale?

A Smart Move uses six virtual assistants, each with a specific role. The key lesson is not just “hire help.” The lesson is to train each person for a clear job so the owner can stop being the bottleneck.

Delegation checklist for moving company owners

• Calendar management: Have an assistant schedule sales meetings, networking, lunches, and follow-ups.
• Message response: Assign someone to reply when customers text or email so nobody feels ignored.
• Lead support: Make sure moving leads are acknowledged quickly, even if the owner is out.
• Social media support: Use help for basic content tasks if social media is falling behind.
• Executive assistant work: Give someone the daily admin that keeps stealing your planning time.

The goal is simple: remove low-value work from the owner so the owner can focus on growth, relationships, and better decisions.

How Fast Should Your Moving Company Answer Leads?

One of the biggest lessons from the podcast was also the simplest: pick up the phone. Lindsay shared that one customer chose her company because several other moving companies did not answer.

If you are spending money on moving company marketing but your team does not answer the phone, you are wasting leads.

Phone response scorecard

• Green: Calls are answered live and quickly during business hours.
• Yellow: Missed calls are returned the same day, but not fast enough.
• Red: Leads wait hours or never receive a call back.
• Danger zone: You only review missed leads at the end of the week or quarter.

A Smart Move tracks how quickly the phone is answered as a KPI. That is the standard: review it daily, not after the damage is done.

How Do You Keep Customers Calm When You Cannot Reply Right Away?

Customers do not always need the full answer immediately. But they do need to know they were heard.

Simple message template

“We received your message. Lindsay and/or Hayden are out of the office today, but they will get back to you as soon as possible.”

This kind of response helps prevent customers from feeling ignored. It also gives your office time to handle the issue properly.

Should Your Moving Company Offer Rental Moving Totes?

A Smart Move started with plastic rental moving boxes before expanding into packing, unpacking, move management, and full-service moving. But Lindsay also explained that tote rentals became less attractive once the company added trucks and crews.

The lesson: rental totes can be useful, but they are not automatically profitable.

Rental tote decision guide

• Consider totes if: Your service area is tight and deliveries are close together.
• Consider totes if: You only rent them to customers your moving company is already moving.
• Avoid totes if: You are driving too far to drop off and pick up small orders.
• Avoid totes if: You do not have a process to clean, inspect, label, and track every box.
• Never treat them as free: Customers value items more when there is a price attached.

If you offer totes, build the full system: clean boxes, remove damaged boxes, label them, track inventory, and charge for missing items. Otherwise, the service can create more work than profit.

How Do You Protect Your Moving Company From Claims?

Two claim stories stood out: missing spices and missing passports. In both cases, the company had to respond calmly, document the situation, and protect its reputation.

The best protection starts before the move begins.

Pre-move valuables script

Train your crew to say this during the walkthrough:

“Do you have your valuables, medications, passports, and personal items somewhere safe and under your control? Please keep them with you, and we do not need to know where they are.”

Claims prevention checklist

• Remind customers about valuables before the crew starts.
• Do not let customers tell the crew where sensitive items are stored.
• Document what your estimate or contract says about personal items.
• Offer to help look when a customer believes something is missing.
• Respond politely to reviews with facts, not emotion.

You will not win every customer. But you can show future customers that your moving business is professional, calm, and accountable.

Quick Win: Test Your Own Lead Response Today

In the next 30 minutes, call your moving company from a different phone number or ask someone else to do it.

• Did someone answer?
• Was the greeting professional?
• Did they ask the right questions?
• If nobody answered, how long did it take to get a call back?
• Was the missed lead tracked?

If the experience is weak, fix this before spending more money on moving company marketing.

How to Apply This This Week

• 1. Review your phone KPI: Check missed calls, response time, and how many moving estimates were lost.
• 2. Pick one task to delegate: Start with scheduling, inbox replies, or lead follow-up.
• 3. Write your valuables script: Add it to your crew walkthrough process this week.
• 4. Audit your tote program: If you offer rental boxes, check cleaning, tracking, delivery time, and missing inventory.
• 5. Fix your owner brand: Make sure your social media handle looks professional and connects clearly to you or your moving company.

The big lesson is simple: scaling a moving company is not only about more trucks. It is about answering leads, training help, protecting your crews, and building systems that let the owner think clearly.

To hear the full conversation, watch the original YouTube video and visit the Movified YouTube channel for more moving industry interviews and business lessons.