Never Miss Another Customer
While You're Busy Working.

Core Merchants is a team of engineers and data engineers. We assess how your business handles calls, messages, bookings, and payments, then build the automation that gets every customer answered, day or night.

You get an engineering team working on your business, without having to hire one. We build it, run it, and show you the results.

Get Your Free Business Analysis See What You're Missing

24/7 Calls, texts & chats answered

100% Built and run by our engineers

0 Hidden fees. Ever.

A cafe owner taking a customer call while working behind the counter

It Sounds Like You

Your AI assistant is set up with your services, your hours, your prices, and the way you talk to customers. You approve what it says before it goes live.

A Person When It Matters

When a customer asks for a human, or the question needs your judgment, the conversation is handed to you or your staff with the details attached.

Nothing Breaks

We work alongside the phone number, calendar, and tools you already use. Nothing that works today gets ripped out.

Set Up For You

No software to learn and no weekend lost to setup. We build it, test it, and keep it running. You talk to a real person when you need us.

The Problem

You Can't Do the Work and Answer the Phone at the Same Time

You're good at what you do, and that's why you're busy. But while you're with one customer, the next one is calling, and nobody is picking up.

PROBLEM 01

The Phone Rings While Your Hands Are Full

You're on a ladder, with a client in the chair, or in the middle of the dinner rush. The call goes to voicemail. Most people don't leave one. They call the next business on the list.

PROBLEM 02

The Follow-Up Nobody Owns

The quote you sent last week. The person who said "let me think about it." The missed call you meant to return. Nobody is in charge of chasing them, so they quietly go cold.

PROBLEM 03

The Work After the Work

Estimates, reminders, invoices, and messages all wait until the day is over. So you do paperwork at night and feel like you're always giving up time at the job or time at home.

Where It Goes

You're Not Short on Customers. They're Slipping Away Before You Get to Them.

These are the four places local businesses lose work they already earned.

Calls After Hours and During the Rush

People call when it suits them: at lunch, after work, on Sunday. If nobody answers and nobody texts back, they move on.
Website Visitors With a Quick Question

"Do you do this?" "How much?" "Are you open Saturday?" With nobody to ask, they leave and you never know they were there.
Quotes and Inquiries That Never Get Chased

One follow-up text often decides who gets the job. When you're busy, that text doesn't get sent.
No-Shows and Last-Minute Cancellations

An empty slot is money you can't get back. Without reminders, deposits, or a waitlist, it keeps happening.

None of this shows up on a report. You just feel it as a slow week and a long night.

A few missed calls, a couple of quotes nobody chased, and one no-show a day add up quickly. The free analysis puts real numbers on it for your business, using your own call log and statements.

What It Costs You

It's Costing You More Than Money

The bill for doing everything yourself comes due in three places.

Jobs

Lost to Whoever Answered First

The customer wanted you. They hired the business that picked up the phone, replied to the message, or sent the follow-up.

Evenings

Spent on Estimates and Paperwork

Returning calls at 8 PM, writing quotes at the kitchen table, and sending reminders by hand. That time comes out of your family and your sleep.

Margin

Eaten by Fees You Never See

Card processing statements are hard to read on purpose. Most owners have never had someone go through theirs line by line.

What We Do

An Engineering Team for Your Business.
Without Hiring One.

Big companies have engineers who make sure no customer slips through. Most local businesses don't. We are engineers and data engineers who assess how your business runs online, automate the parts that keep failing, and prove it is working.

We Assess

Our engineers map how customers reach you today: calls, messages, your website, bookings, and payments. We find where customers and hours are being lost.

We Build

We engineer the automation and AI around the phone number, calendar, and tools you already use. It is built for your business, not pulled off a shelf.

We Measure

Our data engineers track what happens next: calls answered, appointments booked, payments collected. You get it in one simple report.

We Keep Improving

We monitor it, fix what slips, and tune it as your business changes. When you need something, you talk to a real person on the team.

What You Get

Six Ways We Take Work Off Your Plate

Start with the one that hurts most. Add the rest when you're ready.

Most owners start with number one.

1. Never Miss a Customer

An AI assistant answers your calls and website chat, takes after-hours inquiries, and texts back anyone you missed. It hands off to a person when needed.

Takes away: calls going to voicemail while you're working.
Gives you: every customer answered, with a next step.

Start here

2. Booked and Showing Up

Online booking, intake forms, confirmations, and reminders. Deposits and a waitlist if you want them.

Takes away: phone tag, no-shows, and empty slots.
Gives you: a fuller, more predictable calendar.

Fewer no-shows

3. Follow-Up That Happens on Its Own

Texts and emails after every inquiry and quote, callbacks to people who reached out, review requests, and check-ins with past customers.

Takes away: quotes and callers that go cold.
Gives you: more jobs from people who already contacted you.

More repeat business

4. A Website That Brings In Work

A fast, clean website built and hosted for you, set up to be found locally and kept current without you touching it.

Takes away: a dated site and the upkeep.
Gives you: a business that looks established and gets found.

Built and hosted for you

5. Get Paid Faster, Keep More

Payment links, deposits, and invoices by text, plus a line-by-line audit of your card processing fees. Transparent rates, no hidden fees.

Takes away: chasing invoices and fees you can't explain.
Gives you: cash in sooner and more of every sale.

Free fee audit

6. Built Around How You Work

Custom AI and automations that connect the tools you already use, so information moves on its own and you get one simple report.

Takes away: typing the same thing into two places.
Gives you: hours back every week, with nothing replaced that already works.

Custom to your business

Reviews

What Owners Say About Working With Us

Real feedback from real businesses.

“You get professionalism, quality, and responsiveness and great value.”

Toriano Gordon

CEO, Vegan Mob

“Great customer service! Always available to answer any questions and meet the needs of your company no matter at what stage you are! Thank you for helping get our venture on the run!”

Johanny Puello

Co-Owner, Las Alba FV

“I am pleased to say that I have had the best support and professional and caring service from Tom and the high standards for taking care of people. I have many times needed assistance and was always given the attention and resolution to anything with diligence and details to everything... I highly recommend this company.”

Diane Harpest

Owner, Dyan's Country Kitchen

Reviews from clients of The Merchant Way, our payments brand.

Portfolio

Websites We've Built

Three different businesses, three different jobs for the website to do.

Payments company

The Merchant Way

A credit card processing company for medical, legal, and professional offices. The site walks a skeptical office manager from “am I overpaying?” to requesting a free rate analysis, with industry pages, client reviews, and a library of how-to articles.

Visit themerchantway.com →

Career platform

PhD Source

A career resource for PhD students and graduates. Visitors don’t just read about it, they use it: quizzes and diagnostics, a career-path assessment, job listings, articles, and member sign-in all live in one site.

Visit phdsource.com →

Software product

OncRef

An oncology intelligence platform with three products for three different audiences. The site explains a complex product in plain terms and sends clinicians, researchers, and industry teams each to the right next step.

Visit oncref.com →

Read the story behind each one →

Before and After

What Stops Landing on You

You keep your phone number, your calendar, and the tools that already work. We take over the parts that keep slipping.

× Calls going to voicemail

× Website messages nobody sees until morning

× Quotes sent and never chased

× No-shows and empty slots

× Invoices you have to chase

× Typing the same details twice

Handled For You

One team sets it up, watches it, and answers when you call.

Every call and message answered
Appointments booked and confirmed
Follow-ups sent on time
Reminders out before every visit
Payments requested and collected
Details passed between your tools
One simple report

Who It's For

Set Up for the Way Your Business Runs

The same help, tuned to what a busy day looks like for you.

For Contractors & Trades

Calls answered while you're on the job, with the details texted to you
Missed calls get an instant text back so the customer doesn't call the next name
Estimate requests collected with photos, address, and job type before you call
Quotes followed up automatically until you get a yes or a no
Deposits and final payments collected by text
Review requests sent when the job is done

Stop answering the phone with equipment running, and stop writing estimates at night.

For Salons & Spas

Booking by phone, text, or website at any hour, without pulling staff off the floor
Confirmations and reminders before every appointment
Deposits and a clear cancellation policy applied for you
A waitlist that fills last-minute openings
Follow-up with people who asked about a service and didn't book
Rebooking nudges and review requests after each visit

Fewer no-shows and empty chairs, and a front desk that isn't stuck on the phone.

For Health Offices

Common questions answered at any hour: hours, location, services, what to bring
Appointment requests taken when the front desk is busy or closed
Missed calls get a text back with a way to book
Reminders by text and email to cut no-shows
Forms sent ahead so they aren't filled out at the counter
Set up with your privacy and compliance requirements in mind

Take pressure off a short-staffed front desk without adding headcount.

For Restaurants

The phone answered during the rush: hours, directions, menu and allergy questions
Reservations and large-party requests taken without tying up the host
Catering and private event inquiries captured and followed up
A website that sends orders and bookings to you directly
A line-by-line audit of your card processing fees
Review requests and offers that bring regulars back

Keep staff on the floor during service, and keep more of every check.

For Shops & Retail

"Do you have it?" and "Are you open?" answered by phone, text, and chat
Messages after closing answered instead of waiting until morning
Holds, special orders, and pickup requests taken down for you
A website that reflects your shop and your voice
Emails and texts that bring past customers back in
A line-by-line audit of your card processing fees

Help the customer in front of you without losing the one on the phone.

The Difference

Doing It All Yourself vs. Having It Handled

The same business, the same customers, and a different week.

	On Your Own Today	With Core Merchants
Calls While You're Busy	Voicemail, if they leave one	Answered, with details sent to you
After Hours	Wait until morning	Answered and booked overnight
Missed Calls	Call back when you remember	Instant text back
Website Questions	A contact form you check later	Chat that answers right away
Booking	Phone tag and back-and-forth	Customers book themselves
No-Shows	Hope they turn up	Reminders, deposits, and a waitlist
Quotes and Inquiries	Chased when there's time	Followed up automatically
Reviews	Asked for now and then	Requested after every job or visit
Getting Paid	Paper invoices and reminders	Pay-by-text links and deposits
Processing Fees	A statement nobody has explained	Audited line by line, no hidden fees
Setup	You figure it out at night	We build and run it for you
Support	Ticket queues	A real person who knows your business

How It Works

Three Steps. No Homework.

Our team does the technical work. You keep working.

Free Business Analysis

Our engineers assess your missed calls, your follow-up, your website, and your card processing fees, and show you where customers and money are slipping away. No cost and no obligation.

We Build It

We engineer the automation around your phone number, your calendar, and your way of talking to customers. You approve what it says before anything goes live.

You Get Back to Work

Calls get answered, appointments get booked, and follow-ups go out. We track the results in a simple report, and you have a real person to call when you want something changed.

A smiling shop owner standing behind her counter

About Our Business

We start at the core of how your business runs.

Every business depends on a handful of everyday processes: answering customers, booking the work, following up, and getting paid. When those run reliably, everything else gets easier.

Core Merchants is a technical team of engineers and data engineers. We automate those core operations first and work outward from there, so you never miss a customer and none of it depends on you remembering it at nine at night.

Never Miss Another CustomerWhile You're Busy Working.