If you run a trades business — plumbing, electrical, building, landscaping, or anything else where the real work happens on-site — you know the admin problem.
You spend your mornings quoting. Your evenings invoicing. Your weekends doing paperwork. The work you're actually skilled at keeps getting squeezed by the business of running a business.
Automation won't pick up a wrench, but it will handle the admin that's eating your evenings.
The trades admin problem
A typical tradesperson or small trades firm deals with:
- Enquiry management: Phone calls, emails, website forms — all coming in at random times, often while you're mid-job on a roof
- Quoting: Writing up estimates, sending them, following up when clients go quiet
- Scheduling: Coordinating jobs, travel time, materials, and team availability
- Invoicing: Creating invoices, sending them, chasing payment
- Customer updates: "What time are you coming?" "Is the part in yet?" "When will the job be done?"
Each of these is manageable in isolation. Together, they consume 15–20 hours per week for a typical small trades business. That's two full working days spent not doing the work you get paid for.
What automation looks like for trades
Enquiry capture
A lead calls while you're on a job. Today, it goes to voicemail (which you check at 6 PM). With an AI agent:
- The enquiry is captured immediately (via voicemail transcription, web form, or email)
- The client receives an instant response: "Thanks for your enquiry. We've noted your request for [service] at [location]. We'll get back to you with availability within 2 hours."
- The details are logged and you get a notification when you're next available
No more returning calls at 9 PM. No more lost enquiries.
Quote follow-up
You send a quote on Monday. By Friday, you've forgotten about it. The client has moved on to the three other tradespeople who quoted. With automation:
- Day 3: Agent sends a check-in: "Hi [name], just checking you received our quote for [job]. Happy to answer any questions."
- Day 7: If no response, a follow-up: "We'd love to help with your [job]. Our next available slot is [date]. Shall I pencil you in?"
- Day 14: Final touch: "Our quote for [job] is valid until [date]. Let us know if you'd like to go ahead."
This simple sequence dramatically improves conversion from quotes to jobs.
Scheduling
The agent manages your calendar and client appointments:
- Sends appointment confirmations and reminders (day before, morning of)
- Provides clients with an arrival window ("between 9 and 10 AM")
- Alerts clients if you're running late (based on your current job status)
- Handles rescheduling requests without you picking up the phone
Invoicing and payment
When a job is marked complete:
- Invoice is generated automatically from the quote/job details
- Sent to the client with a payment link
- Payment reminders follow a set schedule
- Payment confirmation is sent when received
- Overdue accounts are flagged for your attention
Customer updates
The #1 source of interruptions for tradespeople is clients asking for updates. The agent handles this proactively:
- "Your parts have arrived. We're scheduled to complete the installation on Thursday."
- "We're running about 30 minutes behind today. Updated arrival time: 2:30 PM."
- "Job complete. Here's a summary of what was done and your invoice."
The numbers for a typical trades business
Let's take a plumbing firm with 3 plumbers and an office manager:
Without automation:
- Office manager spends 35 hours/week on admin (scheduling, quoting, invoicing, calls)
- Plumbers each spend 1 hour/day on admin (logging jobs, sending updates)
- Quote follow-up happens sporadically → 25% conversion rate
- Average payment time: 35 days
With automation:
- Office manager spends 15 hours/week on admin (complex queries and exceptions only)
- Plumbers spend 15 minutes/day on admin (confirming job status)
- Quote follow-up is systematic → 40% conversion rate
- Average payment time: 18 days
The 20 hours saved per week translates to roughly £15,000/year in staff time. The improved quote conversion on even modest volume could add £30,000–£50,000 in annual revenue. The cash flow improvement? Transformational for a trades business.
Starting simple
You don't need a massive tech overhaul. Start with whichever of these causes the most pain:
- Enquiry capture and response — stop losing leads when you're on-site
- Quote follow-up — stop losing jobs to the tradesperson who followed up
- Invoice automation — stop spending evenings on paperwork
Each can be set up in about a week, connecting to tools you likely already use (email, phone, accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks).
The goal is simple: spend more time on the tools of your trade, less time on the admin around it.