How To Choose An AI Receptionist For A Tradie Business (2026)
Tradies miss more calls than any other industry. A practical guide for plumbers, sparkies, builders and chippies on what an AI receptionist must do.
Why tradies bleed money on the phones
When you're up a ladder or under a sink, you can't pick up. The average tradie misses 6-12 calls a week. At an average job value of $400-$2,000, even one missed conversion a week is $20-100k a year.
What a good AI receptionist needs to do for a tradie
Quote intake (suburb, job type, urgency), calendar booking with travel time and bay/site availability, urgent escalations to your mobile, and SMS follow-ups for quotes that don't book.
Where Aroha shines for tradies
Tama at our auto workshop tells us customers don't realise they're talking to AI. Liam (trades) said he'd be losing jobs without it. Aroha learns your pricing matrix, books straight into your calendar, and routes urgent jobs (burst pipes, lockouts) to whoever's on call.
What it costs vs. what it pays back
From NZ$99/month. One recovered job per month covers the plan. We've never had a tradie customer where the maths didn't work.