Who it is for / Tilers
An AI receptionist for tilers.
Adhesive sets while you are on the phone. While You Work answers the calls you miss in your business name, finds out what needs tiling, where and when, and sends you the details a minute later.
Hear a sample call free, no card needed, and you keep your own number. Ready to put it on your own line? Start a free 7-day trial, no card.
The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month plus VAT for their first 12 months, then £69. Plans start at £39. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form, with a 7-day free trial first and a 14-day money-back guarantee once you pay.
On every call
What your receptionist asks
- What needs tiling: a bathroom, a kitchen or a floor
- Where it is, at least the postcode or area
- When they need it done
- The best number to ring back, read back to check it
- Your day rate, only if you have set one and they ask
Urgent jobs
Jobs that cannot wait go to the top
- Loose tiles in a shower that is leaking
- A job needed before a fitter comes back
- A caller who says it cannot wait
On Pro and Business, urgent calls are texted to you straight away, and every call is emailed to you.
An example week
A week of calls to a tiler
Tiling calls are mostly bathrooms and kitchens with a date attached, because a plumber or fitter is waiting. The receptionist gets the date pressure into the message.
- Monday: a bathroom fitter needs floor and walls tiled next Thursday and Friday, tiles on site. Trade enquiry, dates taken.
- Tuesday, 12.40pm: a homeowner wants a kitchen splashback done, tiles bought, roughly three square metres. Details taken.
- Wednesday: a caller asking if you do large-format porcelain floors. Question noted for callback.
- Thursday, 6.15pm: a wet room in a new extension, plasterboard going up next week. Timing noted.
- Friday: a customer reporting two cracked tiles on a recent job. Taken as a message and marked as an existing customer.
The maths
What a missed call costs tilers
Say you miss 3 calls a week and two in five of those callers would have booked a bathroom or kitchen worth about £700.
3 calls × 40% × £700 = £840 a week. × 52 weeks ÷ 12 = £3,640 a month of work going to someone else. An example: put your own numbers into the missed-call calculator.
Tiling is booked around other trades. If the fitter cannot reach you, they ring the tiler they used last time.
Setting your own prices? See what tilers charge in the UK, with rates and job prices from published price guides.
Timing
When a tiler's phone rings
Mid-morning and late afternoon on weekdays, when fitters and plumbers are lining up the next job, and January when bathroom projects start. You are on your knees with a trowel for most of it.
What callers hear
An example call, word for word
The receptionist asks one thing at a time, checks the number back and never makes up a price. The details reach you by email a minute after the call, and by text straight away when it is urgent, on Pro and Business.
Emailed to you a minute later
Nadia, 07700 900559, SO16 Bassett. Kitchen splashback and floor, after the fitter finishes on the 20th.
Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Precision Tiling. Gary is out on a job, so I’m the automated assistant taking the details for a call back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?
Caller: It’s Nadia. Our kitchen fitter finishes on the 20th and we need the splashback and floor tiled after that.
Receptionist: Thanks, Nadia. What’s your postcode?
Caller: SO16, in Bassett.
Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Gary to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 559.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 559. Is that right?
Caller: Yes, that’s right.
Receptionist: Thanks, Nadia. Gary will ring you back to arrange a visit, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
Set up
Three steps, and you keep your number
Tell us about your business
A short form made for tilers:
- Your business name and first name
- Working hours and the area you cover
- What you do, in plain words
- Your call-out fee, only if you want callers told
- Whether you take emergencies out of hours
- Anything else callers should know
- Walls, floors, wet rooms, or all three
- Whether you supply tiles or the customer does
- Trade work for fitters and builders, domestic, or both
Switch on divert
One code on your mobile sends calls you do not answer within 20 seconds to your While You Work line. Turn it off whenever you like.
Get the details in a minute
Every caller is greeted in your business name. You get the details a minute later, and the caller gets a text saying you will ring back.
Questions
Questions from tilers
Will it give prices per square metre?
Only if you add them in the set-up form. Otherwise callers are told you will quote after seeing the job.
Can it book jobs into my diary?
Yes, on the Business plan. It offers the caller your real free times, books the job and texts them a confirmation, with your deposit link if you take deposits. On Pro it can text the caller your booking link instead, and on Starter it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.
How much does it cost?
Starter is £39, Pro £69 and Business £129 a month + VAT, for 50, 150 or 400 calls a month. The first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 a month + VAT for their first 12 months. There is no contract, and if you cancel within 14 days of your line going live you get a full refund.
Will it take a job from another trade?
Yes. Fitters and builders are the bread and butter for many tilers. It takes the site, the dates and who is asking, and the message shows it as a trade enquiry.
Can it tell callers I need the tiles on site first?
Yes, if you put that in the set-up form. It repeats your requirement word for word when a caller asks about timing.
More detail: how the AI receptionist works, the call answering service behind it, what a virtual receptionist does, what to charge as a tiler, what a missed call costs, UK call answering prices and how we compare.
Source: Fix Radio survey of more than 220 UK tradespeople, reported by PHAM News, October 2022.
Try it on the calls you miss this week
Free for 7 days, no card, and you keep your own number. The next time you are under a sink or up a ladder, your receptionist takes the call and the details are in your inbox before you have washed your hands. Plans from £39 a month plus VAT after that, and the first 50 UK businesses get Pro for £49 plus VAT for 12 months.
Also set up for plasterers, handymen and property maintenance, pest control, window cleaners, removal companies, mechanics and garages, and for every other kind of business.