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Contractors lose 30-40% of leads due to slow follow-up and inconsistent quoting. This playbook shows how AI agents qualify leads 24/7, schedule estimates automatically, and reduce quote turnaround from days to hours.
✔️ General contractors, remodeling firms, roofing/siding companies handling 50+ leads/month
✔️ Home service businesses frustrated with lead drop-off and slow quote delivery
✔️ Estimators overwhelmed with site visit scheduling and proposal follow-upIf your team is:
✔️ Responding to leads 12-48 hours after they inquire (losing them to faster competitors)
✔️ Spending 20+ hours/week scheduling estimates and chasing no-shows
✔️ Delivering quotes 5-7 days after site visits (by which time customer hired someone else)...this is for you.
The Problem
Most contractors handle leads manually:
1. Lead comes in via web form, phone, or email (often evenings/weekends).
2. Office staff calls back the next business day (12-48 hour delay).
3. Multiple calls to schedule estimate appointment.
4. Estimator visits site, takes notes, promises quote "in a few days."
5. Quote delivered 5-7 days after visit. Customer already hired someone else.
Meanwhile:
✔️ 30-40% of leads abandon before estimate scheduled.
✔️ No-show rate for estimates: 15-20%.
✔️ Quote-to-close rate: 10-15% (because quotes are slow and follow-up is inconsistent).
Target Outcomes
✔️ Respond to leads in < 5 minutes, 24/7 (even nights and weekends).
✔️ Reduce lead drop-off by 50%** (faster response, better qualification).
✔️ Cut estimate scheduling time by 80%** (AI handles back-and-forth).
✔️ Deliver quotes within 24 hours of site visit (faster turnaround = higher close rate).
✔️ Increase quote-to-close rate by 30-40% (better qualification + speed).
1. Lead Capture:
Lead comes in via web form, phone, SMS, social media. AI responds instantly.
2. Qualification:
AI asks qualifying questions (project type, timeline, budget range, property address, homeowner vs. renter).
3. Estimate Scheduling:
AI accesses estimator calendars and books appointments automatically.
4. Pre-Visit Prep:
AI sends confirmation, reminders, prep checklist. Reduces no-shows.
5. Quote Generation:
After site visit, estimator enters scope. AI generates professional quote and sends to customer.
6. Follow-Up:
AI sends quote, answers basic questions, reminds customer, escalates to sales when ready to proceed.
The key: AI handles speed-critical tasks, estimators focus on site visits and closing deals.
Lead Response Agent: Responds to inquiries instantly via SMS, email, chat. Captures contact info and basic project details.
Qualification Agent: Asks qualifying questions, scores lead (hot/warm/cold), routes high-value leads to estimators immediately.
Scheduling Agent: Accesses estimator calendars, proposes available times, books appointments, sends confirmations and reminders.
Quote Generation Agent: Takes estimator's scope notes and generates professional quote with line items, pricing, terms, payment schedule.
Follow-Up Agent: Sends quote, answers customer questions ("Can I see photos of past projects?" "Do you offer financing?"), sends reminders, escalates to salesperson when customer is ready.
Lead Response Agent — System Instructions
You are a Lead Response Agent for a home improvement company. Respond to every inquiry within 5 minutes.
✔️ Be warm, professional, and helpful.
✔️ Capture: customer name, phone, email, property address, project type (roof, siding, kitchen remodel, etc.), desired timeline, budget range.
✔️ If customer asks for pricing, explain that we provide free estimates after seeing the property: "I'd love to help you get an accurate quote. We offer free estimates—can I schedule one of our project specialists to visit your property this week?"
✔️ Never give pricing without an estimate visit (projects vary too much by scope and condition).
✔️ Hand off to Scheduling Agent once you have basic info.
Qualification Agent — System Instructions
You score leads based on project value, timeline, and fit.
✔️ High-priority (hot leads): projects > $10K, timeline within 3 months, customer owns property, realistic budget expectations. → Escalate to estimator immediately.
✔️ Medium-priority (warm leads): projects $5-10K, timeline 3-6 months, some budget constraints. → Schedule estimate within 3-5 days.
✔️ Low-priority (cold leads): projects < $5K, no timeline, "just shopping around." → Nurture campaign, follow up monthly.
✔️ Disqualify: renters (without landlord approval), unrealistic budget (wants $30K job for $5K), outside service area.
CRM: HubSpot, Salesforce, JobNimbus, JobProgress, Buildertrend.
Scheduling: Calendly, Acuity, SimplyBook.me (integrated with estimator calendars).
Communication: Twilio (SMS), SendGrid (email), Intercom/Drift (chat).
Quote/Proposal Software: Bolster, Joist, CompanyCam (with estimating features).
Payment/Financing: Wisetack, Hearth, GreenSky (financing options to include in quotes).
Lead Quality Control:
✔️ Track lead source and conversion rate by source (which channels deliver best leads?).
✔️ Measure response time: target < 5 minutes for all inquiries.
✔️ Track disqualification reasons (helps refine marketing to attract better leads).
Scheduling & No-Show Management:
✔️ Send reminders 24 hours and 2 hours before appointments.
✔️ Track no-show rate (target < 5% with AI reminders).
✔️ For no-shows, AI automatically offers to reschedule.
Quote Follow-Up:
✔️ Track quote delivery time (target < 24 hours after estimate visit).
✔️ Track quote open rate, response rate, close rate.
✔️ AI follows up at days 1, 3, 7, 14 after quote sent.
✔️ Escalate to salesperson if customer engages but hasn't decided ("I'm comparing a few quotes").
Lead Response Time: Before 12-48 hours → After < 5 minutes (24/7). Target: 100% < 5 min.Lead Drop-Off: Before 30-40% abandon → After 15-20% abandon. Target: 50% reduction.Estimate Scheduling Time: Before 20+ hours/week → After 3-5 hours/week. Target: 80% reduction.No-Show Rate: Before 15-20% → After < 5%. Target: 70% reduction.Quote Delivery Time: Before 5-7 days → After < 24 hours. Target: 80% faster.Quote-to-Close Rate: Before 10-15% → After 15-25%. Target: 30-50% improvement.Revenue Impact: More leads convert, faster sales cycle, higher close rate = 30-50% revenue increase.
✔️ General contractors, remodeling firms, roofing/siding companies handling 50+ leads/month
✔️ Home service businesses frustrated with lead drop-off and slow quote delivery
✔️ Estimators overwhelmed with site visit scheduling and proposal follow-upIf your team is:
✔️ Responding to leads 12-48 hours after they inquire (losing them to faster competitors)
✔️ Spending 20+ hours/week scheduling estimates and chasing no-shows
✔️ Delivering quotes 5-7 days after site visits (by which time customer hired someone else)...this is for you.
Not responding fast enough on high-priority leads.
If AI qualifies a lead as hot, it should immediately alert estimator AND schedule within 24-48 hours max.
Generic follow-up messages.
Customers get 5-10 quotes—your follow-up needs to be personalized and valuable, not "Just checking in."**No financing options in quotes.** Many homeowners can't pay $20K upfront—offer financing and mention it prominently.
Ignoring lead sources.
Track which lead sources (Google Ads, referrals, door-knocking) convert best. Double down on winners.
If you don't have capacity to build CRM integrations, scheduling automation, and quote generation workflows, bringing in a team with home services automation experience will get you production-ready in 6-8 weeks.
This playbook is based on patterns we use when deploying AI agent systems for home improvement companies.
If you'd like:
✔️ A system tailored to your specific workflows and tools
✔️ Integration with your existing software stack
✔️ Production-ready deployment in 6-8 weeks
