A consultation with the wrong lead costs you a day
Vandial answers every inquiry, establishes what the project actually is, when they want it done, whether they own the place and roughly what they have budgeted — then books the consultation only for the ones worth driving to.
From $99 a month · Robocalls are never billed
Incoming callElena Castro“We've got the drawings, we just need someone to build it.”
Booked — design consult Tue 2pm, architect's plans in hand
- Evenings
- and weekends, which is when homeowners ring about work on their own house
- Half a day
- is what one unqualified consultation actually costs
- 6 questions
- scope, ownership, timeline, budget, plans, other quotes
This is what your callers hear
The same receptionist a remodeling company gets, answering as the trades we already run. Yours is in the middle — press play.
One remodeling call, and what it left behind
Answered on the second ring. Every field below was captured during the call — nobody typed it in afterwards.
“We've got the drawings, we just need someone to build it.”
Classified0:15
- quote request
- kitchen
- plans exist
Captured0:50
- owner
- plans
- spring start
- $60k band
Booked1:12
- Google Calendar
- Tue 2pm
- qualified
Booked — design consult Tue 2pm, architect's plans in hand
Read the whole remodeling call, line by line
- 0:02Elena Castro: We've got the drawings, we just need someone to build it.
- 0:05Vandial: That's the best kind of call. What's the project — kitchen, extension, whole house?
- 0:13Elena Castro: Full kitchen refit. We're keeping the layout, so no walls coming down.
- 0:15Classified — quote request · kitchen · plans exist
- 0:23Vandial: And you own the property? Some of our inquiries turn out to be tenants.
- 0:29Elena Castro: Yes, ours. We've been here six years.
- 0:35Vandial: When were you hoping to start, and have you set a rough budget?
- 0:47Elena Castro: Spring, and we've allowed around forty thousand.
- 0:50Captured — owner · plans · spring start · $60k band
- 1:04Vandial: Tuesday at two for the consultation. Bring the drawings — Elena will want to see them.
- 1:12Booked — Google Calendar · Tue 2pm · qualified
Answered, understood, booked
One number, picked up on the second ring — at 2am, on a Sunday, while you're already working. By the time the caller hangs up, it is in your calendar.
It answers
Answered while you're on site with a nail gun going, which is where most contractor inquiries currently reach a voicemail greeting.
- 0:00Incoming call
- 0:02Answered by Vandial2 rings
- 0:05“Hello, Marlow Plumbing.”
It understands
Scope, ownership, timeline, budget band and whether plans exist — captured in one call, so the calendar fills with consultations worth driving to.
- Job
- Water heater — leaking
- Where
- 14 Marlow Street
- Access
- Side gate, dog in yard
- Urgency
- Today if possible
- Still on
It books
Booked into your calendar with the whole qualification attached, and a confirmation text telling them to have the drawings ready.
Text to Dave · 13:01
You’re booked for today, 1–2pm. Reply R to move it.
It asks what you would ask
These are the questions the agent runs for contractors, and the operational reason each one exists. Change them, add your own, or take them out — they are configuration, not code.
What's the project, in your own words?
A kitchen, an extension and a whole-house refurbishment are three different companies' worth of work. Scope first.
Do you own the property?
A tenant cannot authorise a remodel. This one question removes a meaningful share of the wasted consultations in this trade.
When are you hoping to start?
Separates a spring project from someone who is idly wondering, and it decides whether the consultation happens this month or next.
Have you set a budget range?
Asked plainly, once. Not to disqualify, but so nobody spends a morning designing an $80k kitchen for a $20k budget.
Have you got drawings, or are we starting from scratch?
Plans in hand is a completely different sales process from an idea, and it decides who should attend.
Have you got other quotes already?
Tells you whether this is a first conversation or a price comparison, which changes what the consultation should be.
More than a answering service for contractors
An answering service takes a message and charges you for it. Vandial knows your prices, your patch and your diary — so it books the job, or puts a real emergency straight through to you.
It picks up out of hours, and while your line is busy
A remodeling consultation is half a day between the drive, the measure and the conversation. The cost of this business is not missed calls so much as accepted ones — and qualifying on the phone is what separates the two.
It knows your prices, your patch and your hours
Tell it your minimum project size, the work you take, your area and whether you do design-and-build or build-only. It declines what does not fit politely instead of putting it in your calendar for a Tuesday afternoon.
What it knows
Consultation
Free, 1 hour
Minimum project
$20,000
Service area
25 miles
We take
Design and build, or build only
What matters reaches you. The rest waits
Inquiries arrive during the working day and go unanswered because everyone is on a site. Vandial takes them on the second ring, which in a trade with a long sales cycle is the difference between being in the running and never being called back.
Your rule: if they say gas, flood or no heat — ring Sam, then me.
Every call written up, tagged and searchable
Quotes are tracked as a state, not a PDF. The ones that have gone quiet are visible, and they can be followed up on a schedule rather than whenever someone remembers — which in this trade is where most recovered revenue comes from.
Dave Whitfield · Sunday, 4m 12s
Water heater, leaking
Leaking from the base. Booked for Tuesday 1–2pm. Side gate open, dog in the yard. Asked whether the service call fee applies — told $99, waived on repair.
What it will never do
You are handing your phone to something that talks to your customers when you are not there. These are the lines it does not cross in remodeling, and the words it uses instead.
It never prices a project
Nothing about a remodel is quotable from a description — the price is in the walls, the services, the levels and the finish. The agent captures the budget the customer volunteers and books the consultation, and it does not repeat a per-square-metre figure it read somewhere.
What it actually says
“I couldn't give you a real number without seeing it, and a wrong one would just waste both our time. The consultation's free and you'll get a proper written quote.”
It won't commit to a start date
Your schedule depends on the jobs currently running, the ones that have overrun and the trades you can get. The agent books the consultation, not the build, and it says so — a promised start date that slips is how a job that went well still ends badly.
What it actually says
“I can book the consultation for Tuesday, but I'm not going to promise you a start date before we've priced it — I'd rather be right than quick.”
Structural questions go to a person
Whether a wall can come out, whether the foundations will take it, whether it needs building control or planning — the agent captures the question and routes it. It does not offer an opinion on structure, because being wrong about that in a sales call is how a project starts on a false premise.
What it actually says
“Whether that wall's structural isn't something I should guess at. I've made a note and Elena will go through it properly on Tuesday.”
The job lands where you already work
Google, Outlook, Apple, Exchange, CalDAV — whichever calendar you already keep. Then your payments, your CRM, and whatever you automate with.
…and a lot more besides
- Warm transfersWarm transfersAnnounced — who is calling and why, before you take the line.
- Spam never billedSpam never billedRobocalls are spotted, zero-rated, and never become a customer.
- A number per sourceA number per sourceVan, yard sign, Google listing — see which line brings the work.
- Team & on-callTeam & on-callTries you, then a second number, then whoever is on call.
- Run it by textRun it by textReply to a text to move a job, block a morning, clear a day.
- Clear a day, everyone toldClear a day, everyone toldCall off a wet Tuesday; every customer is told and re-offered.
- Never invents an answerNever invents an answerNo price or slot it was not given. It takes a message instead.
- Any trade, no codeAny trade, no codeGoal, questions and guardrails are settings, not a rebuild.
What contractors say before they say yes
Three objections, in the words they are usually put in. Where the objection is right, it says so.
“I don't need more leads. I need fewer bad ones.”
Then this is the part worth reading. You set a minimum project size and the work you take, and it declines the rest politely rather than putting a Tuesday afternoon in your calendar that you will regret. The filtering is the feature; the answering is incidental.
“Asking about budget puts people off.”
Asked once, plainly, framed as making the consultation useful, it does not — and it asks for a range rather than a figure, and never refuses anyone who declines to say. What genuinely puts people off is spending an hour designing something and then hearing the number was never possible.
“It'll promise a start date I can't hit.”
It books the consultation and nothing else, and it says so on the call. Your schedule depends on jobs currently running and trades you have not confirmed, and a promised date that slips damages a project that otherwise went well.
Remodeling questions, answered
What contractors ask before handing over their phone number — and what a answering service for contractors can and cannot do for you.
Will it price a job?
No. Nothing about a remodel is quotable from a description — the price is in what is behind the wall. It captures the budget band the customer volunteers, which is a different thing, and it books the consultation.
Does asking about budget put people off?
Asked once, plainly, framed as making the consultation useful, it does not. What does put people off is spending an hour designing something and then discovering the number was never possible. The agent asks for a range, not a figure, and it does not refuse anyone who declines to say.
Can it turn away work that's too small?
Yes. You set a minimum project size and the kinds of work you take, and it declines the rest politely with a suggestion rather than booking a consultation you will regret. That single filter is what most contractors say they wanted from an answering service and never got.
Will it promise a start date?
Never. It books the consultation. Your schedule depends on jobs that are currently running and trades you have not confirmed, and a promised date that slips damages a job that otherwise went well.
What about structural or planning questions?
Captured and routed to you, not answered. Whether a wall is structural or whether something needs planning permission is not a question a phone agent should have an opinion on, and being wrong about it starts the whole project on a false premise.
Can it chase quotes that have gone quiet?
Yes. A quote is a job state rather than a document, so the ones sitting unanswered are visible and can be followed up by text on the schedule you set. Long sales cycles are exactly where quiet follow-up pays.
What does it cost?
Three paid rungs — Starter, Professional and Business — differing only in how many unique customers you answer for in a month. Call flows, team members and full call history are unlimited on all of them. Robocalls are identified and never billed.
Already decided you want AI to answer it?
Then the question is which one, and that is a different page: what a generic AI receptionist gets wrong on a remodeling call, and what is configurable about this one.
Not your trade?
The agent's questions, urgency rules, escalations and vocabulary are all configuration. Nothing about a trade is hard-coded, which is why there are 31 of these and not one.