AI chatbots for tradies — quote requests while you're on the tools
While you're on a roof or under a sink, your chatbot is answering enquiries, qualifying leads and capturing contact details. Here's how it works for trade businesses.
If you're a tradie, your phone is both your lifeline and your biggest distraction. Missed calls while on a job mean missed work. But stopping to answer the same questions over and over — call-out fees, service areas, availability — also costs you time.
An AI chatbot doesn't replace your phone. It handles the first contact so you only pick up for the jobs that matter.
What a tradie chatbot actually does
- Answers common questions instantly — fees, areas you service, what jobs you take, your process.
- Qualifies the lead — asks for suburb, job type, and rough urgency before handing over to you.
- Captures contact details — name, number and email, even at 11pm on a Sunday.
- Sets expectations — tells customers your typical turnaround, what a site visit involves, how to prepare.
Real example: A Brisbane electrician
One Pivra customer — a two-person electrical business in Brisbane — was spending 45 minutes a day answering the same pre-job questions via text and email.
After training a chatbot on their service list, pricing guide, service areas and a simple FAQ, they went from 45 minutes to about 5 minutes of initial contact work per day. The bot answers the common questions. They only respond to jobs that are already qualified.
"I set it up on a Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning it had already answered three enquiries I would have missed."
How to set it up for your trade business
1. Write down the 10 questions you answer most
Most tradies get the same questions. Write them down with your actual answers. This becomes your core training data.
Common ones:
- What areas do you service?
- What's your call-out fee?
- Do you do emergency callouts?
- How long does [job type] take?
- Are you licensed/insured?
2. Add your website
If you have a website with a services page and about page, add it as a source. The bot will pick up your tone, services and any details already on there.
3. Set up lead capture
In Pivra's lead settings, configure the bot to ask for name, phone and suburb before ending the conversation. This way every chat becomes a lead in your dashboard — whether you're on-site or not.
4. Embed on your website
Grab the install snippet from the Install tab and drop it into your website footer. If you're on Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or a custom site — it's one line of code.
Industries this works well for
- Plumbers — after-hours callouts, hot water systems, drain blockages
- Electricians — safety inspections, new builds, fault finding
- Roofers — repair vs replace queries, storm damage, guttering
- Builders — project enquiries, renovation scope, timeline questions
- Cleaners — service types, pricing, frequency options
Pricing
The free plan gives you 1 bot and 500 messages/month — enough to test whether it works for your business. Most tradies upgrade to Starter ($39/mo) once they see leads coming through overnight.
Try it free — no credit card, no contract, 10 minutes to set up.
