Who it is for / Carpenters and joiners
With the saw running, the phone goes unheard. While You Work answers the calls you miss in your business name, finds out what the carpentry job is, where it is and when it is needed, and sends you the details a minute later.
Founding members pay £49 and their line switches on as soon as they finish the set-up form. The first week on a live line is free.
On every call
Urgent jobs
Urgent calls are texted to you straight away, and every call is emailed to you.
Real calls
Carpentry calls are rarely emergencies, so what matters is catching the quote request before the caller tries the next joiner.
The maths
Say you miss 3 calls a week and two in five of those callers would have booked a fitted-furniture or decking job worth about £600.
3 calls × 40% × £600 = £720 a week. × 52 weeks ÷ 12 = £3,120 a month of work going to someone else. An example: put your own numbers into the missed-call calculator.
Bespoke work is priced on a visit. If the first visit is booked by someone else, the job goes with it.
Timing
Weekday lunchtimes and early evenings, when homeowners have measured up, and the run-up to Christmas when everyone wants the job finished before family arrive. You are usually mid-cut.
What callers hear
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.
What reaches you
Rachel, 07700 900915, BS7 Horfield. Quote for fitted wardrobes in two bedrooms, wants them before Christmas.
Receptionist: Hi, you’re through to Mike’s Joinery. Mike is out on a job at the moment, but I can take the details so he can ring you straight back. Calls are recorded so nothing gets missed. What’s your name?
Caller: Hi, it’s Rachel. I’m after a quote for fitted wardrobes in two bedrooms.
Receptionist: Thanks, Rachel. Is there a date you’d like them in by?
Caller: Ideally before Christmas.
Receptionist: What’s your postcode?
Caller: BS7, in Horfield.
Receptionist: And what’s the best number for Mike to ring you on?
Caller: 07700 900 915.
Receptionist: So that’s 07700 900 915. Is that right?
Caller: Yes, that’s right.
Receptionist: Thanks, Rachel. Mike will ring you back to arrange a time to measure up, and I’m sending you a text now to confirm.
Set up
A short form made for carpenters:
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.
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
Yes. It takes what the customer wants, where, and when they need it, then tells them you will ring back to arrange a visit. It never gives a price unless you have set one.
Yes, with the Voice Booking and Pay module. It offers the caller your real free times, books the job and texts them a confirmation, with your deposit link if you take deposits. Without the module it takes the details and tells the caller you will ring back.
£49 a month including VAT for founding members, locked for as long as you stay, with no contract and the first week free once your line is live.
Yes. If you say so in set-up, it asks for the caller's email so you can request photos and measurements, and it tells them you will do that when you ring back.
Only what you put in the form. Many carpenters add "currently booking about four weeks ahead" so callers know before they wait for a callback.
More detail: 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.
Founding price locked for as long as you stay. No contract. Your line switches on as soon as you finish the set-up form.
Also for plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, locksmiths, decorators and every other kind of business.