A WhatsApp AI agent for plumbers, electricians and small trade businesses: answer call-out fees and service areas, triage emergencies, collect photos and details for a quote, and book the job while you are under a sink
A tradesperson's hands are busy and dirty for most of the day, which is exactly when the next job messages. Half the messages are routine (quote for a bathroom, a socket that stopped working, when can you come) and some are not (water pouring through the ceiling). Both deserve an answer in seconds, and the second deserves a phone call.
Quick answer
Give a WhatsApp AI agent your service area, call-out fee and hourly or fixed rates, typical job prices, hours, emergency policy and a list of what counts as urgent, and it answers enquiries immediately, asks for photos and the details a quote needs, books routine jobs into time windows you define, and flags emergencies to you with the address and a request to call. The quote and the emergency response stay with you. ReplyKit runs this from $29 a month on your business number.
Urgent or routine
Give the agent a short list of what is urgent for your trade: active leak, no water, no power to the whole property, burning smell, gas smell (tell them to call the gas emergency line first), sewage backing up. When a message matches, the agent replies with one line ("That sounds urgent. Turn off the mains stopcock if you can; {name} will call you within {n} minutes"), collects the address, and hands over with an alert. Everything else goes through the routine flow. Emergency wording for your region is yours to write; the agent quotes it. The alert routine is in escalation rules for your agent.
Routine jobs: details, photos, booking
- The agent asks what the problem is, where (room, fixture), and for a photo or short video; it describes what it sees so the job arrives with context.
- It gives the call-out fee and a typical price range from your list ("Tap replacement usually {range} plus parts"), never a fixed quote unless your list has one.
- It checks the postcode against your service area and declines politely outside it.
- It offers time windows you define (morning, afternoon, next-day) and books one, with a reminder the day before and a request that someone be home.
- The job lands in your list with the address, photos and description. The quoting method is in handling quotation requests.
What the tradesperson keeps
What stays with a person:
- Emergency response and the phone call.
- Fixed quotes for anything beyond the standard price list.
- Diagnosing from a photo; the agent describes, you diagnose.
- Scheduling changes on the day while you are on a job.
- Complaints and warranty on previous work.
Everything else, which is most of the volume, the agent handles, and when it is unsure it says so and offers a human rather than guessing; see why the agent says it is not sure.
Running it day to day
Check the inbox between jobs for handovers and the "Needs you" column. Keep the service area and price list current; a price list the agent can quote is the single biggest time saver, and the format is in a price list the agent can read. Add after-sales and warranty wording from after-sales and warranty claims. A two-person firm uses the Growth plan with one number per van, each booking into its own calendar.
One honest note before the setup. ReplyKit connects to your number by QR pairing, the same linked-device mechanism as WhatsApp Web. It is live in minutes and needs no Meta approval, but Meta does not sanction automation this way, so a number can be restricted. We enforce limits of 30 replies an hour and 200 a day per number with a warm-up ramp for new numbers, reply to inbound messages only, and recommend a dedicated number rather than your main line. The full picture is in our ban guide.
Starter at $29 a month covers one number, one agent, one website assistant and 1,000 AI replies; Growth at $49 adds two more numbers, five agents and follow-up nudges; the 7-day free trial needs no card. Replies you receive and messages you send yourself are free; only the agent's own messages count. Pricing is in USD and the service works in any country where WhatsApp does. What it costs in practice.
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent handle emergencies?
It recognises urgent messages from your list, gives one line of safety guidance you wrote, collects the address and hands over with an alert for you to call. It does not dispatch.
Does it quote jobs?
It gives your call-out fee and typical price ranges from your list, and collects photos and details for you to quote.
Can it book jobs?
Yes, into time windows you define, with a reminder the day before.
What about customers outside my area?
It checks your service area and declines politely, optionally suggesting a colleague you name.
Does it understand photos of the problem?
It describes what it sees and attaches the photo to the job. Diagnosis stays with you.
Jobs booked while your hands are busy
Triage, photos, price ranges and time windows handled; quotes and emergencies stay yours. 7-day free trial, no card.
Sources and further reading
- Harvard Business Review, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Oldroyd, McElheran, Elkington, 2011) · firms that responded within an hour were about seven times more likely to qualify the lead
- WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy · opt-in, opt-out and prohibited-use rules every business must follow
- ReplyKit, Will WhatsApp ban my number for automation? · our own account of the risk and the limits we enforce
ReplyKit is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or WhatsApp. This article is general guidance for running a small business, not legal, financial or regulatory advice.