Forty minutes each way for a hallway
An enquiry comes in: can you paint my hallway? No photos, no postcode. You ring, get the address, and drive out on Saturday. It is a small hallway in good condition, a simple job. You could have priced it from two photos. The customer gets three prices and goes with the cheapest. That is half a Saturday gone.
Meanwhile a bigger enquiry, a full house repaint with high ceilings, has been waiting for a visit since Tuesday.
Why every enquiry becomes a visit
Decorators price by looking, and without information the only way to look is to go. Enquiries arrive through websites, directories and social media with very little detail, and asking for more takes time.
- Enquiries come without photos or sizes.
- The postcode is often missing.
- Small and large jobs are handled the same way.
- Visits are booked in the order enquiries arrive.
- Work you do not do is not filtered out.
What the unnecessary visits cost
Time and fuel spent on visits for jobs you could have priced remotely, or jobs you would never win. Big jobs wait longer for a visit. And the owner's evenings and weekends disappear.
Visits for small jobs are also the ones least likely to convert. A customer who wants a single room painted is often gathering several prices and will decide on price alone. Spending half a day on a visit for that kind of enquiry is rarely worth it, while a quick estimate from photos gives you a fair chance at the job for a fraction of the time.
Meanwhile the jobs you most want, full house repaints, period properties and commercial work, need your attention and a proper survey. When visits are booked in the order enquiries arrive, those jobs wait behind hallways and single bedrooms.
The enquiry flow we build
- Every enquiry gets a reply asking for what you need: postcode, rooms, rough sizes, ceiling height, photos of each room including woodwork, and timing.
- The customer uploads photos from their phone through a link, with prompts for the angles you want.
- An AI step reads the answers and photos, and sorts each enquiry by rules you set: small and simple, needs a visit, outside your area, or not work you do. Anything uncertain goes to a person.
- For small and simple jobs, the owner sees an estimate range worked out from your rates and the room sizes, checks it, and sends it with a note that it will be confirmed on the day.
- Enquiries needing a visit are offered slots from your diary, with bigger jobs prioritised if you choose.
- Outcomes are recorded, so you can see which enquiries turn into work.
| Enquiry | Route |
|---|---|
| Single room, good photos | Estimate range from photos, owner checks |
| Full house, high ceilings | Visit booked |
| Poor photos | Asked for more |
| Outside area | Polite reply |
| Not your work | Polite reply, referral if you have one |
An estimate from photos is always an estimate. How you word it, and when you confirm the price, is your decision.
Weekends back
Small jobs get a price the same day without a visit. Visits are for jobs that need them. Customers appreciate a quick answer. And the owner spends Saturdays on big jobs, or not working at all.
Is this your enquiry process?
- You visit every enquiry, however small.
- Enquiries arrive with no photos or sizes.
- Bigger jobs wait for a visit.
- You have driven out to jobs you did not want.
- You price in the evenings and at weekends.