The deck call comes at seven on a Sunday, from someone standing on soft boards. Answer it.
Deck buyers call when they are out back looking at the old deck, which means evenings and weekends, when your crew is off and the owner is at a kid's game. An AI receptionist written for a deck company picks up as your business, asks the questions your designer would ask, books the consult, and treats a closing date like the emergency it is.
Weekend calls, long questions and a few that cannot wait
The deck call is a conversation. The homeowner wants to know whether you build second-story decks, whether composite is worth it, whether they need a permit, how soon you could look, and what it might cost, and they want to be heard before they are booked. An answering service that takes a name cannot do that, and voicemail on a Sunday evening sends them to the next builder's site. A receptionist built on your designer's questions can carry that conversation, answer what you have approved, and end with a consult on the calendar.
Most of those calls can wait until Monday for the designer to drive out. A few cannot. A seller with a home inspection report and a closing date, a listing agent who needs a repair signed off, a guard that gave way at a party, a limb through the boards with an insurance adjuster coming: those need a person today, and the receptionist has to recognize them, collect the report and the date, and wake up whoever you say.
What an AI receptionist for a deck company has to do
The script comes from your designer's consult checklist, and you approve what it says and what it refuses to say.
Sort the call in the first minute
New deck, replacement, repair, home-sale repair with a closing date, or storm damage with a claim. Each path asks different questions and ends in a different place on your calendar or your phone.
Ask what the designer needs before the drive
Attached or freestanding, roughly how high off the ground, approximate size, material they are leaning toward, whether a hot tub is planned, whether there is an HOA, and whether they have a survey. The answers land on the lead so the designer arrives knowing the shape of the job.
Book the consult by town and by designer
Consult slots offered by the area the designer covers that day, with a confirmation text that lists what to gather: photos of the old deck, whatever survey or plat they have, and any association rules.
Handle the permit and price questions carefully
It says plainly that permit rules vary by town, that you pull permits where they are required and confirm the requirement for every job, and that pricing follows the consult because height, stairs and railing move it. A starting range is given only if you approve one.
Treat a closing date as urgent
A home inspection report with a closing date, a failed guard or storm damage gets flagged, the report is requested by text, and your urgent rule fires, whether that is a call to the owner or a same-day slot.
Hand off agents, inspectors and anyone who asks
Realtors and inspectors who send you work are routed to a person with a summary ahead of them, as is anyone disputing an invoice or asking for the owner.
How we set it up for a deck builder
You read the script before it takes a call, and the number on your truck stays as it is.
Your number and your coverage hours
It answers when nobody on your team picks up within the rings you set, or evenings and weekends only, or every call during the spring rush. Callers keep dialing the number on your truck.
A script from the consult checklist
We sit with your designer, take the questions asked at every consult and the answers you give on every call, and write the script from them, including a list of what it must never promise.
Season modes
In winter it takes spring consult bookings and tells callers how far the build calendar already runs, spring handles overflow and says the true wait, and a storm mode moves damage calls to the front with a claim-friendly set of questions.
Uploads requested by text
Once the call ends, a text goes out from your business line with a link for deck photos, the inspection report, the survey and the HOA rules, and the uploads attach to the lead before the designer reads it.
Logged on the lead, digested each evening
Transcript, summary, the booked consult or the urgent flag, recorded where your state permits it and the caller is told, with a nightly digest so the owner reviews Sunday's calls over Monday's coffee.
What you own on day one.
Every account is opened in your company's name with you as the owner. If you ever leave, you change a password, not your business.
- Domain, hosting and the site files
- Phone numbers and call recordings
- The CRM and its database
- Email and text lists, with consent records
- Google Business Profile and every listing
- Analytics and Search Console
AI Reception for deck building, answered.
Can it quote a square-foot price?
Only a range you approve, framed the way your designer frames it: height, stairs, railing, lighting and tear-out change it. Most deck builders let it describe the drivers and schedule the consult, because the number depends on the house wall and the grade.
What does it say about permits?
That permit and inspection rules vary by town, that you handle permits where they are required and confirm each town's requirement for every job. It does not tell a caller they do or do not need one; the building department does.
How does it handle a seller with a closing date?
It collects the closing date, asks for the inspection report by text, flags the lead urgent and follows your rule, which for most builders is a call to the owner or a same-day slot. The agent gets a text saying someone is on it.
Will it talk to a realtor or an inspector?
Yes. It recognizes partner callers you list, asks what the report says and what the deadline is, and routes them to a person or books the repair visit directly, your choice.
Do callers know they are talking to an AI?
It identifies itself as your company's assistant on the greeting, and where recording applies it tells the caller. Some states require that automated calls be disclosed, and the greeting is set for your state. Anyone who wants a human can ask, and your routing rules decide who picks up.
AI Reception for deck building. Owned by you.
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