Every lighting call answered in November, when the whole company is on a ladder.
From the first October cold snap until takedown, nobody at a lighting company is near a phone. The calls that come in those weeks are the season's revenue, and a voicemail sends the caller to the next installer on the list. The AI receptionist answers as your company, sorts the call, collects what the designer needs and books or waitlists it.
The calls come in a six-week burst, and each one is a different kind of call
A lighting company's phone is quiet in July and overwhelmed in November. Staffing an office for the burst makes no sense, and leaving it to the crew lead's cell phone means the call rings while he is forty feet up on a ridgeline. The caller in November is usually standing in their driveway looking at the neighbor's finished display, and they are calling every installer whose name they can find until one answers.
The calls are not all the same. A new homeowner wants a quote and needs to be asked about stories, roofline and trees, then texted a link to send a photo. A returning customer wants to know when their install is and whether they can add the back patio. A customer whose display went dark on a Saturday night wants it fixed before the party. A property manager wants a proposal for an HOA entrance. In March, a caller wants permanent lighting and has never heard of your Christmas work. An answering service that writes down a name and number handles none of those correctly; a receptionist written for your company handles each one differently.
What an AI receptionist for a lighting company has to do
Ours is written from how your season actually runs, and the script is what you are buying.
Sort returning customers from new ones first
A returning customer is matched to their record and gets their install window, their saved design and the option to add to it. A new caller gets the quote questions. Treating both the same wastes the easiest sale.
Collect what a photo quote needs
Address, number of stories, what they want lit (roofline, peaks, trees, bushes, wreaths), whether they have had lights installed before, and a text link to send a photo of the front of the house. The designer prices it from the office that night.
Hold a date or run the waitlist honestly
When dates are open, the receptionist offers the earliest install window and holds it for the period you set while the quote goes out. When the calendar is full, it says so plainly, takes the waitlist details and explains that next year's booking opens first to the waitlist.
Triage a dark display
It asks whether the whole display or one section is out, whether the timer and the outlet have power, and whether anything came down in wind, then opens a service ticket with a priority and, for a whole-display outage before an event, alerts your on-call crew lead.
Route commercial and permanent lighting inquiries
A storefront, office park or HOA entrance goes to whoever writes commercial proposals, with a summary texted ahead. A permanent lighting inquiry in April gets the permanent lighting questions and a consult booking, not the Christmas script.
Never invent a price
It can explain what drives the quote (stories, footage, trees, leased versus owned lights) and that quotes come from a photo, and it can share a starting range only if you approve one. The number comes from your designer.
How we set it up for a lighting company
Customers keep dialing the number they know, and every line is yours to approve before it goes live.
Season modes
Booking open, filling fast, waitlist only, takedown season and off-season permanent lighting, each with its own greeting, questions and calendar rules. You change the mode; the receptionist changes what it says.
A script in your words
We interview you about your packages, your ownership model, your install window, your towns and your service policy, then write every line. You approve the script and the list of things it may not say.
Photo links by text
After a quote call, the caller gets a text from your business number with a link to upload the house photo. The photo attaches to the lead in your CRM before the designer sits down.
Calls logged to the property
A transcript, a summary and the booked window or ticket land on the customer record, with a digest to the owner each evening so you can review the day from the truck.
Handoff rules you set
Anyone who asks for a person, any commercial caller, any dispute about ownership or a deposit, and any whole-display outage goes to a human by the route you choose.
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 holiday & permanent lighting, answered.
Will it tell callers we are sold out?
Yes, if that is the mode you set, and it will say it kindly: dates for this season are full, here is how the waitlist works, and here is when next year's booking opens. A clear no that captures the lead beats a vague maybe that loses it.
Can it book a returning customer's rebook on the call?
Yes. It confirms the saved design, reads back this season's price if you have set one, offers the install windows you have open for renewals and sends the deposit link by text. The rebook shows in the CRM the same minute.
How does it handle a dark display call at seven on a Saturday night?
It asks the triage questions, opens a ticket with a photo request, and if the whole display is out before an event it follows your on-call rule, which may be a text to the crew lead or a scheduled visit the next morning. The customer gets a text saying what happens next.
What does it do in the spring?
It answers as your company for permanent lighting, asks the questions that quote needs (eave length, stories, existing soffit lighting, app interest) and books the consult. Early rebook calls from past customers are handled with the saved design on file.
Can it quote per-foot pricing?
Only a range you approve, and only when you want it to. Most lighting companies have it explain what moves the price and book the photo quote instead, because the roofline is never quite what the caller thinks.
AI Reception for holiday & permanent lighting. Owned by you.
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