Answering service for contractors · solo owner-operators + shops under 10 trucks
Whoever responds first wins the job. You're under a sink. hank's voicemail responds.
You run a contracting business — plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, landscaping, handyman, maybe two of those. The phone rings while you're 12 feet up a ladder or driving between jobs. Your voicemail offers press-2-to-text. The customer presses 2, an SMS thread opens with hank, he qualifies whether it's a real emergency or a routine booking, reads back your service-call fee, and sends you a clean job card. No app for the customer. Same number they always called.
● 30 days free · set up in 5 minutes · cancel anytime
· no app for the customer· keep your number· press-2-to-text inside your voicemail
· set up yourself in 5 minutes· direct line to the founder
The math
78% of customers hire whoever picks up first. Voicemail is the same as losing.
78%
of customers hire the first contractor who picks up — not the cheapest, not the highest-rated
37%
of inbound calls to small home-service businesses go unanswered during the workday
85%
of customers who hit voicemail don't leave one — they call the next contractor on Google
5 min
is the median window before a homeowner with an urgent problem calls a second shop
Estimates based on public industry benchmarks (BrightLocal, ServiceTitan, Jobber) cross-checked with trade-forum threads.
How hank works
Three steps. Set up between two service calls.
STEP 01
Pick your trade(s)
Plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, landscaping, handyman — hank already knows the right questions to ask. Tell him your service area, service-call fee, hours, what counts as an emergency. Five minutes.
STEP 02
Forward your missed calls
One toggle. hank's voicemail picks up after four rings — or instantly when you flip 'on a job.' Customers call the same number. Nothing changes on their end.
STEP 03
Read the job card
Customer presses 2, texts with hank, gets booked. You read a clean card on your phone: name, address, problem, time slot, quoted fee. Tap to confirm.
Read hank
He texts like the office manager who's been at your shop for ten years.
hank doesn't read a script. He knows your trade, your service area, your service-call fee, the brands you carry, and what you triage over the phone before rolling a truck. The thread reads like it's coming from someone who's been at the shop for ten years — because that's the only way an answering service is worth the money.
Sample thread · multi-trade homeowner
Ridgeline Home Services · SMS after press-2
Ridgeline Home Services · iMessage
Hey — sorry we missed your call to Ridgeline Home Services. What's going on?
kind of two things — kitchen sink is draining slow, and the light over the sink is flickering. are those related?
Probably not — slow drain is plumbing, flicker is electrical. Good news: we do both. Want us to handle them on the same visit?
yeah that would be great
Easy. Service call is $99 to roll the truck — covers the diagnosis on both. Repair quotes happen on-site. We've got an opening tomorrow at 10. What's the address?
3215 Ridgeline Ct
Booked. You'll get a confirmation now and the tech will text on his way over.
What's in the box
Everything a receptionist would do for a contracting shop, except cheaper and never sick.
Knows what an emergency is
Burst pipe, no heat in winter, no AC in a heat wave, half-dark house, active roof leak — hank routes those to you immediately. Slow drain on a Tuesday afternoon? Booked for Thursday.
Knows your service-call fee
You tell hank what you charge to roll the truck — $89, $129, $150 — he repeats it back to the customer before booking. He doesn't price the repair.
Captures the address right
Street, unit, gate code, dog warning, where to park the trailer. Your tech rolls in prepared. No call-back to ask basic questions.
Texts the customer a confirmation
Time window, the truck's number, day-of heads-up. The customer feels handled. You don't have to type a thing.
Handles multi-trade shops
If you run plumbing and electrical, or landscaping and snow removal, hank knows which crew the job needs and books to the right slot. One number, multiple trades.
Flags work that needs you
Multi-unit estimates, HOA contracts, big design-build, commercial roofing — hank flags those for you instead of trying to quote them. He knows where his lane ends.
Tracks every missed call
See who called, what they wanted, what hank said, what came of it. Including the calls you used to never know about.
Lands on your calendar
Google Calendar today. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, FieldEdge, LMN, Aspire integrations coming soon — tell us what you need.
FAQ
Stuff contractors ask before they sign up.
Will it feel like the shop?
Yes — hank texts the way your office manager would. He knows your trade, your hours, your service area, your trip charge. Real callers we've tested it on read it as someone at the shop who's been there for years. Try it free for 30 days — if it's not right, cancel before you're charged and you pay $0.
I run two trades — plumbing and HVAC. Does that work?
Yes. Tell hank both. He'll triage the SMS thread to the right crew and book to the right slot. If a homeowner texts about something that's both — like a leaking water heater that's also a no-hot-water situation — he handles it as one job.
How is this different from Smith.ai or Ruby Receptionists?
Both are great human services if you can pay $300+/month and don't mind a receptionist who has never heard of a P-trap or a TXV valve. hank is AI, costs less, runs 24/7 without lunch breaks, and is built for the trades — he knows the difference between a tripped breaker and a real outage, between a hail check and an active leak, between a weekly mow and a hardscape estimate.
How is this different from a missed-call text-back tool?
Text-back tools send 'Sorry we missed you' SMS blindly after the call ended. hank is different: the customer chooses to text by pressing 2 during your voicemail, so the thread opens at their request — and hank actually qualifies the work, quotes the fee, and books the appointment. He doesn't just say sorry.
What if I want to take the call myself?
hank only kicks in after four rings — or when you flip 'on a job' in the app. Take any call you want; hank just covers the ones you'd otherwise miss.
Can I keep my number?
Yes. Customers call the same number they always have. The press-2-to-text prompt lives inside your voicemail greeting — nothing changes on their end.
What about a real emergency at 2am?
hank works 24/7. Non-emergency stuff gets booked for the next morning. True emergencies — burst pipe, no heat, sewage, active roof leak, half-dark house — get flagged to your phone so you can decide whether to call back yourself. You set what counts.
Does it work with my dispatch software?
Today hank books straight into Google Calendar. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber, JobNimbus, AccuLynx, FieldEdge, LMN, Aspire integrations are on the roadmap — just ask us about what you actually need.
Can it triage before sending a truck?
Yes. Tripped breaker reset, water-shutoff for a leak, thermostat check before dispatching for no-AC — hank does basic triage over text. You stop rolling on calls that resolve themselves.
How much does it cost vs. a human answering service?
Most human answering services for the trades run $250–$600/month and charge per minute, rounded up to the nearest 30 seconds. hank is meaningfully cheaper. $149/mo flat — and your first 30 days are free. No per-minute games.
How do I get started?
Pick your trade(s) in the app, give hank your shop name and service-call fee, flip the switch. Most contractors are live the same afternoon. We’ll walk you through setup if you want, so the voice and the triage match how you actually run.
Other trades hank serves
Stop letting voicemail decide who books the next job.
Free for 30 days. Then $149/mo — cancel anytime.
$149/month flat, free for your first 30 days. Set up yourself in about 5 minutes — or we’ll walk you through it.