Straight talk on running the front of a plumbing shop
No fluff, no “5 tips” filler — the money math and trade-offs behind calls, quotes, and booking. Written by the CrewMate team, the people building the AI front office for plumbers. When we cite industry stats, we say where they’re from; when we compare answering services, we use their published prices.
A three-way cost and capability comparison for plumbing shops: $2,800–$4,500/mo to hire, $235–$939/mo for a service, $99–$349 flat for an AI front office — plus the 9 p.m. problem and the vacation problem.
Where human operators genuinely win, what they cost per minute, what AI does better — and why the real question isn’t AI vs human, it’s answered vs unanswered.
The honest math: 62% missed calls × your close rate × your average ticket, worked step by step for a two-truck shop — with a calculator to run your own numbers.
Want the short version instead? The pricing page has the flat CAD numbers, and the missed-call calculator has yours.
Enough reading — hear it answer a call.
Fifteen minutes, live on a real phone line: the AI answers, quotes a ballpark from a price book, and books the job while you watch.