Ansela / Who it’s for / Painters and decorators
For painters and decorators
Cutting in with a loaded brush is no time to answer. She can.
Ansela answers in your business’s name while you’re mid-wall, takes which rooms, inside or out and any date they’re working to, and books the quote visit into your diary.
£1.99 your first month, including VAT, then from £99 a month + VAT. 60 minutes in month one. No contract.
Set up in about 15 minutes.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
Is there an answering service for painters and decorators?
Yes. Ansela is an AI phone receptionist for painters and decorators. She answers in your firm’s name while you’re up a ladder, asks which rooms, inside or out, and any date the customer is working to, then books the quote visit into your Ansela diary. Plans start at £99 a month + VAT.
01
The call she took while the brush was loaded
A job that grows by a landing and the skirting as the caller talks, and a deadline she won’t promise. Craig sees all of it before Saturday.
Example call; Lyall Decorating and the caller are made up.
This call may be recorded. Thank you for calling Lyall Decorating. Please hold for a moment while I connect you.Recorded, and played before she picks up.
Lyall Decorating, Ansela speaking. How can I help?
Hiya. We’re selling the house and the hall and stairs need doing before the photos. Well, hall, stairs and landing. And maybe the woodwork, the skirting’s a state.
Craig can come and quote for all of that. What’s the postcode?
EH10 4SR.
EH10 4SR. When are the photos booked?
Week on Friday. Is that mad?
I can’t promise a date, but Craig will see that before he quotes. He can come Wednesday at half five or Saturday at nine.
Wednesday. Oh, no, I’ve got parents’ evening. Saturday.
Saturday at nine. Can I take a name and a number?
Siobhan Kelly. 07700 900631.
Thanks Siobhan. Booked for Saturday at nine, and Craig knows about the photos.
02
What she does for a decorator, and what she won’t
Your answers, your area, your rules: what you take on, inside or out, wallpaper or not, and how far ahead you’re booked.
- Quote visits, booked into your diary at the end of the day or on a Saturday, whenever you keep them.
- Which rooms, inside or out, and any date the customer’s working to, written up for you.
- “Do you hang wallpaper?” and “Are you insured?” answered from your own list.
- The customer from last month ringing about a touch-up, taken while you’re cutting in.
- Won’t price a job from a description. She books the quote visit.
- Won’t promise a start date you haven’t given her. The caller’s deadline goes in the notes for you.
03
What happens when a decorator misses a call?
Most people ringing a decorator want a quote, and they ring three. The first one to answer usually gets the visit. If your phone is in a jacket pocket on the landing while you’re cutting in, that caller has already moved on to the next name by the time you have washed the brush.
A lot of the calls come with a date attached: house sale photos, a new tenant, a christening at home. A missed call and a message to ring back is a slow way to learn about a deadline.
04
What does an AI receptionist ask someone who wants a room painted?
Whatever you’ve told her matters. Usually that is the postcode first, then which rooms, whether it’s inside or out, whether there’s woodwork, ceilings or wallpaper to strip, and whether the customer is working to a date. She writes it up so you know what you’re walking into before you quote.
She can also answer the questions that eat your evenings, like whether you hang wallpaper, whether you take exterior work or whether you’re insured, from the answers you’ve written for her. If you don’t do spray work or gloss on old window frames, you tell her and she says so politely.
05
Can she book quote visits and tell people how far ahead I am?
Yes. Quote visits go into your Ansela diary, which you see and change from your phone. Pick the slots you keep for quotes, perhaps an early evening or a Saturday morning, and she offers those. If you’re booked for six weeks, tell her, and she says so in your words and still takes the details.
She doesn’t connect to Google or Outlook, so check both diaries before you book a quote in yourself. She won’t promise a start date you haven’t given her. The caller’s deadline goes in the notes for you.
06
Will she quote a price over the phone?
Only a price you’ve given her, such as a per-room figure you’re happy to say out loud. A job priced from a description is a job you lose money on, so she books the visit instead. The details she takes mean you can often quote from a short visit.
She is only a phone answerer. She gives no advice about damp, paint types or what will cure a stain. Those wait for you.
Plans start at £99 a month + VAT: see what each plan includes. Paying a per-call service now? See how Ansela compares.
07
Where the phone usually is while the brush is loaded
We built Ansela because we kept ringing tradespeople who couldn’t pick up, and then booking someone else. She isn’t a call centre. She answers in your name, says what you’ve told her to say, and writes down what the caller wanted.
If she gets a call wrong, forward us the recording.
Anselahello@ansela.ai
08
How do you set up Ansela?
You choose a plan before your number goes live.
For painters and decorators: keep your current number and divert it to Ansela, or take a new UK business number for your website and cards, or use both.
- Give her your website or your Facebook page. She reads it and comes back with the work you take on and the area you cover for you to check.
- Say when you quote and try her. Pick the evenings or Saturdays you keep for quotes, then have the hall-and-stairs call above with her in your browser.
- Divert your mobile. We give you a UK number. One short code diverts your mobile to it when you don’t pick up. Another turns it off.
09
What does Ansela cost? Three plans, no contract
Starter suits a decorator on his own. Team when there’s a second painter running his own jobs.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.
| Plan | A month + VAT | Minutes | Calls at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| StarterSole traders, one or two vans | £99 | 600 | 1 |
| TeamDiaries for up to 10 people | £279 | 1,800 | 3 |
| ScaleSet up with you, not self-serve | £499 | 3,500 | 3 |
Minutes are time she spends on the phone with callers. Extra minutes are 20p each, up to a limit you set.
First month £1.99 including VAT, with 60 minutes, on Starter. Card needed; nothing else to pay in month one. Cancel from your billing page and it stops at the end of the month you’ve paid for. Plan prices exclude VAT.
Not VAT-registered? With VAT that’s £118.80 a month on Starter, £334.80 a month on Team and £598.80 a month on Scale.
Scale is set up with you. Need her plugged into your own systems? Talk to us about Enterprise.
10
Questions painters and decorators ask
Can she turn down work I don’t do, like exteriors?
Yes. Tell her what you don’t take on and she says so politely, and still takes the details in case you want to pass it on.
Can she answer whether I hang wallpaper?
Yes, from the answers you give her. She says what you do, what you don’t, and books the quote visit if it suits.
I’m on my own. Will I see bookings in time?
Each one is in your Ansela diary and in an emailed summary straight away. Check it at the end of the day before you book anything yourself.
Can she tell callers I’m booked up for six weeks?
Yes, in your words. She still books the quote visit, or takes the details if you’d rather call them back.
Do I have to change my number?
No. We give you a UK number and you divert your own to it with a short code (codes by network). Turn the divert off whenever you like.
What is a minute, and can she take two calls at once?
A minute is time she spends on the phone with callers. Starter includes 600 a month, extra minutes are 20p each up to a limit you set, and Starter takes 1 call at a time. A caller who rings while she’s busy can leave a voicemail, which doesn’t use your minutes.
Is there a contract, and what happens after the £1.99 month?
No minimum term. After the first month it carries on at your plan price plus VAT unless you cancel, which you can do from your billing page at any time.
Finish the wall. She’ll take the call.
Ansela is a Bookeasy.ai product. You sign up at ansela.bookeasy.ai, and you’ll see BOOKEASY.AI on your card statement.