Answering service for builders
Pulsemint is an answering service for builders. When you're on site and can't pick up, it answers in your company name, takes down what the customer wants built, whether they have drawings and planning permission, and when they want to start, then texts you the details within about a minute. It costs £199 a month including up to 50 captured calls, and you can try it free for 14 days with no contract.
Builders don't usually lose work to emergencies. You lose it because someone ringing for three extension quotes books site visits with the two who answered. This page covers what the agent asks on a building enquiry and how it handles calls from customers you're already working for.
Pulsemint at a glance
- What it does
- Answers the calls you miss, takes the caller's details and the job, and texts you a summary within about a minute
- Price
- £199 a month including up to 50 captured calls
- Free trial
- 14 day pilot, no card needed
- Contract
- None. Cancel any time.
- Hours
- Every hour of every day, same price
- Your number
- Stays the same. Unanswered calls divert to Pulsemint.
- Setup
- Done for you, about ten minutes of your time
- Coverage
- Anywhere in the UK
Try Pulsemint free for 14 days
Leave your name and email, then pick a time for a 15 minute setup call. No card and no contract. You keep your number.
Want to hear it first? Talk to the agent now. It answers questions about Pulsemint itself, and nobody will ring you back.
Why builders lose quotes to missed calls
A homeowner planning an extension or a loft conversion usually wants three quotes. They search, ring a handful of builders, and book visits with whoever answers and sounds organised. If you're on a mixer or up a scaffold, you're not one of them.
These calls are worth a lot. A single rear extension can keep a small firm busy for weeks. Losing one because you couldn't get to your phone is an expensive way to lose work, and you'll never know it happened.
What Pulsemint asks on a building enquiry
The project
- What they want done: extension, loft conversion, garage conversion, knock-through, renovation, new build
- Rough size, such as single or double storey, or a 4 metre rear extension
- Whether they have drawings, and whether they have planning permission, are using permitted development, or haven't looked into it yet
- When they'd like to start, and whether that's flexible
Whether they're worth a visit
Some builders want to know a rough budget before driving out. Others never ask on the first call. You decide when we set it up. Either way, the agent asks how they found you, so you know which of your marketing is working.
What it won't do
It won't quote a price, promise a date or agree to anything on your behalf. Those are your decisions, and an agent that guesses at them creates problems. It tells the caller you'll ring them back, and if someone asks whether they're talking to an AI, it says yes straight away.
Calls from existing customers
Not every call is new work. A customer whose kitchen you're halfway through rings because the skip hasn't arrived, or a supplier needs to confirm a delivery slot. The agent asks whether the caller is an existing customer and marks the text accordingly, so you can tell at a glance whether it's a new enquiry or someone you're already working for.
What a call looks like
A couple ring at 12.30pm on a Thursday. They want a single storey rear extension, about 4 metres, to make a kitchen diner. They have architect's drawings and planning approval came through last week. They'd like to start in the spring and are getting three quotes.
NEW ENQUIRY, QUOTE. Single storey rear extension, approx 4m, kitchen diner. Drawings done, planning approved last week. Start spring, flexible. Getting 3 quotes. Mark and Helen, 07700 900634, 31 Example Drive, MK5 6AB. Found you on Google.
You ring back that evening, already knowing they're serious, they have drawings, and that you're up against two other builders.
Does it pay for itself?
Use your own numbers, not anybody's industry statistics. Open your phone and count last week's missed calls. Take out the suppliers, the spam and the people who rang back later. Be realistic about how many of the rest you'd have won, then multiply by what a job is worth to you.
Building work is high value, so the maths is short. If one missed call a quarter would have turned into an extension or a loft conversion, a year of Pulsemint costs a small fraction of the margin on that one job.
If the sum comes out small, you probably don't need an answering service. A better voicemail greeting and missed call text back will do. I'd rather you knew that before you sign up for anything. If you want to put your own figures in, the calculator on the Pulsemint homepage does the sum for you.
Setting it up
You keep your number. The number on your van, your website and your Google listing doesn't change. Your phone diverts the calls you don't answer, after however many rings you choose, and Pulsemint picks up instead of voicemail. Most UK networks let you set that divert in a couple of minutes, and I'll walk you through it for yours.
The setup itself takes about ten minutes of your time. I ask what you cover, which areas you work in, what you never want it to say, and what counts as urgent for you. Then I build the agent and you ring it yourself to test it before a single customer hears it.
If anything ever goes wrong at our end, the divert fails safe: calls ring your mobile exactly as they do today. You're never worse off than you are now.
Common questions
Can it ask about planning permission?
Yes. It asks whether they have planning permission, are working under permitted development, or haven't looked into it, and whether they have drawings. It doesn't give planning advice.
Will it ask about budget?
Only if you want it to. Some builders like to know a rough budget before visiting and some never ask on the first call. You choose when we set it up.
Can it tell new enquiries from existing customers?
Yes. It asks whether the caller is already a customer and marks the text so you can see which is which.
Will it book site visits?
No. It takes the details and tells the caller you'll ring back to arrange a visit. You stay in control of your diary.
Does it sound like a big company or a small one?
It answers in your business name and doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. If asked, it says it's an AI assistant taking messages for you.
What does it cost?
£199 a month including up to 50 captured calls, after a 14 day free pilot. No contract.
Who is behind this
I'm Shadman, and I build and run Pulsemint myself from Lowestoft. When you start the pilot, I set the agent up for your business and you deal with me directly, not a support queue. If it doesn't catch jobs you'd otherwise have lost, don't keep it.