The problem
The week after a hailstorm, the phone rings while everyone is on a roof or in an adjuster meeting, and homeowners who reach voicemail call the next roofer on Google. Say a company misses about 12 calls a month across the year, more in storm weeks, and 3 of them were homeowners with real damage. If 1 in 6 of those leads becomes a $12,000£9,023€10,737A$17,323C$16,962 replacement, that's a lost roof every two months: about $6,000£4,511€5,368A$8,662C$8,481 of work a month on average.
What the AI does
Roofr's AI Receptionist is an add-on that works on any Roofr plan, including the free Starter plan. It picks up 24/7, screens out spam calls, takes the homeowner's details and books an inspection into your team's open time. Repeat customers and numbers you recognize skip it and ring straight through to you. It captures each caller's details, so the estimator has the address and the problem before calling back. It can also connect to Roofr's Instant Estimator for ballpark prices by phone; leave that off, since a person prices every roof after an inspection.
A worked example
An illustrative example built from typical figures, not a named business.
A four-crew roofing company in Fort Worth, Texas runs the office from the owner's cell phone. From March to June, hail sends call volume up for days at a time. They put the free Roofr Starter plan under the AI Receptionist ($85£64€76A$123C$120 a month billed yearly) and forward unanswered calls to it.
Before
About 12 missed calls a month, more in storm weeks, and an estimated 1 replacement lost every two months
After
Every call answered and inspections booked into open slots; about 1 extra $12,000£9,023€10,737A$17,323C$16,962 roof every two months
What it's worth
About $1,500£1,128€1,342A$2,165C$2,120 to $3,000£2,256€2,684A$4,331C$4,241 a month in profit, at an assumed 25% margin on $6,000£4,511€5,368A$8,662C$8,481 to $12,000£9,023€10,737A$17,323C$16,962 a month of extra work (one $12,000£9,023€10,737A$17,323C$16,962 roof every two months, up to one a month in a heavy hail year). That is against $85£64€76A$123C$120 a month billed yearly, or $99£74€89A$143C$140 monthly, for the AI Receptionist on the free Starter plan.
How to set it up
- Set up Roofr (the free Starter plan is enough to start), with your service area and the hours your estimators can run inspections.
- Add the AI Receptionist ($99£74€89A$143C$140 a month, or $85£64€76A$123C$120 billed yearly; the first 30 days are free) and forward your missed and after-hours calls to it.
- Give it your company facts: address, how long you've been in business, your insurance, and your contractor license number if your state or city licenses roofers, since storm-week callers ask whether you're local and licensed.
- Tell it not to quote prices or promise anything about insurance coverage. It books the inspection; your estimator does the rest.
- Call your own number from another phone and test a leak, a hail inspection request and a sales call, then read every call summary for the first two weeks.
What goes wrong
- The add-on includes 200 call minutes a month. A storm week can use that in days; Roofr says it doesn't charge overage fees at the moment, but check before hail season.
- If the team calendar in Roofr isn't kept up to date, it books inspections into time that's already taken.
- Some homeowners hang up on anything automated. Check missed and short calls each evening and call them back yourself.
- Don't let it say anything about deductibles or what insurance will pay. Some states bar roofers from waiving deductibles or acting for the homeowner on a claim.