Xcho for Tradespeople & Home Improvement Providers

For most home improvement businesses, getting enquiries isn't the hard part. Turning them into surveys, quotes and signed jobs is. A homeowner fills in a form for a new boiler or a set of windows, then goes quiet the moment you try to call back, usually while you're up a ladder or halfway through a bathroom fit.

Every hour spent chasing those enquiries is an hour away from the work that actually pays. That's where Xcho comes in: an AI assistant that follows up for you, 24/7, so you and your team can stay on the job.

Built by a financial services firm, Xcho handles conversational follow-up through two-way SMS and WhatsApp. It works with any type of lead you choose, from solar quote requests to kitchen design consultations, and keeps your survey and quote diary full of qualified homeowners who are ready to go ahead, with very little effort from you or your office.

Here is how Xcho helps installers, builders and home improvement firms win more work.

1. Reach the homeowners who never pick up

Most homeowners won't answer a call from a number they don't recognise, so a large share of new enquiries go straight to voicemail on the first attempt. If you're on a roof or under a sink, that callback probably isn't happening promptly.

Xcho steps in the moment an enquiry lands. It sends a two-way SMS straight away, moving to WhatsApp where available, and opens a natural, human-sounding conversation while the homeowner is still thinking about their project. Because written messages can be read on a lunch break or in the evening, leads you couldn't get hold of become live conversations.

2. Convert more enquiries, wherever they come from

You might list on trade directories, run social ads for your latest heat pump offer, or rely on your website and word of mouth. Wherever they start, most enquiries are lost in the first contact phase, when a homeowner has asked three firms for a quote and goes with whoever replies first.

Xcho keeps up a steady, intelligent follow-up schedule through the first 72 hours. It replies instantly, day or night, answers early questions using the information you've given it, and gently works through any hesitation, so slow responses stop costing you jobs.

Plenty of installers offer finance on solar panels, heat pumps, kitchens and windows. Because Xcho came out of financial services, it has built-in rules for regulated activity (FCA mode) that you can switch on whenever you need them. It only ever uses the facts you supply, and its core rules can't be talked round by a customer:

• No financial, legal or technical advice, and no recommending a specific product, system or finance plan
• No promises on final prices, finance approval or grant eligibility, such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme
• Tells the homeowner it's an AI in its first message, and any time they ask
• STOP respected on every campaign when typed by the customer
• Ignores any message trying to override its instructions

3. Qualify jobs before you set foot on site

A wasted survey costs far more than a wasted phone call. Fuel, travel time and an hour in someone's living room soon add up when the homeowner turns out to be a tenant, lives 60 miles away, or only wants a ballpark figure to compare against.

Xcho asks friendly, conversational qualifying questions first, so you only visit homes where there's a real job to win. You decide what it asks, for example:

• Homeowner or tenant, and the property postcode
• The type of work (a full roof replacement or a repair, a like-for-like boiler swap or a full system upgrade)
• Property details, such as roof orientation for solar panels, the current heating system for a heat pump, or the number of windows and doors
• Planning permission or building regulations status for extensions and conservatories
• Rough budget, and whether they'd like to spread the cost with finance
• When they want the work done

Once an enquiry meets your criteria, Xcho moves the homeowner towards booking a survey, a home visit or a showroom appointment. That means fewer wasted trips, and more quotes that turn into signed jobs.

4. Book surveys and site visits straight into your diary

Trading messages back and forth to agree a survey date eats into evenings that should be your own. Xcho links up with the calendar software you already use, including Google Calendar, Microsoft 365 and Calendly, and books appointments on your behalf.

When a homeowner is qualified and ready, Xcho offers your free slots by SMS or WhatsApp and books the visit into the right person's diary, whether that's a surveyor, an estimator, a kitchen designer or the owner of the business.

You can connect as many team members' calendars as you need, with unlimited users available on the Enterprise Plan.

5. Rebook missed surveys and cancellations

Turning up to a locked door is one of the most frustrating parts of the job. Chasing that homeowner afterwards tends to slip down the list, and by the time anyone gets round to it, they've often booked with another firm.

Xcho picks up no-shows and cancelled slots automatically and sends a polite, easy-to-answer message to rebook. It's a quiet safety net that saves jobs that would otherwise disappear.

If a homeowner asks not to be contacted again, they go straight onto your 'do-not-contact' list. Xcho checks this list before every message on every campaign, including messages your team types by hand, so nobody is chased who doesn't want to be.

6. Turn old quotes into new work

Most trade businesses have a spreadsheet, CRM or notebook full of quotes that never went ahead. The homeowner wasn't ready, the budget wasn't there, or the timing was wrong. Those leads cost money to win, yet few firms have the time to go back through them.

Xcho runs dedicated reactivation campaigns that check in gently with these dormant contacts. Circumstances change all the time: energy bills rise, a bonus lands, a family outgrows the house. A short, well-timed message can turn last year's unanswered quotes into this month's bookings, without spending a penny on new leads.

7. Keep past customers coming back

Repeat work and referrals keep a trade business steady through the quieter months, but staying in touch with every past customer takes time nobody has. Xcho runs long-term follow-up campaigns for you, such as:

• Annual service reminders: contact boiler, heat pump and solar customers when their service is due, and book the visit straight into your calendar
• Upgrade and add-on campaigns: offer battery storage or an EV charger to past solar customers, or loft and cavity wall insulation alongside a heat pump install
• Seasonal check-ins: invite roofing customers to book an inspection after winter, and landscaping and driveway customers to book maintenance ahead of spring
• Next-project follow-ups: check in with kitchen, bathroom and decorating customers a few years on, when the next room is due a refresh

Built for every trade in the home

Whether you're a one-van installer, a regional window company or a design-and-build firm, Xcho adapts to the work you do. It suits almost any business with a customer base, and its built-in regulatory safeguards make it a natural fit for firms that offer finance on larger projects.

Spend less time chasing, more time on the job

Your skill lies in surveying, installing, building and finishing a job properly, not in sending follow-up texts at 9pm or ringing homeowners who never pick up.

Xcho works quietly in the background, turning missed calls, cold enquiries and forgotten quotes into a steady flow of booked surveys and new jobs.

Ready to stop losing work to slow follow-up? Explore Xcho early access for installers, builders and home improvement firms - join the waitlist here.