Plumbing jobs your customers ask about
Most plumbing enquiries are the same dozen or so jobs. Price them once and Instaquote can quote them every time someone asks. Some job types plumbers often set up:
- Tap replacement: kitchen, bathroom or laundry mixer. The customer tells the chat which tap and can show you the old one in a photo.
- Hot water system swap: like-for-like replacement of a gas or electric unit. Your labour price for the swap, plus the unit and fittings from your own parts list.
- Blocked drain clear: a sink, shower or toilet that won't drain. A photo of the drain or fixture helps the chat work out which job it is.
- Leaking toilet repair: a running cistern or a leak at the base.
- Toilet suite replacement: out with the old suite and in with the new, with the suite priced from your parts list.
- Washing machine or dishwasher connection: new taps or hoses and connection to an existing point.
- Flexi hose replacement: swapping old or bulging flexi hoses under sinks and vanities before they let go.
- Water filter install: under-sink or benchtop filter, with the filter from your parts list.
You choose the job types and the names. If you'd rather not quote something online, leave it unpriced and it comes to you instead (more on that below).
How a plumbing quote is worked out
Instaquote doesn't make up a number. Every quote is built from what you've set:
- A fixed labour price for the job type. You set what you charge to swap a hot water system, replace a tap or clear a blocked drain.
- Your own parts prices × quantity. Mixers, flexi hoses, cisterns, hot water units, whatever you've got in your parts list, at your price. Two flexi hoses means your hose price times two.
- Your call-out fee, with distance bands. Set your call-out fee, then add distance bands so a job further from your base costs more to get to.
- GST, added on top.
The customer sees one fixed total.
Setting it up
- Start from starter plumbing prices. You don't begin with a blank page. Go through the starting labour prices and change them to yours.
- Edit prices any time. Supplier put the price of hot water units up? Change it and your next quote uses the new price.
- Set your service area. Choose where you'll travel, so you're quoting jobs in your patch.
Photos: see the job before you get there
Customers can add a photo in the chat. The agent asks for one when it helps, and you see the photos on the request.
For plumbers that's handy. A shot of the old hot water unit's compliance plate, the tap they want replaced or the puddle under the vanity tells you a lot before you even load the van.
Example: a hot water swap enquiry
Customer: "Our electric hot water system has died. Can you replace it?"
They take a photo of the old unit.
Here's what Instaquote does with your settings:
| Part of the quote | Comes from |
|---|---|
| Labour | Your fixed price for the "hot water system swap" job type |
| Parts | Your price for the replacement unit × 1, plus your price for any fittings × quantity |
| Call-out | Your call-out fee plus the distance band for that address |
| GST | Added |
| Total | One fixed price shown to the customer |
If they're happy, the customer accepts the quote and picks an arrival window that suits them. You look at the request and the photo, then confirm.
(Illustration only: the job type, parts and prices are whatever you set.)
Jobs you haven't priced come to you to quote yourself
Plumbing has plenty of jobs you can't price from a chat: a full bathroom rough-in, a slab leak, or anything you'd want to look at first. Leave those job types unpriced. The agent says so and passes the request to you, photos and all. You quote it your way.
Emergencies: the chat stops quoting and tells them to call
Instaquote never quotes an emergency. If a customer describes a gas or plumbing emergency, the chat stops quoting and tells them, in this order:
- "If anyone is in danger or hurt, call 000 now."
- The safety steps for that hazard. For a gas smell: don't use electrical switches, open windows, leave the property if the smell is strong, and call the gas provider's emergency number. For a burst pipe or flooding: turn the water off at the mains and keep electrical appliances away from the water.
- To call your business, with your phone number if you've set one.
The chat flags emergencies from what the customer says. You also get an urgent email. An emergency is never counted as a booking and never billed. A blocked toilet, a slow drain or a contained drip isn't treated as an emergency, and carries on to a quote.
How it works
- A customer asks in the chat on your website, and can add a photo.
- Instaquote quotes from your own prices: one fixed total.
- If they're happy, they accept the quote and pick an arrival window that suits them.
- You get a booking request. Check it, then approve it and confirm the arrival window.
Pricing: you only pay when the job's done
First 5 jobs free, then 10% of the quote (ex-GST) per completed job, $5 minimum. No subscription, no monthly fee and no per-enquiry fees. See pricing
Add it to your website
The code is two short pieces, a <div> and a <script>, that you paste once across your whole site. That puts a chat bubble on every page. Step-by-step guides: WordPress · Wix · Squarespace · all builders