What plumbers are actually losing
Australian Bureau of Statistics data on small business says the average plumbing operation does between 8 and 25 jobs a week. Talk to any tradie and they'll admit they miss 20–30% of inbound calls during the working day. At an average plumbing job value of $400–$600, that's $1,500 a week of inbound revenue that walks. Even a Starter plan at $149 pays for itself if Sanby captures one missed callout per month.
The actual problem isn't the missed call — it's that the customer rings the next plumber on the list within 60 seconds. By the time you call back, the job is booked elsewhere.
The three calls plumbers can't miss
Burst pipe / flooding
These are 100% urgent and 100% time-sensitive. The customer is panicking. They will ring three plumbers in 10 minutes. Sanby triages the address first, gives a clear ETA, and SMSes you on the way.
Hot water out (especially before a long weekend)
Almost always next-morning, but some customers want to know tonight. Sanby asks gas vs electric, captures the brand if they know it, and quietly checks whether the water heater is at least vaguely accessible.
Blocked drain / sewerage smell
Sanby distinguishes ‘standing water in the laundry’ (urgent) from ‘the sink's been slow for a week’ (book in normally). Saves you driving across town for a job that could've been a Tuesday afternoon visit.
Quote / planning calls
Bathroom renos, rough-ins, gas conversions — these don't need to be answered in 10 seconds, but they're your higher-margin work. Sanby books a callback slot and captures enough scope detail that you can quote properly.
What a plumbing call sounds like with Sanby
By the time the customer hangs up they've got a clear ETA and an SMS confirmation incoming. No voicemail, no “please hold while I find someone”, no second guess about whether the plumber actually heard the message.
It books, it doesn't quote
Sanby never gives a price, never promises an exact arrival time, and never tells the customer the job will definitely happen on a given day without you confirming. It captures the data and hands the booking decision back to you. That keeps you in control of the schedule and the pricing — Sanby is your front desk, not your operations manager.
Pricing for solo operators and small teams
Plans start at $149/month for 50 calls — which is in the right ballpark for a solo plumber who's already at capacity and just wants the after-hours and lunch-break calls covered. Most plumbers at 2–4 staff settle on the $299/month Professional plan for 200 calls and Google Calendar booking. Established multi-van operations want the Growth plan for higher call quotas, more team members on the dashboard, and priority support.
Every plan includes 9 Australian voices, emergency triage, SMS + email summaries, and 14 days free with no commitment. Card on file so the dedicated number works from day one — cancel any time before day 14 and we never charge you. See the pricing breakdown on the home page.
How Sanby compares to other options
If you're weighing up your options, the relevant comparisons are:
- Sanby vs Sophiie AI: see the full breakdown at /compare/sanby-vs-sophiie.
- Sanby vs offshore call centres: offshore services usually charge per minute or per call (often more than $200/month effective), with longer hold times, no calendar integration, and call quality that Australian customers comment on negatively.
- Sanby vs hiring a part-time receptionist:a part-time receptionist for 20 hours a week costs roughly $1,800 per fortnight including super and on-cost. That's six months of Sanby Professional in one fortnight — and the human still goes to lunch and gets sick.
Other trades we serve
Plumbing's our deepest tuning, but Sanby works the same way for electricians, HVAC technicians, and locksmiths. The tradies hubhas the full list and the roadmap for trades we're bringing online next.
Frequently asked questions
How does Sanby know whether a plumbing call is urgent?
Sanby is trained on the way Australian customers actually describe plumbing problems — 'water everywhere', 'pipe burst', 'no hot water and we've got people coming', 'sewerage smell'. It listens for those urgency cues and changes its behaviour: it shortens its questions, captures the address first, and sends you the SMS flagged URGENT instead of going into normal triage. You can configure how aggressive that triage is on a per-business basis.
Can Sanby handle after-hours emergency rates?
Yes. You can configure a different greeting, different urgency thresholds, and a custom message for after-hours that mentions your callout fee. The customer hears 'just so you know, after-hours emergency callouts have a $X fee on top of the standard rate, are you happy to proceed?' before booking. Saves you the awkward conversation when you arrive on site.
What about blocked-drain calls that are usually next-day?
Sanby separates 'standing water now' from 'slow drain we've been meaning to call about for a week'. The first goes into urgent escalation; the second gets booked as a normal job in your next available slot — without the over-promising of a same-day visit you might not have time for.
Does Sanby integrate with my plumber management software?
Google Calendar booking is supported on Professional and Growth plans — works fine for solo operators. ServiceM8, Tradify, AroFlo, and Simpro integrations are next on our roadmap. Until those land, every Sanby call summary lands in your email and SMS in a copy-paste-friendly format you can drop into your existing system.
How do I know it won't promise something I can't deliver?
Sanby never quotes a price or promises an exact arrival time. It captures the job, gives the customer a reasonable window ('first job tomorrow morning'), and SMSes you so you can confirm or reschedule before the customer expects you. The bot knows what it doesn't know — and is explicit with the customer about it.
Don't let another burst pipe go to your competitor.
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