The Problem: You're Too Busy to Answer the Phone
I’ve sat in enough utes in Chermside and grabbed enough coffees in Bulimba to know one thing for certain: Brisbane small business owners are flat out.
If you’re a plumber, an electrician, or you run a local landscaping crew, your biggest enemy isn't the competition—it’s the clock. When you're on a job, you can’t answer the phone. When you’re driving between sites, you can't respond to that Facebook message. And when you’re finally sitting down for dinner at 7:00 PM, the last thing you want to do is spend two hours replying to "Is this still available?" or "Can I get a quote?"
Here’s the cold, hard truth: If you don't answer a potential customer within five minutes, there is an 80% chance they’ve already moved on to the next person on Google. You are literally watching money flush down the toilet because you're too busy doing the work that pays the bills.
This is where an AI Sales Assistant comes in. It’s not some sci-fi robot; it’s a tool that works in the background to make sure no lead goes cold, ever again.
What is an AI Sales Assistant (in Plain English)?
Forget the technical jargon. Think of an AI sales assistant as a highly trained, incredibly polite junior staff member who never sleeps, never takes a tea break, and costs about a tenth of a human employee.
It lives on your website, your Facebook page, or even your SMS line. When someone asks a question, it answers. When someone wants a quote, it gathers their details. When someone is ready to book, it puts them in your calendar.
It’s about using automation tools to handle the boring, repetitive parts of sales so you only have to step in when there’s a real job to be done.
Why Should You Care? (The Money Talk)
I’m not here to tell you about "innovation" or "digital transformation." I’m here to tell you about making more money.
Most Brisbane businesses we talk to are losing 30% to 50% of their potential enquiries because of slow response times. If you get 10 enquiries a week and you're only winning 3 because you're too slow to call them back, that’s a massive hole in your bucket.
An AI assistant fixes this by:
1. Instant Gratification: The second a customer messages you, they get a reply. They feel heard, and they stop looking for other tradies. 2. Qualifying Leads: It asks the right questions. "Where are you located?" "What’s the issue?" "Can you send a photo?" By the time you see the message, you already know if the job is worth your time. 3. Booking Appointments: It can link directly to your calendar. If you have a gap on Tuesday at 10:00 AM, the AI can book that quote for you while you’re asleep.
How Much Does This Cost?
I’ll be blunt: you can spend thousands on fancy custom systems, but you shouldn't. For most small businesses in Queensland, a solid AI sales setup will cost you between $150 and $500 a month.
Compare that to a part-time receptionist. Even a junior on the lowest award rate is going to cost you $800+ a week plus super and work cover. When you look at AI vs employees, the AI wins every single time for basic lead handling. It doesn't get sick, it doesn't have "bad days," and it doesn't forget to ask for the customer's phone number.
How Long Until You See Results?
This isn't SEO where you have to wait six months to see a change. Once an AI assistant is turned on and connected to your website or Facebook, it starts working instantly.
I’ve seen a pest control business in Carindale go from booking 5 quotes a week to 12 just by adding an AI chat feature that captured leads after 6:00 PM. They saw the return on investment in the first four days.
What Should You Do First?
Don't try to build a complex system that handles everything. Start small. Here is the path I recommend for any Brisbane business owner:
1. Fix Your "After Hours" Leak
Most people browse for services in the evening after work. If your website just has a "Contact Us" form that sends an email to an inbox you check once a day, you're losing. Put a simple AI chat on your site that can answer basic questions like "Do you service the Northside?" or "What are your call-out fees?"2. Connect it to SMS
People love texting. If someone calls your business and you don't pick up, an AI system can instantly send them a text: "Hey, it’s John from ABC Plumbing. I’m on a job right now, but how can I help?" This keeps the conversation going and stops them from calling the next guy.3. Use it to Win Jobs
When you finally get home and need to send out those quotes, you can use AI to write better proposals in half the time. It’s about making the whole process from "Hello" to "Invoice Paid" as smooth as possible.What’s a Waste of Money?
I see a lot of "AI Consultants" charging $5,000 for "strategy sessions." For a small business, that is absolute rubbish. You don't need a strategy session; you need a tool that works.
Avoid any system that requires you to learn how to code or spend hours "training" the AI. The tech has come so far that most of these tools are "plug and play." If a salesperson starts talking about "neural networks" or "large language models," walk away. They should be talking about how many more bookings you're going to get.
Real World Scenario: The Morningside Electrician
We worked with a sparky in Morningside who was struggling. He was great at his job, but he was losing work to the big franchises because they had a call centre and he didn't.
We set him up with a simple AI assistant that lived on his website and Facebook page.
Old way: Customer messages at 8:00 PM -> Sparky sees it at 7:00 AM next day -> Customer has already booked someone else. New way: Customer messages at 8:00 PM -> AI replies instantly -> AI asks for a photo of the switchboard -> AI offers a quote time for the next day -> Sparky wakes up to a confirmed booking and a photo of the job.
He didn't have to change how he worked; he just stopped losing the leads he was already paying for through his marketing.
Is it Hard to Set Up?
Look, I get it. You’re probably thinking, "I can barely get my emails to work, how am I going to manage an AI?"
The beauty of this is that you don't have to manage it. Once it's set up correctly, it just runs. It’s like a fridge—you don't need to know how the cooling gas works to keep your milk cold. You just plug it in and let it do its thing.
If you want to grow your business without working 100 hours a week, you have to find ways to take yourself out of the repetitive tasks. Responding to the same five questions every day is a repetitive task. Let the machine do it.
Summary of the Basics
What is it? A tool that talks to customers and books jobs for you. Will it make me money? Yes, by catching the leads you’re currently missing. Is it expensive? No, it’s cheaper than a casual staff member. How long to see results? A few days.
- What’s the catch? You still have to show up and do the actual work!
Ready to stop losing leads? At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses set up simple, effective systems that actually grow their bottom line. We don't do fluff, and we don't do jargon. We just get you more jobs.
Contact Local Marketing Group today to see how we can put your lead generation on autopilot.