The problem
A kitchen fit locks you away for a week at a time. Demolition, first fix, units, worktop templating, appliances, snagging. A sequence with no natural gaps, run inside somebody's house, with deliveries and subcontractors competing for the same attention.
Three things follow from that:
- For five to seven days you're off the market. Every enquiry that arrives mid-fit rings out.
- The damage is delayed. Kitchens book months ahead, so a missed enquiry shows up as a hole in the diary later, when there's no time left to fill it.
- Callers are comparing you on the first conversation. Someone who has just walked round a showroom rings three fitters in an evening. There's nothing else to judge you on yet.
Voicemail loses that comparison before it starts. A homeowner spending five figures on a kitchen reads an unanswered phone as a business that's either too busy or not bothered. Neither gets a callback.
The calls you miss
A kitchen installation is one of the most complex residential jobs in the trade. From day one demolition through to final appliance fit, you're making sequential decisions that can't be paused. The phone going unanswered is part of the job. The leads it loses don't have to be.
- Week-long installs with no natural break point. A full kitchen fit runs 5–7 working days. You're in the property continuously, managing units, worktops, appliances, and snagging. Answering sales calls isn't realistic, and callers don't hang around.
- Supply chain coordination mid-job. Worktop templating, appliance deliveries, and subcontractor visits from plumbers and electricians all want your attention and your phone. Enquiry calls compete for the same line.
- High-value jobs that book out months ahead. The better your reputation, the further ahead your diary fills. Callers who want work in the next few weeks need an immediate, professional response. Not a callback in three days.
- Evening enquiries from people planning a kitchen refresh. A homeowner who's just walked round a showroom calls the fitters they've found online. If you're not answering at 6pm, someone else is.
How Telphi answers for a kitchen fitter
Kitchen enquiries range from a single cabinet installation to a full designer kitchen with structural work. Telphi asks the questions that separate a quick job from a two-week project.
Caller: "Hello, I'm looking to get my kitchen fitted. I've already got the units from IKEA."
Telphi: "Thanks for calling. Just to understand the scope – is this a full kitchen from scratch, or are you keeping the existing layout and replacing the units?"
Caller: "Keeping the same layout, same plumbing and electric positions."
Telphi: "That helps a lot. How many units roughly – is it a galley kitchen, or an L-shape with an island?"
Caller: "L-shape. About 15 units in total."
Telphi: "Got it. Are you having a new worktop cut to size, or is that coming with the IKEA units?"
Caller: "New worktop, yes. Quartz probably."
Telphi: "Understood – quartz will need templating so that's useful to know. Are you looking to start in the next few weeks, or is this more of a forward plan?"
Caller: "Next month if possible."
Telphi: "Perfect. I'll send you a link to book a site measure so we can give you an accurate price."
Your summary covers: supply source, layout complexity, unit count, worktop type, and timeline. You can price and schedule the job before you've made a single callback.
What you get after every call
The Telphi app delivers a full call summary, transcript, and recording after every handled call. You review them at your pace – end of the working day, over lunch, or on a rest day.
If a subcontractor, supplier, or existing client needs to reach you urgently during a live job, Telphi can be configured to transfer those calls through to you in real time. Everything else is handled and logged.
Spam and cold calls are filtered out. Your summary list shows only genuine enquiries.
Booking
Once Telphi has qualified the caller, it texts them a booking link. They pick a survey slot from your available calendar. The appointment confirms automatically, no back-and-forth.
