Case Study

41% more inspections booked by responding in seconds, not hours

Flint River Roofing is a residential and commercial roofing contractor serving Georgia. A big part of their business comes from time-sensitive inquiries, especially after storms. When homeowners do not get an answer quickly, they usually contact another roofer and book elsewhere.

Flint River Roofing added Skara AI Roofing Agents to their website chat and messaging so every inquiry gets an immediate response, gets qualified, and can book an inspection without waiting for office hours.

Brand

Flint River Roofing

Industry

Residential & commercial roofing

Georgia, USA

Solution

Skara AI Roofing Agents (lead qualification, inspection booking, support automation)

Channels

Website chat + messaging channels (SMS / Social inbox)

41% more inspections booked by responding in seconds, not hours

Trusted by 8,500+ businesses globally

41%

increase in booked inspections

2.3X

higher conversion from chat conversations to booked inspections

~80%

of questions handled automatically without staff involvement

~65%

fewer repetitive inquiries reaching the office team

~5 seconds

average first response time, including evenings and weekends

“Skara feels like a trained office coordinator available all the time. Homeowners get answers immediately, inspections get scheduled faster, and our team stays focused on real work instead of chasing messages.”

-Brandon Hurst, Flint River Roofing

See the Impact

Insight Summary

What the metrics mean

Booked inspection

means a confirmed appointment placed on the inspection calendar, not just a request form submission.

Chat conversion

means chat conversation to booked inspection.

Handled automatically

means the question was answered without a human takeover.

The challenge

When inquiries went unanswered, jobs were lost

Flint River Roofing was getting steady inbound demand from referrals, storm-driven searches, and their website. The issue was not lead volume. The issue was speed, consistency, and scheduling friction.

Roofing is a “first-to-respond wins” category. Homeowners often reach out to two or three contractors at the same time. If Flint River Roofing did not reply quickly, the homeowner usually booked with someone else.

See the Impact

Missed calls and delayed replies were costing inspections : A large portion of inquiries arrived when the team was busy on roofs, driving between jobs, or after hours. Messages would sit until the next morning, and by then the homeowner had already found another roofer.
Storm spikes overwhelmed the front office: During hail and wind events, inbound vulume jumped fast. The office team had to answer phones, respond to texts, fullow up on voicemails, and manage website messages, all while coordinating inspections and supporting active projects. Even a good team gets buried in that situation.
Too many repetitive questions slowed everything down : A lot of conversations were the same early-stage questions:

Do you service my area?
Do you work with insurance?
Can someone inspect this week?
What happens during an inspection?
How long does a replacement take?

Manual scheduling created drop-offs : The inspection booking process often required multiple back-and-forth messages:

“What days are you available?”
“Morning or afternoon?”
“Can you do Thursday instead?”
“What address?”

Each delay increased the chance that the homeowner stopped responding or booked someone else.

Incomplete lead details wasted time : When the office did get the lead, key information was often missing. The team still had to ask follow-up questions just to understand the basics, such as location, urgency, roof type, or whether it was residential or commercial.
Conversations were scattered across channels : Some homeowners started on the website, then fullowed up via text. Others called after chatting. The office team had to piece together context, and homeowners sometimes had to repeat themselves, which created frustration and slowed down booking.
What Flint River Roofing needed: A reliable way to respond instantly, capture the right details, and book inspections quickly, even when the team was off-site, busy, or closed.

The solution

How Skara reimagined Flint River Roofing’s lead flow

Flint River Roofing deployed Skara AI Roofing Agents as a 24/7 digital front office across website chat and messaging. Skara handled first response, lead qualification, and inspection scheduling, while escalating urgent or complex cases to humans with full context.

1. Immediate first response, even after hours

Skara responded in seconds, so homeowners received answers while they were still actively looking for help. That speed reduced the number of leads lost to slower competitors.

Skara handled questions like:

“My roof is leaking, can you come out?”
“Do you handle hail damage?”
“Do you work with insurance claims?”
“Do you service my ZIP code?”

Skara understands intent and responds with clear, local, service-specific answers, no scripts, no dead ends.

1. Immediate first response, even after hours

2. Service-area and eligibility checks upfront

Before the office team spent time on a lead, Skara confirmed eligibility by collecting location details and matching them against service coverage. This prevented wasted cycles on out-of-area inquiries and improved lead quality flowing to the team.

3. Smart lead qualification before booking

Skara collected the same details an office coordinator would gather before setting an appointment:

Address and area served
Residential or commercial property
Issue type (leak, storm damage, replacement, maintenance)
Urgency level (active leak vs non-urgent)
Basic timeline preference

This reduced the time the office team spent asking first-round questions and ensured inspectors showed up prepared.

3. Smart lead qualification before booking

4. Inspection scheduling that removed back-and-forth

Skara connected to the inspection calendar and offered available slots right
inside the conversation. Homeowners could book immediately without
waiting for a callback.
Skara handled:

Showing available slots
Confirming the address and contact details
Booking the inspection on the calendar
Sending confirmation messages and reminders

This reduced drop-offs that typically happen when scheduling requires multiple steps.

4. Inspection scheduling that removed back-and-forth

5. Storm and insurance question handling, without overpromising

Insurance is a major part of storm-driven roofing work, and homeowners need guidance quickly. Skara provided clear, cautious answers about:

Whether the company supports insurance-related inspections
What homeowners should document
What to expect during a storm inspection
When a human should step in

This helped homeowners feel confident early, while keeping the messaging accurate and compliant.

5. Storm and insurance question handling, without overpromising

6. Urgent case escalation with full context

If a homeowner reported an active leak or emergency, Skara escalated the conversation to a human immediately and passed along the collected details so the team could act fast.

Example triggers:

Active interior leaking
Safety risks
Commercial complexities
Requests for immediate emergency work

6. Urgent case escalation with full context

7. Follow-ups and post-booking support

After booking, Skara continued to reduce admin load by handling:

Appointment confirmations
Reminder messages
Basic “what happens next” questions
Simple timeline expectations

This kept homeowners informed and reduced no-shows.

Before / After

What Skara does and does not do

Skara does not:

Provide final roof diagnoses
Quote exact pricing without an inspection
Give legal or insurance claim advice
Replace emergency judgment, urgent issues are escalated

Skara, does:

Respond instantly
Answer common questions
Qualify leads
Book inspections
Confirm and follow up

Why it worked

Flint River Roofing won more jobs by doing three simple things better:

Speed

Responding immediately, even after hours

Efficiency

Reducing scheduling friction

Focus

Keeping the office team focused on inspections and estimates, not repetitive messaging

The impact

Flint River Roofing turned chat into a revenue channel

Within weeks, Skara transformed how Flint River Roofing handled inbound demand, without hiring additional office staff.

Chat became a booking engine, not just support

Chat-assisted leads converted 2.3× higher than traditional inquiry forms, driving a 41% lift in booked inspections.

Always-on availability during storms

Skara handled inquiry spikes during storms and busy seasons, resolving 80% of questions autonomously, even after hours.

Faster responses, fewer lost jobs

Average response times dropped to under 5 seconds, helping Flint River Roofing win jobs simply by being first to respond.

Lower admin load, higher focus

With a ~65% reduction in manual handling, the team focused on inspections, estimates, and project execution, not inbox management.

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