Plinth vs. hiring office staff
A great office manager covers 40 hours. Your leads arrive across all 168.
At some size, every contractor faces the same math: leads are slipping, so do you hire someone to catch them? A good hire fixes daytime. But the 9 p.m. water-heater lead, the Saturday storm rush, and the week your office manager is out sick don't care about business hours — and a salary is the most expensive way to buy coverage you still don't fully get.
Set up in minutes. No new software for your crew to learn.
What a real office hire does that software never will
A great office manager runs the shop: coordinates crews in real time, handles suppliers and paperwork, reads a difficult customer's tone, and holds the place together. If your operation needs that human judgment daily, hire — it's worth every dollar.
Where the economics break
One person costs roughly $2,000–4,000+ a month and covers about a quarter of the hours your leads actually arrive in — minus vacations, sick days, lunch, and the other twelve things they're doing when the phone rings twice at once. Plinth answers every lead in seconds, 24/7, never takes a day off, handles ten inquiries at the same moment, and does the part no admin hire does at all: collects the payment and proves which revenue it caused. And it's not either/or — shops with great office staff run Plinth for nights, weekends, and overflow.
Side by side
Hiring office staff vs. Plinth
| What has to happen | Hiring office staff | Plinth |
|---|---|---|
| Answers leads during business hours | Yes | Yes |
| Answers at 9 p.m., on weekends, on holidays | Yes | |
| Handles many leads at the same moment | One at a time | Yes |
| Never sick, on vacation, or mid-task | Yes | |
| Real-time crew coordination and shop admin | Yes | |
| Collects deposits and payments | Sometimes | Yes |
| Follows up on every quiet quote, every time | When there's time | Yes |
| Proves which jobs (and dollars) it caused | Yes | |
| Typical cost | ~$2,000–4,000+/mo in salary alone | From $199/mo + a share of jobs Plinth causes |
Costs are typical market ranges, not a Plinth quote.
Book a DemoWhen hiring is the right call
If crews need daily dispatching, paperwork is piling up, and customers need a human touch your phone can't give — hire the office manager. Then let Plinth cover what a hire can't: the other 128 hours a week, the overflow, and the proof of what your lead flow is actually worth.
Fair questions
Straight answers
Is this meant to replace my office manager?
No — it's meant to catch what one person physically can't. Most shops run both: staff handle the daytime shop, Plinth answers the leads that arrive nights, weekends, and while every human is already on a call. If you don't have staff yet, Plinth delays the day you need the hire.
My customers like talking to a person — won't this feel cold?
It answers in your business's name, in plain language — and hands off to you the moment someone wants a human. Every conversation is saved in your dashboard, the Assistant flags anything it shouldn't handle, and you can take over any thread in one tap from your own number.
How does the cost actually compare?
About a tenth of a hire's monthly cost — and it never takes PTO. A flat $199/month plus a small share of the jobs Plinth causes (charged only when the job is paid), against $2,000–4,000+ a month in salary for 40 hours of coverage. See how pricing works at joinplinth.com/pricing.
What does my crew have to learn?
Nothing. Your crew changes nothing about how they work. You get one dashboard for leads, conversations, appointments, and payments — and every message goes out from your business number.
See the whole loop close on a real job.
Fifteen minutes with the founder: a lead answered live, booked, paid, and traced to the dollar.
Not ready for a demo? Drop your email and we’ll keep you posted.