The quote request sat in your inbox until tonight.
When your hands are busy, the email waits, and the customer books someone else.
For owner-run service businesses
Every customer email gets answered. Even when you're on a job.
Northclerk answers your customers' emails within one hour, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern, seven days a week. It quotes your prices, books the job into your Google Calendar, and hands you the few things that need a person. Website chat and texting come next.
Flat monthly price. No per-minute meter. Cancel any month.
The problem
After hours is when people look.
Leaks, clogs and broken AC don't wait for 8 a.m., and neither do the emails about them.
The back office eats your evenings.
Confirmations, reschedules, "what do you charge," the same five questions on repeat.
How it works
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Tell us your business once.
Services, prices, hours, the ZIP codes you cover, and how you like jobs booked. We send you a short list of setup questions by email.
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Northclerk starts answering your email.
You forward your business email to your Northclerk inbox (a few minutes in Gmail; some Outlook business accounts need an admin to allow forwarding). It answers from your information only and quotes only the prices on your list.
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You get the jobs and a 6 p.m. summary.
New bookings land on your Google Calendar. Anything that needs you (an emergency, a billing question, an unhappy customer) is flagged to you by email.
What the front desk does
Answers every email
Replies within one hour, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern, seven days a week, from your information only.
Quotes your real prices
From your price list. If a job needs eyes on it, it offers your estimate visit instead of guessing.
Books the job
Collects name, phone, address and ZIP, checks you cover the area, and offers open times from your Google Calendar.
Texting comes next
Two-way texting and a text back on missed calls are planned. Not switched on yet.
Knows what's urgent
Gas smell, flooding, a burst pipe. It gives the safety step first, tells the customer to call you, and flags it to you by email.
Tells you what happened
One plain-English summary every evening: new jobs, reschedules, what needs you.
Try it. It's a real front desk for a made-up plumbing company.
Ironwood Plumbing is fictional. Ask it anything a customer would: prices, hours, "my sink is clogged, can someone come tomorrow morning?" or "I smell gas." Hit "Preview missed-call text (coming)" to see the text-back that comes with texting, and "Show owner summary" to see the evening report. Your customers reach the same front desk by email today; the chat box here is just the quickest way to try it.
More of the back office, from one company
Website and Google profile
A fast, clean site with your services and prices. Or a fix-up of the one you have: speed, broken links, mobile layout, and forms that don't land anywhere. New site $490 one-time (up to 5 pages, hosting included while you use the Front Desk; otherwise $15/month). Fix-up of your current site $190 one-time. Google Business Profile tune-up $150 one-time.
Data and workflow cleanup
We clean up the messy stuff: duplicate customers and broken spreadsheets. From $250 per job for one CRM export or workbook up to 5,000 rows, with a fixed quote before we start.
Recurring paperwork, by industry
Planned records-only pilot for fleets of 1‑10 trucks: fuel and mileage exports organized, missing or conflicting entries flagged, a calendar of IFTA, UCR, Form 2290 and MCS-150 dates you confirm, and driver-document expiry dates you supply. Proposed prices: from $49 a month for one truck ($99 for 2‑5 trucks, $179 for 6‑10), plus $99 setup. You or your filing provider prepare and file returns. No tax-return preparation, full driver-file management or compliance guarantee. Enrollment is not open yet.
One flat price. No per-minute meter.
Front Desk
$99/month
No setup fee.
Includes:
- Email answering
- Booking into your Google Calendar
- Emergency safety replies, flagged to you
- Evening summary
- Up to 300 conversations a month
- Coming: website chat and texting
Front Desk + Website
$99/month
+ $490 one-time
For a new 5-page site (hosting included).
Get startedAdd-ons
Cleanup and paperwork, priced per job or per month as listed above.
See the add-onsFor comparison: human answering services publish $250 a month for 50 minutes of calls (Ruby) and $300 a month for 30 calls (Smith.ai), and Ruby's live chat starts at $143 a month for 10 chats. They answer calls and chat; Northclerk today answers email. Prices as published on their websites, October 2026.
Prices in USD. Month to month. Today the front desk answers email and books jobs; website chat, texting and phone answering are on the roadmap.
FAQ
Will it make up prices or promise things I can't do?
No. It only quotes what's on your price list. Anything not on the list gets your estimate visit or a hand-off to you.
Does it answer the phone?
Not yet. Today it answers email. Texting, a text back on missed calls and voice answering are on the roadmap.
What happens with emergencies?
It gives the safety step first (leave the house if there's gas, shut off the water for a leak), tells the customer to call you, and flags the message to you by email. It does not page anyone yet.
Which calendar does it use?
Google Calendar to start. If you run your jobs in another tool, tell us which one when you sign up.
Do I have to change my website or phone number?
No. You keep your website, your phone number and your email address. You set up forwarding from your email to your Northclerk inbox.
Can I see what it said to customers?
Yes. Every conversation is in your evening summary, and you can ask us for the full transcript of any of them.
What if I want to stop?
Cancel any month. No contract.
Get your front desk set up
Tell us a little about your business and we'll email you a short list of setup questions.