The Problem: Homeowners Were Researching at Night and Getting Silence
Dave and Connie Schreiber have operated Schreiber Window & Door out of Fenton, Missouri for sixteen years. They install replacement windows and entry doors for homeowners across the St. Louis metro — everything from basic builder-grade replacements to high-end Andersen and Pella products for custom homes. Their installers are booked three to four weeks out during busy season, their Google reviews are excellent, and they've built a loyal referral base across Jefferson and St. Louis counties.
Their website gets solid traffic. A homeowner searching "window replacement St. Louis" or "energy efficient windows Fenton MO" is likely to find Schreiber Window & Door on the first page of results. And those visitors come to the site with questions. They want to know whether their aging single-pane windows are worth replacing. They want to understand what a triple-pane window actually does compared to double-pane. They want to know whether the tax credit for energy-efficient windows is still available. They want to know if Schreiber does full-frame replacement or just insert replacement, and what the difference means for their specific situation.
These are good questions. They're also questions that homeowners tend to ask at 9 or 10 p.m., when they're sitting at home feeling drafts and thinking about energy bills. At that hour, the Schreiber office phone goes to voicemail. Their website's contact form sits unanswered until the next business day. And the homeowner — who was in an active decision-making mode — clicks over to a competitor's site, or just closes the laptop and loses momentum.
Connie managed the office and returned calls each morning. On average, she'd return six to nine website inquiries per day. A meaningful portion of those had already moved on or were suddenly unresponsive. She tracked the pattern for one quarter and estimated that 8 to 10 estimate appointments per month were lost to slow response time. At an average project value of $4,200 for a standard window replacement job, that was roughly $38,000 in monthly pipeline that never materialized. Over a year, that's a serious number for a small regional installer.
The Solution: A Chatbot Trained on Windows, Doors, and Energy Efficiency
The Schreibers deployed an AI chatbot on the Schreiber Window & Door website through Anchor Co AI. The goal was practical: answer the research questions homeowners have at night, capture the contact info of people who are ready to book an estimate, and make sure no Friday afternoon inquiry sat until Monday.
The Anchor Co AI team trained the chatbot on Schreiber's product lines, including the brands they carry (Andersen, Pella, Simonton, and their builder-grade option), window types (double-hung, casement, awning, picture, bay), and the difference between insert replacement and full-frame replacement — one of the most common questions Connie handled by phone. It learned the current federal energy efficiency tax credit status, the general range of what window replacement costs in the St. Louis market by window type, and how to explain what Low-E glass and argon-filled panes actually do for energy performance.
The chatbot was also set up with a free estimate capture flow. Visitors who were ready to take the next step could enter their address, project type, number of windows, and best contact time — giving Connie a complete, structured lead to call rather than a voicemail name and number with no context.
What the Chatbot Does
- Explains the difference between insert replacement and full-frame window replacement — including when each is appropriate, what the installation process looks like, and how they differ in cost
- Answers energy efficiency questions: Low-E glass, argon gas fill, triple-pane versus double-pane, and the current federal tax credit for energy-efficient windows
- Describes the brands and product lines Schreiber carries, with honest descriptions of where each sits in terms of quality and price point
- Answers questions about installation timeline — how long a typical job takes, whether windows are ordered custom or stocked, and what the lead time is from estimate to install
- Walks homeowners through what to expect at an estimate appointment — free, in-home, no pressure, typically 45 minutes
- Captures estimate request information and delivers it as a structured lead to Connie's inbox, flagged with the homeowner's timeline and project scope
The Results
- After-hours estimate requests increased by 37% — leads now arrive around the clock, including weekends
- $2,400 recovered in month one from two estimate appointments booked through the chatbot that would previously have been lost to unanswered overnight inquiries
- Connie's morning callback queue dropped by 28% because many routine questions were answered by the chatbot without requiring a phone call
- Average lead quality improved — chatbot-assisted leads arrived with project details already captured, reducing the intake call from 15 minutes to under 5
- First weekend deployment captured three leads on a Saturday night that would previously have sat until Monday morning
Why It's a Perfect Fit
Window replacement is a considered purchase. Homeowners don't replace windows on impulse — they research, compare, ask questions, and then decide. That research phase happens heavily online, and much of it happens in the evenings. A company that can answer questions in real time during that research phase builds trust and credibility before the estimate appointment even happens.
The energy efficiency angle is especially powerful. Federal tax credits, energy savings claims, and window performance specs are confusing — homeowners who get clear, accurate answers from a company's chatbot naturally associate that clarity with expertise and trustworthiness. The chatbot becomes a credibility signal, not just a lead form.
For a window company doing 30 to 80 installations per month, recovering even two or three estimate appointments that would have been lost to after-hours silence is a multiple-return on the chatbot investment. Plans start at $29/month at anchorcoai.com/pricing.