Case study
How a restoration company automated customer outreach with AI
A restoration services company used Squirrels.ai to automate payment follow-ups, capture after-hours inquiries, and improve customer communication. The AI reduced manual AR tasks, improved response times, and provided better visibility while keeping human teams focused on complex cases.
80% less manual effort
automated AR follow-ups and routine communication
24/7 customer response
captured after-hours emergency inquiries
Unified engagement
managed calls, emails, and texts through AI
Overview
A restoration and cleaning services company specializing in insurance-related property recovery faced challenges managing customer communication at scale.
The company supported homeowners, contractors, and insurance-related partners with services including water damage restoration, fire cleanup, content restoration, and specialized cleanup services. Because many customer interactions were driven by urgent situations, timely communication was critical for both service delivery and payment management.
The company’s accounts receivable process required proactive follow-ups with customers and insurance contacts to track payment progress. However, a significant amount of time was spent manually making collection calls and checking payment statuses.
Additionally, emergency restoration inquiries often arrived after business hours. Without an automated response system, capturing customer details and immediately notifying response teams depended on manual availability.
The company partnered with Squirrels.ai to introduce AI-powered customer communication workflows that could support both inbound and outbound interactions. The solution helped automate payment reminders, capture emergency inquiries, and provide a centralized view of customer conversations.
The implementation followed a phased approach, allowing the company to evaluate AI performance, customize workflows, and gradually expand automation based on business needs.
Client at a glance
Industry
Insurance restoration and cleaning services
Primary challenge
Managing payment follow-ups and after-hours customer communication
Business model
Emergency restoration services for homeowners and insurance-related customers
Key workflows
AR collections, emergency call handling, and customer outreach
AI solution implemented
AI-powered collections and customer engagement automation
The challenge
Manual AR follow-ups consumed valuable time
The company’s accounts receivable process required frequent communication with customers and insurance-related contacts to track payment progress.
Because insurance-based payments can involve multiple parties, including homeowners, adjusters, and service providers, payment timelines often required proactive follow-ups.
The AR team spent significant time making calls, checking payment updates, and confirming invoice statuses. While these activities were important, they reduced the team’s ability to focus on higher-value financial tasks.
The company needed a way to automate routine payment communication while maintaining control over customer interactions.
After-hours emergency calls created missed opportunities
Restoration services are often required during urgent situations such as flooding, fire damage, or other emergencies.
Many customer inquiries arrived outside regular business hours when staff availability was limited. Without a dedicated after-hours response process, collecting customer details and alerting response teams depended on manual handling.
The company needed a system that could answer calls immediately, gather relevant information, and trigger internal notifications without requiring overnight staffing.
Customer communication required a personal approach
Restoration services often involve stressful situations for customers. Communication needed to remain professional, empathetic, and helpful.
The company wanted automation that could improve response times without making customers feel like they were interacting with a generic system.
Any AI solution needed to support natural conversations while allowing human teams to manage sensitive cases.
Existing systems lacked effective AI capabilities
The company was already using operational software for managing customer and business workflows but had been waiting for additional AI capabilities that had not become available.
Rather than delaying automation indefinitely, the company explored a specialized AI solution that could integrate with existing systems and support specific restoration workflows.
Need for scalable automation
As customer volume increased, manually managing every call, payment reminder, and follow-up became increasingly difficult.
The company needed automation that could scale alongside operations while allowing employees to focus on complex situations requiring human involvement.
The solution
Squirrels.ai implemented AI agents designed to support both accounts receivable communication and customer engagement workflows.
The solution focused on automating repetitive interactions while maintaining transparency and human oversight.
Automated AR collections outreach
The AI AR Collections agent was configured to manage routine payment follow-ups through calls, emails, and text messages.
Instead of manually contacting every customer, the AI handled initial outreach, reminded customers about outstanding payments, and tracked responses.
The system recorded outcomes such as:
- Payment completed
- Promise to pay
- Customer questions
- Payment disputes
- Requests for additional information
This allowed the AR team to focus on accounts requiring additional attention.
24/7 AI-powered call handling
The company introduced AI call handling capabilities to capture after-hours inquiries.
When customers contacted the company during emergencies, the AI could collect important details, understand the situation, and trigger notifications for internal response teams.
This improved responsiveness while reducing the need for staff members to monitor calls outside business hours.
Restoration-specific AI knowledge base
The AI agent was customized using company-specific information and workflows.
This allowed conversations to reflect restoration services, common customer questions, and approved response guidelines.
By using a tailored knowledge base, the AI could provide more accurate answers while avoiding generic responses.
CRM-connected workflows
The AI platform was designed to connect with existing business systems through integrations.
Customer details, communication outcomes, and workflow updates could be synchronized to improve visibility and reduce manual data entry.
This allowed the company to enhance existing processes instead of replacing its current technology environment.
Pilot-based rollout
The company followed a controlled implementation approach.
Initial testing focused on specific workflows and smaller customer groups before expanding automation further.
This allowed the team to evaluate conversation quality, refine scripts, and ensure the AI aligned with customer expectations.
Results and impact
The implementation of Squirrels.ai created progressive improvements across customer communication, collections efficiency, and operational workflows.
The company expanded automation gradually, allowing teams to adapt while maintaining control over important customer interactions.
Reduced AR workload
The AI Collections agent reduced the amount of time employees spent on repetitive payment follow-ups.
Routine reminders and status checks were automated, allowing the AR team to focus on complex payment issues and exceptions.
This improved productivity without requiring additional collections resources.
Faster response to customer inquiries
With AI handling after-hours calls, customers received immediate responses even when employees were unavailable.
The system captured important details and helped ensure urgent requests reached the appropriate team members faster.
Improved payment tracking visibility
The AI dashboard provided clearer insights into customer conversations and payment statuses.
Teams could identify which accounts required attention, monitor payment commitments, and review communication history from a centralized location.
More consistent customer communication
Automated outreach ensured customers received timely reminders and updates without relying entirely on manual availability.
The company maintained a consistent communication process while preserving the option for human involvement when needed.
Scalable operations
By combining AI-powered collections and inbound call handling, the company created a more scalable communication model.
The team could manage increasing customer interactions without adding significant administrative workload.
TESTIMONIAL
Why organizations choose Squirrels.ai
Squirrels.ai helps service businesses automate customer communication while maintaining control, transparency, and human oversight.
Organizations use Squirrels.ai to:
- Automate AR collections outreach
- Handle customer calls 24/7
- Capture and qualify inbound inquiries
- Manage calls, emails, and texts from one platform
- Track customer responses in real time
- Reduce repetitive administrative tasks
- Integrate AI with existing workflows
- Create industry-specific AI conversations
- Scale operations without increasing headcount
Capture more opportunities, automate follow-ups, and improve customer communication with AI-powered workflows.