If you run a landscaping business, you already know the problem: the phone rings while you’re on a job, you miss the call, and by the time you call back — they’ve moved on to someone else.
An AI receptionist changes that. It picks up every call, 24/7, answers questions, books appointments, and never has a bad day. And setting one up is far easier than most business owners expect.
This guide walks you through exactly how to set up an AI receptionist for your landscaping business using Marlie AI — the same process shown in the video walkthrough below.
Why Landscaping Businesses Need an AI Receptionist
Most landscaping companies lose leads not because of bad service — but because of missed calls.
Here’s the reality:
- Customers call when it’s convenient for them, not when you’re available
- If you’re on a job site, you can’t always answer
- Most callers won’t leave a voicemail — they’ll just call your competitor
- Hiring a full-time receptionist can cost $35,000–$50,000 per year
An AI receptionist solves all of this at a fraction of the cost. It answers every call instantly, handles common questions about your services and pricing, and can even book appointments directly onto your calendar — without any human involvement.
What Is Marlie AI?
Marlie AI is an AI answering service built specifically for small and medium-sized businesses. It’s one of the most beginner-friendly tools in this space, with industry-specific templates, affordable pricing, and a setup process that takes less than 30 minutes.
Unlike some enterprise-level AI phone tools, Marlie is designed for businesses that don’t have an IT team — you don’t need any technical knowledge to get it running.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your AI Receptionist with Marlie
Step 1: Create Your Account
Go to Marlie AI and sign up with your email. You’ll confirm your email and be taken directly to the setup wizard. The onboarding flow is guided — you won’t need to figure anything out on your own.
Step 2: Import Your Business Information
Marlie will ask for your business name and website URL. Once you provide it, the platform automatically scrapes your website — pulling in your services, business description, and other relevant information to train the AI.
You can also search for your business directly on Google through the platform. Once found, select your industry (Marlie has a landscaping category) and it will pre-populate the agent with the right context.
Think of this step as onboarding a new receptionist. Instead of spending hours training a person, the AI learns your business in minutes.
Step 3: Set Your Business Hours
Marlie will display the business hours it found on your website. You can edit these or set the agent to operate 24/7.
For most landscaping businesses, the most valuable use case is after-hours call handling. When a homeowner finds your business at 8 PM and calls, your AI receptionist picks up, answers their questions, and captures their information — instead of sending them to voicemail.
Step 4: Configure Pricing Responses
You have three options here:
- Share pricing: Have the AI quote your standard rates for common services
- Give a range: Have the AI give a range, instead of exact pricing.
- Don’t share pricing: Have the AI offer a free on-site quote and capture the lead’s contact information
For landscaping businesses where pricing varies by property size and scope, offering a free quote and capturing the lead’s details is typically the better approach. That’s what’s demonstrated in the video.
Step 5: Add Your FAQs
This is where you can teach the agent how to answer the questions your customers ask most often — things like:
- “Do you offer free estimates?”
- “What areas do you serve?”
- “Do you provide commercial landscaping?”
- “Can you handle irrigation systems?”
You don’t need to cover every possible question right now. You can always update your FAQ library from the Marlie dashboard after you go live.
Step 6: Choose How to Handle New Bookings
When a caller is ready to book, Marlie gives you three options:
- Take a message — The AI collects their details and tells them someone will call back to schedule
- Send a booking link — The AI texts the caller a link to your calendar so they can self-schedule
- Book directly on the call — The AI takes the caller’s information and pushes the appointment to your calendar automatically
For most landscaping businesses, connecting your Google Calendar and letting the AI book appointments on the spot is the highest-value option. It removes friction for the customer and eliminates the back-and-forth of scheduling.
Step 7: Set Up Call Forwarding Rules
You can configure the AI to forward calls to a specific person in certain situations — for example, if the caller specifically asks for the owner or manager by name.
If you’d prefer the receptionist to handle everything and take a message when you’re unavailable, you can configure it that way instead.
Step 8: Pick a Voice and Personality
This is one of the more interesting parts of the setup. Marlie lets you choose from a wide range of AI voices — male, female, different ages, different accents.
If your landscaping business has a regional identity (like a southern company), you can even select a voice that matches. The quality of these voices is genuinely impressive — customers regularly can’t tell they’re talking to an AI.
You can preview any voice before committing, so take a few minutes to find one that fits your brand.
Step 9: Get Your Marlie Phone Number and Go Live
Once setup is complete, Marlie assigns you a dedicated phone number. This becomes your AI receptionist’s line.
You don’t need to change your existing business phone number. Instead, you simply set up call forwarding: calls to your existing number get forwarded to the Marlie number, and the AI picks up from there.
That’s it — you’re live.
What the Dashboard Looks Like
After going live, your Marlie dashboard gives you:
- Call history — a log of every call the AI has handled, with transcripts
- Agent settings — easy access to update services, pricing responses, FAQs, and voice
- Integrations — connect Google Calendar, your CRM, and other tools
- AI assistant — tell it in plain English what you want to change (“update the pricing for lawn maintenance to start at $75”) and it updates the agent automatically
The dashboard is built for business owners, not developers. No complicated menus or technical configuration.
Common Questions
Will my customers know they’re talking to an AI?
Many won’t. The voice quality is high, the responses are natural, and the AI is trained to handle real conversations — not just basic FAQs. That said, Marlie can be configured to introduce itself as an AI assistant if you prefer transparency.
What if a customer wants to speak to a human?
You can configure call forwarding rules so that if a caller insists on speaking to a person, the call gets transferred to you or someone on your team.
Can I use my existing phone number?
Yes. You keep your existing number and just forward it to Marlie. Your number stays the same on your website, Google Business Profile, truck wraps, and everywhere else.
What does Marlie cost?
Marlie has plans designed for small and medium-sized businesses. They also offer free onboarding support — you can book a call with their team if you need help getting set up, at no additional charge.
Is an AI Receptionist Right for Your Landscaping Business?
If you’re regularly missing calls, spending time on the phone answering the same questions, or losing leads after hours — an AI receptionist is worth exploring.
The setup is genuinely fast, the technology has reached a level of quality that surprised even early adopters, and the economics work even for smaller operations.
Marlie is a strong starting point if you want something purpose-built for small service businesses, with a real customer support team behind it.
