"Somebody showed up in a car for a job Catherine had booked, and I was pleasantly surprised."
Exclusive Paint Protection captured 229 leads from 1,180 calls over six months — while founder Brian Brown stayed on the production floor.
$60k
Saved annually
The hire Brian turned down
229
Leads captured
Inbound leads and bookings
1,180
Calls handled
Six months, Monday–Sunday
47
Median weekly volume
About 31 after excluding spam
54s
Average call length
1,000+ minutes of coverage
The Story
From missed calls to a lead machine.
Before Marlie
Exclusive Paint Protection is an automotive protection studio in Charlotte and Lake Norman, North Carolina. Founder Brian Brown specializes in paint protection film, ceramic coating, window tint, and high-end detailing — work that happens on the car, not at a desk.
The shop never had a full-time receptionist. As a micro business, Brian didn't have the budget or the call volume to pay someone to sit and wait for the phone. Coverage fell to whoever was free, then principally to him. Mid-install, the phone rings. He either drops the job or misses the call. Missed calls meant missed jobs — and frustration from people whose cars were already in the shop.
He tried another service first: Smith.ai. He thought he was buying AI. Humans answered instead, and they didn't know the business. It was inefficient. He left.
Why He Tried Marlie
Brian knew he needed coverage. As the technology got good enough, he researched for a voice that sounded close to human. Marlie made the short list. They tried it, named the agent Catherine, and kept her.
He trains her himself. He listens to calls, decides what he'd change, and writes guardrails around it. In his words, she is now better able to answer the phone than he is — and he built the business.
What Happened
The difference is urgency. Before Catherine, a ringing phone meant drop the film and run. After, there is no scramble: she is there all day, every day.
Over six months she handled 1,180 calls, Monday through Sunday — a median of 47 a week. About 32% of that volume was spam, so the shop's real inbound sat around 31 calls a week. Average talk time was 54 seconds. In that window she captured 229 leads and bookings, 101 pricing calls, and 86 existing-customer calls.
Customers notice. Brian gets frequent compliments from people who were partway through the call before they realized it was AI. When friends ask how it works, he doesn't pitch features. He says: call my number. You'll hear my attendant.
The Walk-In
One day, at one of the locations, a customer showed up in a car for a job Catherine had booked. Brian was pleasantly surprised.
That surprise is also why booking is still dialed carefully. The team is small. They don't want people arriving unannounced. Brian wants Catherine on a calendar he trusts — he can see himself turning booking back up over the next several months once the flow matches how the shop actually takes work.
The other offer on the table was to fire her. A marketer Brian wanted to hire made giving up Catherine a condition of the contract, and replacing her with a human who would also do callbacks and other tasks — at $60,000 a year, and less reliable. Brian declined. "I'm in love with Catherine. I'm not doing that."
I'm in love with Catherine. Somebody showed up in a car for a job Catherine had booked, and I was pleasantly surprised.
— Brian Brown, Exclusive Paint Protection, Charlotte & Lake Norman, NC
A $60,000 hire. Or Catherine.
The alternative Brian was offered was a full-time person for front-desk coverage plus callbacks — $60,000 a year, and not as reliable as the agent he already has. Over the same six months Catherine handled 1,180 calls and captured 229 leads while he stayed on the cars. One protection package covers years of Marlie. A receptionist hire does not.
Why it worked.
Five angles that explain the result.
The owner is the installer
Brian's finite skill is on the car, not the phone. A ringing line used to pull him off production or go unanswered. Catherine holds the line so the film stays on the car.
Humans who don't know the shop lose
He tried Smith.ai first, expecting AI, and got attendants who didn't know paint protection. Catherine is trained on the actual business — by Brian, from real calls.
Missed calls cut both ways
A missed prospect is a missed job. A missed existing customer whose car is already in the shop is a frustrated customer. Coverage has to work for both.
Customers don't clock it as AI
Brian gets unsolicited compliments from callers who were well into the conversation before they realized they weren't talking to a person. For a high-end shop, that matters.
He sells it by handing out his number
When other owners ask, he doesn't send a deck. He tells them to call Exclusive Paint Protection and hear Catherine. That is the demo.
Summary
Marlie is used by auto detailing and paint-protection shops as an AI answering service that covers the phone while the owner is on the production floor. Exclusive Paint Protection in Charlotte, North Carolina named their agent Catherine. Over six months she handled 1,180 inbound calls, captured 229 leads, and replaced the need for a full-time receptionist — a hire the owner estimated at $60,000 a year.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about AI answering services for auto detailing businesses.
Two things, and Brian hit both. A new caller who wants PPF, ceramic coating, or tint hangs up and calls the next shop. An existing customer whose car is already in the bay gets frustrated waiting. Exclusive Paint Protection didn't have the volume to staff a receptionist, so missed calls were the default whenever Brian was mid-install.
Marlie is built for owner-operated shops that live on the production floor. It answers inbound calls, captures the lead, and covers the line all day. In this case study, Exclusive Paint Protection handled 1,180 calls and captured 229 leads over six months with an agent they named Catherine — without hiring a front desk.
Most don't. They ignore it, let it go to voicemail, or stop the job. Brian used to be the receptionist on top of being the installer. With Marlie, the agent picks up so he doesn't have to. He still reviews calls and tightens guardrails — he just doesn't have to sprint to the phone.
Brian hired Smith.ai thinking it was AI and got human attendants who didn't know his business. He left. Marlie is the AI agent he trains himself.
Yes — and Exclusive Paint Protection saw it happen. A customer arrived for a job Catherine had booked that Brian didn't know about. He later turned open booking down because a small team doesn't want surprise walk-ins. The next step he's aiming for is calendar-aware booking he can trust.
Yes. This case study is Exclusive Paint Protection, an XPEL-certified paint-protection studio in Charlotte. They use Marlie for PPF, ceramic coating, window tint, and detailing calls. The product industry is auto detailing; the same agent pattern applies to wrap, tint, and protection shops.
Not for covering the phone. Brian's alternative was a $60,000-a-year hire who would also do callbacks — and would still be less reliable than Catherine. Marlie handles inbound 24/7. Humans stay on the work that actually needs a human.
Marlie's Basic plan starts at $49/month. Exclusive Paint Protection's comparison wasn't the subscription — it was the $60,000 receptionist a marketer wanted him to hire instead. One protection package covers years of the service.
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