A chatbot that answers the technical questions, so Nick can get back to fixing trucks.

A niche business where the phone never stops

Nick Zimmerman is a certified diesel mechanic with more than 25 years on heavy equipment. His business, Hydro Vac Truck Repair, keeps hydrovac and vacuum trucks running for companies across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. It's a specialized field, and that means his phone rings constantly with questions: how the trucks work, what the parts do, how to size a truck for a job, what operators need to run one, which brands to look at, and what these trucks can even be used for.

The calls weren't wasted, but they weren't paying

Nick didn't mind the questions. Plenty of those callers come back to him when something breaks, so the conversations build the relationships that win the repair work. But answering them ate hours he needed for paying jobs. If a truck isn't running, its owner isn't earning, and if Nick is on the phone educating instead of fixing, he's leaving money on the table.

He turned his know-how into a content library

So Nick built an information center on his website: a set of guides and articles answering the questions he fielded over and over. It took some work to write, but it gave him an authoritative library to point people to. When he asked the Zurvo team how to deflect those calls with the chatbot, building out that content was exactly what they recommended.

Now the chatbot fields the questions

With Zurvo trained on that library, the chatbot handles the technical Q&A right on his site: trucks, parts, sizing, operator requirements, brand names, and what the trucks can be used for. When Nick reads back through the transcripts, he's struck by how accurate the answers are.

And when a visitor needs help or a repair, Zurvo proactively asks for their details and emails Nick the lead. He calls them back, schedules the job, and goes and fixes the truck.

When I read the chats, I'm amazed how accurate the answers are. It handles the questions I used to spend my days on, then emails me the lead when someone needs a repair. I like talking trucks, but I need to be earning, and this lets me do both.

Nick Zimmerman, Owner · Hydro Vac Truck Repair

The results

Nick estimates the chatbot now deflects around half of his inbound calls into chat. The questions that used to eat his day get answered automatically, and the ones worth money turn into leads in his inbox, without losing the relationship-building that brings customers back.

He gives the Zurvo team a lot of the credit: they suggested the content strategy that made it all work, and they're there whenever he has a question. For Nick, it comes down to time and money. He still likes talking trucks, but now he can spend his days fixing them.