The Problem

Builders merchants know exactly what contractors are working on — and earn nothing from it

A contractor orders 40 sheets of plasterboard and 200 metres of first fix cable. You know they're fitting out a new build. You know they'll need an electrician to second fix, a plasterer to finish, and probably a decorator. That purchase data is a goldmine of sub-trade demand — but today it sits in your ERP and generates zero referral revenue. Your competitors are starting to notice this gap.

There is a simpler leak in the same building: the phone rings at the counter while you are serving the contractor in front of you. Aria answers the trade counter phone, takes the enquiry and the caller's number, and texts it through so nobody has to ring back.

How PipeIQ Solves It

Trigger a sub-trade referral from your checkout — earn a fee for every connection made

Purchase-triggered dispatch: When a contractor buys materials associated with a specific trade type, POST to PipeIQ. Relevant sub-tradespeople in their area receive an SMS within seconds.
Trade-type inference: Map your SKUs to trade categories — plasterboard triggers plasterer referrals, cable purchases trigger electrician referrals. Fully configurable.
Contractor opt-in at checkout: A single checkbox at POS or online checkout — "Need a sub-trade for this job?" — captures consent and triggers the dispatch flow.
Revenue per accepted connection: Earn a referral fee for every sub-tradesperson who claims the job. No extra staff, no phone calls, no overhead.

Real, Delivered SMS Example

What the contact received — for real

pipeiq.co.uk ✓ Delivered

"Hi Mike, your trade account enquiry with Ridgeway Builders Merchants has been received. Your account manager will call you back."

Sent 07 Aug 2026, 16:46 BST · Confirmed delivered · Reply STOP to opt out

A message, sent and delivered live on the platform. TPS-screened before every send. ICO registered: ZC164080.

One API Call

Material purchase detected. Sub-tradespeople alerted to the opportunity.

A trade-counter order suggests a sub-trade is needed; you POST the contractor's number and the site postcode. Only those two fields are required — who to reach and where the job is. Everything else is optional attribution.

POST https://app.pipeiq.co.uk/api/leads/register POST

curl -X POST https://app.pipeiq.co.uk/api/leads/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-PipeIQ-Token: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "mobile_number": "07700900000",
    "postcode": "OX1 1AA",
    "selected_trade": "electrical",
    "utm_source": "trade-counter",
    "utm_campaign": "sub-trade-referral"
  }'

A 201 Created response means the lead was registered and the welcome SMS was dispatched; the body returns the matched postcode sector. mobile_number accepts 07xxxxxxxxx or 447xxxxxxxxx. selected_trade takes plumbing, gas, electrical, roofing, building or all; it is not validated, so an unrecognised or omitted value is recorded as Other rather than rejected. Full field and response reference on the Partner API page.

Error Handling

Seven response codes, and what your integration should do with each

Lead distribution fails quietly when nobody handles the unhappy path. One of these you must never retry.

Code	Meaning	What to do
`201`	Lead registered, welcome SMS dispatched	Store the returned postcode sector against the lead.
`400`	Missing or invalid fields	Fix the payload; do not retry unchanged.
`401`	Invalid or missing API key	Check the header. Never put the key in client-side code.
`405`	Wrong HTTP method	POST only. OPTIONS returns 200 for CORS preflight; everything else is rejected.
`422`	Number previously opted out	Do not retry. Mark the lead unreachable by SMS and route it another way.
`429`	Daily call limit reached (100 per key per 24h)	Back off and resume; email support to raise the cap. Sandbox keys share this status.
`500`	Unexpected server error	Retry with backoff; contact support with your request id if it persists.

The 422 is the one worth designing around. It is not a transport failure, it is a lawful-basis answer: that person has told us not to text them. Retrying it is the easiest way to turn a compliance feature into a compliance incident.

Results

What builders merchants see after the first month

11%

Average sub-trade acceptance rate on purchase-triggered referrals

380+

Sub-trade referrals generated per month from a single branch location

0

Additional headcount needed — the API handles dispatch, tracking, and confirmation

Contractors buying materials need sub-trades.
Add a revenue stream with one API call.

Builders merchants know exactly what contractors are working on — and earn nothing from it

Trigger a sub-trade referral from your checkout — earn a fee for every connection made

What the contact received — for real

Material purchase detected. Sub-tradespeople alerted to the opportunity.

Seven response codes, and what your integration should do with each

What builders merchants see after the first month

Turn your till data into a referral network

Contractors buying materials need sub-trades.Add a revenue stream with one API call.

Builders merchants know exactly what contractors are working on — and earn nothing from it

Trigger a sub-trade referral from your checkout — earn a fee for every connection made

What the contact received — for real

Material purchase detected. Sub-tradespeople alerted to the opportunity.

Seven response codes, and what your integration should do with each

What builders merchants see after the first month

Turn your till data into a referral network

Contractors buying materials need sub-trades.
Add a revenue stream with one API call.