In this article
Selling to tradespeople takes its own method: they spend the day on site, rarely answer email, and decide alone and fast when an offer saves them time or money. This guide is for insurers, accountants, energy and telecom providers, quoting software vendors and agencies who want to sell to French tradespeople: how many there are, how to target them, when to call and what to say.
Why tradespeople make good customers
A French artisan (the word covers plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers and other skilled trades) usually runs a very small business where the owner does everything: jobs, quotes, invoices, purchasing. There is no procurement department and no assistant screening calls. Once convinced, they sign without a committee.
Their needs are many and recurring: ten-year liability insurance (the French décennale) and general liability, accounting, vans, phone plans, quoting and invoicing software, a website, tools and supplies. Most building trades also earn decent margins per job, so a reasonable expense is easy to justify.
The difficulty lies elsewhere: catching them at the right moment, and talking about their working day rather than your product.
How many tradespeople to prospect, by trade
Here are the volumes available in the Prospya database, by trade:
| Trade | Businesses | With phone | With email | No website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbers | 6,859 | 6,735 | 3,924 | 17% |
| Electricians | 2,958 | 2,950 | 1,737 | 5% |
| Builders and general contractors | 10,538 | 10,492 | 7,785 | 6% |
| Carpenters and joiners | 7,546 | 7,532 | 5,365 | 4% |
| Roofers | 1,714 | 1,700 | 1,256 | 5% |
| Heating and air conditioning | 3,805 | 3,793 | 2,428 | 5% |
| Locksmiths | 1,537 | 1,533 | 1,110 | 8% |
Figures computed live and updated automatically.
Two takeaways. First, the phone number is the most reliable field: tradespeople live on customer calls and publish their number everywhere. Second, a large share have no website, which says a lot about how they work: they would rather be called than written to.
Pick your area: France city by city
Most companies that serve tradespeople work by territory: a broker, an accountant or a supplier covers one city or département. Here are two trades in major French cities:
| City | Plumbers | Plumbers with email | Builders | Builders with email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon | 136 | 61 | 67 | 46 |
| Marseille | 83 | 38 | 70 | 56 |
| Toulouse | 93 | 43 | 64 | 37 |
| Bordeaux | 48 | 24 | 33 | 21 |
| Nantes | 53 | 24 | 23 | 19 |
| Lille | 67 | 31 | 23 | 16 |
Beyond the big cities, searching by region lets you cover a rural département, where tradespeople are pitched less often and more willing to listen.
Qualify before you call
- Rating and reviews: a tradesperson with 4.7 stars and 80 reviews has steady work, so real needs (insurance, van, software) and a budget.
- Few reviews: often a new business, the best moment for an accountant, an insurer or a bank.
- No website: a target for agencies, and a hint of low digital adoption for a quoting software vendor.
- Email available: useful for follow-ups, rarely for the first contact.
For example: Toulouse electricians with an email or Bordeaux plumbers without a website.
When to call a tradesperson
This is the key question. During the day they are on a job, hands full, sometimes on a roof. They pick up because they think you are a customer. If you are not, and the timing is bad, they hang up.
The windows that work best:
- 7:30-8:30: before leaving for the site, at the yard or in the van.
- 12:00-13:30: lunch break, often in the van. Worth testing; some appreciate it, some do not.
- 17:30-19:00: back from site, when many do their quotes and paperwork.
- Friday afternoon: often quieter, jobs finished or on hold.
Avoid Monday morning (planning the week, emergencies) and each trade's peak season, such as early winter for heating engineers.
Your first call should last two minutes at most. The aim is to book a proper phone appointment for when they are at their desk, not to explain everything between two jobs.
What to say to tradespeople: scripts and messages
Tradespeople are practical. They distrust jargon, vague promises and pushy reps. Talk about their trade, a problem they know, and a gain in hours or euros. If you are calling French artisans, do it in French: even simple French earns far more patience than English.
Cold call (accountant)
"Hello, it's [name] from [Comptaval], the accounting firm in Nantes. I'm calling because we work with about thirty local building firms. Are you on a job right now? Let me call you back tonight around 18:00, two minutes to explain how our clients got their evenings back from paperwork. Does that work?"
Cold call (insurance broker)
"Hello Mr [Ferrand], it's [name] from [Courtage Lebrun]. I work with roofers in the area on their ten-year liability cover. Many pay too much because their policy has not been reviewed since they started. I can do a free comparison, I just need your renewal date. When are you at your desk this week?"
Our cold calling script guide covers the full structure and objection handling.
SMS or follow-up email
After a call, send a short message confirming the call-back time or the document you promised. A one-line SMS is often read faster than a long email: identify yourself and offer STOP to opt out. For email, keep it to five lines and one question. More examples in our cold email templates.
Prospya's AI writer drafts a call script or email per business, based on what you sell and real facts about it (rating, review count, no website).
Objections you will hear
| Objection | Possible answer |
|---|---|
| "I'm on a job" | "What time tonight should I call?" and log it immediately |
| "I already have someone" | "Fine. When did you last compare?" |
| "I don't need that, I have enough work" | Talk about time saved or risk covered, not extra customers |
| "Send me something" | Agree, by SMS or email, then set the call-back date |
| "My partner handles the paperwork" | Common: ask for the best time to speak to both |
That last one matters. In many small trade businesses the admin side is run by a spouse or business partner, and that person often decides on accounting, insurance or quoting software.
Running your follow-ups
With tradespeople, the first-call answer rate is low: on site, driving, voicemail. Results come from the call-backs. A typical setup:
- List: 80 businesses in one trade and area, qualified by rating and review count.
- First pass: calls in the morning and evening windows, every outcome logged (reached, no answer, voicemail, wrong number).
- Automatic call-back: every no-answer is retried the next working day, in a different window.
- Follow-up: an SMS or email after each positive conversation, then a meeting date.
Prospya's built-in CRM handles these stages, schedules the next-working-day call-back when nobody answers, and the exclusion list stops you calling a business that already said no. The whole team (up to 10 people at no extra cost) shares credits and history. For the dataset side, see our contractor leads for France article and Prospya for B2B service providers.
Cost and the rules
Search and filters are free. Each tradesperson you unlock costs 1 credit if they have a phone or an email, and a record you already unlocked never costs again. Prospecting 500 businesses uses 500 credits; the €49 pack contains 2,000. No subscription, no expiry: see the pricing page.
On the legal side, France's Bloctel register protects consumers, not businesses: calling a tradesperson's business number about a professional offer is allowed, as long as you respect refusals and keep a do-not-call list. Many tradespeople use a personal mobile as their business line, so be all the more careful about calling hours. Named email addresses fall under GDPR; see our GDPR guide for B2B outreach in France.
Start with the 25 free credits you get at sign-up, no card required. For a broader method, read our guide on how to prospect local businesses.
FAQ
When is the best time to call a tradesperson?
Early morning, between 7:30 and 8:30, before they leave for the site, or late afternoon, between 17:30 and 19:00, when they do their quotes. Avoid Monday morning and working hours on site. If you catch them at a bad moment, offer straight away to call back at a precise time instead of running through your pitch.
How do I find a tradesperson's phone number and email?
The phone number is almost always public: online listings, trade directories, the side of the van, the website if there is one. Email is rarer, especially for businesses without a website. A database like Prospya groups phone, verified email, website, rating and review count per business, with filters by trade, city and region.
Should I approach tradespeople by phone or email?
Phone first. Tradespeople read little email during the week and respond better to a short, well-timed call. Email or SMS is for confirming an appointment or sending a promised document. When texting a business, identify yourself clearly and offer a STOP reply to opt out.
What services can you sell to tradespeople?
Anything that saves them time or reduces a risk: accounting, ten-year and general liability insurance, quoting and invoicing software, phone plans, vans, websites and review management, tools and supplies. Always frame the benefit in hours of paperwork avoided or euros saved, rather than in features.
How much does a list of tradespeople cost?
On Prospya, search is free and you only pay for the businesses you unlock: 1 credit per tradesperson with a phone or an email. The €49 pack gives 2,000 credits and the €149 pack 10,000, about €0.015 per contact. No subscription, and 25 free credits at sign-up.