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The Blue Thing

Chatbots, apps and automation that take work off your hands.

We build practical AI for small and medium-sized businesses. For the email, quotes, customer questions and admin that cost your team hours every week.

Pick the work you want off your plate.

Click a card for the full story and what you get.

A shop owner restocks a shelf with ceramic bowls while her phone on the counter handles the customer questions.
Customer contact

Answer customers right away.

An assistant on your website or in WhatsApp answers frequently asked questions. Your team keeps its time for the difficult cases.

More about customer service automation →
An installer works on a boiler with both hands while his phone rings on the workbench.
Phone

Never miss a call again.

An assistant with a natural voice picks up when your hands are full. It helps callers directly or neatly records who you need to call back.

More about the phone assistant →
A business owner places a document into a blue desk tray at a light desk, laptop angled away beside her.
Administration

Automate the paperwork.

Incoming email is read, sorted and prepared. Quote requests are waiting as drafts before you open the file.

More about quote automation →

Repetitive work on autopilot.

An example. A complaint comes in: the assistant recognises it, labels it, prepares a reply and gives you a nudge.

Works with what you already use.

  • WhatsAppExact

    A customer asks a question on WhatsApp. The assistant prepares the draft quote in Exact.

  • Teams

    A missed call becomes a task with a summary in Teams.

  • bol.comSendCloud

    A new bol.com order becomes a shipping label and a tracking email.

WhatsAppOffice and ExcelExactMoneybirdSnelStarte-BoekhoudenAFASSAPOdooVismaKingSalesforceZohomonday.comQlikPower BITableauHubSpotTeamleaderShopifyWooCommerceMollieGoogle WorkspaceOutlookTeamsSlackPipedriveSimplicateNmbrsLoket.nlYukiTwinfieldLightspeedCalendlybol.comInstagramFacebookWordPressMailchimpLapostaStripePayPalPostNLSendcloudMyParcelTrustpilotTrelloNotionDropboxSalonizedSumUpAsana

Don't see your software? Chances are it works anyway. See what your systems can do →

Down-to-earth, concrete, no fuss

Start small.

No big project up front. One thing that works, then onwards.

Plain language.

You hear what it delivers, not what the technology is called.

Honest story.

If something will not work, or AI is not the answer, we say so.

Who we work for.

  • For small and medium-sized businesses, from small to large. Self-employed professionals are welcome too.
  • With recurring work around email, quotes, customer questions or administration that costs time every week.
  • With or without your own IT. We work across the Netherlands.

See what AI does in your sector:

What I build, you can try right here.

No promises, but something you can test yourself. I built everything below, and it runs live on this site.

Ralf, founder of The Blue Thing.

Ralf Knevel

Founder of the blue thing

The assistant in the chat.

Answers questions about my work and understands photos. Send a photo of a meter cupboard or a dented bumper and see what it makes of it.

The intake on the contact page.

Asks the right questions up front, summarises your story and emails me that summary. So I start the conversation prepared.

Try the intake →

The calculator.

Two sums with your own numbers: what missed calls and quote work cost you per year.

Run the numbers →

The call demo on the phone assistant page is a recorded sample conversation. The rest is real.

First know what pays off. Then build.

A free introductory call first. Then a fixed quote, or the Work Scan first if you do not yet know where to start.

Already know what you want built? Then you get a fixed quote after a free introductory call. Not sure where to start? Then the Work Scan first examines where time leaks away and what a first step would deliver. The report is yours, and if you then have us build, we deduct the amount in full.

Is our approach a fit for your question?

In a short introductory call we only establish whether your question, budget and approach fit together. Or put your question to the assistant first.

Intro call