I Built an AI Receptionist for a Barbershop (Retell AI + n8n)

Anthony walks through building a fully functional AI receptionist for a barbershop using Retell AI and n8n — no code required. The AI agent answers calls 24/7, books and reschedules appointments on Google Calendar, handles cancellations by phone number lookup, and logs every call to a Google Sheet. The real hook: barbers are always too busy cutting hair to answer the phone, so this solves an obvious pain point with a product you can pitch to any local service business.

The build is surprisingly straightforward — set up four webhook-connected functions (book, reschedule, cancel, log to Sheets), train the agent on the business's website using a custom GPT, attach a real phone number through Retell's platform, and forward the shop's existing line to it. The live demo is convincing: the AI handles a full booking conversation naturally, including a reschedule and cancellation, all while updating the calendar and spreadsheet in real time. This is "AI that pays for itself" in its purest form — a real product, solving a real problem, that you could have running for a client by this weekend.

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