A word-for-word script for answering the phone at a plumbing, HVAC, electrical or roofing company: the five fields every call must capture, the three questions that knock people off script, and the arithmetic for what a booked call is worth.
Short answer: answer by the third ring with your company name and your own name, ask for theirs, ask what's going on, ask where, ask when they need it, offer two arrival windows, read the whole thing back, and tell them what happens next. Every inbound call has to leave five things behind: name, callback number, address, the problem in their words, and a booked window or a reason there isn't one. If any of the five is missing, the call isn't finished.
Below is the script word for word, the branches for the three questions that knock people off it, and the arithmetic for what a call is worth so you know how much effort the script deserves.
Greeting: "Thanks for calling Ridgeline Plumbing, this is Dana. Who am I speaking with?"
Say the company name so they know they dialed right, say your name so they have a person, and ask for theirs before anything else. You'll use their name three more times in the call and it's awkward to ask for it later.
The problem: "Okay, Mike. What's going on today?"
Then stop talking and write down what they say in their words. "Water heater's leaking from the bottom" goes on the ticket as "water heater leaking from the bottom," not "WH leak." The tech reads the ticket, not your memory.
One clarifying question, at most two: "Is it dripping or is it running?" or "Is anything in the house without power, or just that one room?" One good question tells the tech what to load on the truck. Five questions turns the call into an interrogation and you aren't the one fixing it anyway.
The address: "And what's the address we're coming to?" Read it back, including the city. Ask "house or apartment, and any gate code?" if your area needs it.
The window: "I can have someone there today between 1 and 3, or tomorrow first thing, 8 to 10. Which works better?"
Offer two. Not "when would you like us to come," which hands them a blank calendar and a reason to say "let me check and call you back." Two real windows you can actually hit.
The number: "What's the best number for the tech to text when he's on the way?" Read it back digit by digit.
The read-back: "So that's Mike Alvarez, 1420 Pine Street, water heater leaking from the bottom, tomorrow between 8 and 10, and we'll text 555-0142 when the tech is heading over. Did I get all that?"
What happens next: "You'll get a text tonight confirming the window, and the tech will text again when he's about 30 minutes out. The visit starts with a $89 diagnostic, and he'll give you the price for the repair before he does anything. Anything else I can help with?"
Close: "Thanks, Mike. We'll see you tomorrow morning."
That whole call is about three minutes when nothing goes sideways. The pieces that go sideways are below.
Answer the question you can answer and be plain about the one you can't. "The diagnostic visit is $89, and that gets applied to the repair if you go ahead. I can't quote the repair itself over the phone because it depends on what the tech finds, but he'll give you the number before he touches anything, and you can say no at that point." Then go straight back to the script: "Does the 1 to 3 window today work?"
If you do flat-rate pricing on common jobs, say the range: "A standard 40-gallon gas water heater replacement runs $1,400 to $1,900 installed depending on the venting. The tech confirms the exact number on site." A range you'll stand behind beats a vague "it depends" every time. Don't make up a number you'll have to walk back at the house.
Tell the truth about the schedule. "The soonest I can get a truck there is 1 o'clock. If it's actively flooding, here's what to do until then: the shutoff valve is usually on the cold line coming into the top of the heater, turn it clockwise until it stops." Give them the one thing they can do while they wait, then book the real window. A promised "right away" that turns into 3pm is the angry call you'll be handling next week.
If you can't get there today at all, say so and offer the first slot you can hit: "I can't get there today, and I'd rather tell you that than have you wait. First thing tomorrow is open, 8 to 10. Want me to hold it while you decide?"
Take the five fields anyway. "No problem. Let me grab your info so I can get you a number. What's the address?" Then do the normal script, and at the window step say: "I can put you down for a free estimate Thursday between 10 and 12, and if you'd rather, I'll text you the diagnostic fee and our water heater range right now so you have it in writing." Either way they leave with your name, your number and a real figure, and you leave with their address and number. A quote shopper who has your written range and a tentative slot is a very different lead from one who got "it depends" and a goodbye.
Every number below is a labeled assumption. Swap in your own, the arithmetic is the point.
Under those assumptions the script is worth 6 extra jobs × $157.50 = $945 a month, or $11,340 a year, with no new ad spend. Change the booking numbers to whatever yours actually are. If you don't know yours, that is the first thing to find out: count booked jobs against total inbound calls for one month and you'll have the real figure.
Run it the other way too. A call that rings out or goes to voicemail is worth $157.50 × your booking rate. At 50% that's $78.75 walking out the door per missed call. Ten missed calls a month is $787.50 a month, $9,450 a year. That's the number to hold in your head when you're deciding whether the phone gets answered during a job.
Name. Callback number. Address. Problem in their words. Window or the reason there isn't one. Tape those five on the wall next to the phone. If the person answering can't book, they can still get all five, and a tech can call back into a complete ticket instead of a sticky note that says "Mike, water heater."
"I'll have him call you back" is where calls go to die, because it hands the job of closing to someone who is under a sink. If the answerer can book into the calendar, they book. If they can't, they get the five fields and give a real callback time: "Dana will call you back by 4 today." Then it has to happen by 4.
The owner answers the phone well because the owner can commit to a window and a price. The script exists so that whoever else picks up, the office manager, the apprentice between jobs, or Bob at 9pm, asks the same questions in the same order and leaves the same five fields behind. Write the diagnostic fee and your two most common price ranges on the same sheet, and update the sheet when the prices change, not the week after.
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