Get these on every booking call
- Address, gate or lockbox code, where to park, and any pets.
- The problem in the customer's words, written down the way they said it.
- When it started, and whether it is getting worse.
- Make, model and age of the equipment, or a photo of the label sent by text.
- Who will be home, and the best number to reach them on the day.
- Anything already tried: a reset, a breaker, another company's visit.
How to ask without sounding like a form
Say
So I can send the right parts, can you tell me the brand on the unit? A photo of the label works too.
Not
Model number?
Say
In your own words, what is it doing? I will pass that straight to the tech.
Not
Just describe the issue briefly.
Say
Let me read that back so nothing gets lost: the address, the gate code, and a leak under the kitchen sink. Did I get that right?
Not
Okay, someone will be out.
Getting it from the phone to the tech
- Write it on the job, where the tech actually looks, not on a sticky note or in someone's head.
- Use the customer's words for the problem. 'Making a grinding noise' is more useful than 'unit issue'.
- Flag anything that changes what goes on the truck: a ladder, a second tech, a specific part.
- Have the tech read the notes before they drive, not in the driveway.
The three ways this goes wrong
- Writing the details from memory at the end of a busy call. The one that gets forgotten is the one that mattered.
- Summarizing the problem into office language. The tech needed the customer's words.
- Skipping the read-back. It takes a few seconds and catches the wrong house number.
The tech can only be as ready as the call was thorough. Ask the same things every time, read them back, and put them where the tech will see them.
B
I answer the phones for contractors, and I write every call into the job notes in the customer's own words, so the tech has them before they drive. callbobai.com