Days one and two: learn the phone
- Sit next to whoever answers and listen to every call for a full day.
- Write down what gets asked on every call, and what gets forgotten.
- Find out what happens to calls after hours, at lunch, and when the line is busy.
- Call the company number yourself from a cell phone at a few odd times.
Days three and four: follow the job
- Trace three recent jobs from first call to paid invoice, and note every handoff.
- Ask the techs what they wish the office told them before they arrive.
- Find where the job notes live, and whether the techs actually read them.
- Look for quotes that went out and were never followed up.
How to talk to the crew in week one
Say
I am not here to change how you work this week. I want to understand it first. What slows you down that the office could fix?
Not
I have some ideas for how this could be done better.
Say
Walk me through what happens when a customer calls about a repair that did not hold.
Not
Who decided to do it this way?
Day five: pick one thing
- Name the single step where calls, jobs or money slip, with a real example from your notes.
- Propose one fix for it that the crew can try next week.
- Leave everything else alone until that fix is working.
A new office manager earns the right to change things by showing they understand them. Learn the phone, follow the job, then fix one thing that matters.
B
I answer the phones for contractors, so a new office manager can spend their first week learning the business instead of chasing missed calls. callbobai.com