It is not that nobody answered.
At your size somebody almost always answers. Here is where it actually goes.
- The call comes in at 6:41 on a Friday. The office closed at 5.
- It goes to voicemail, or to whoever is on call, who is on a roof.
- Somebody writes down a name and a number. That is all that gets written down.
- Monday it is in a stack behind 40 other things.
- Tuesday you call back and start from the beginning, because nobody asked her anything.
- She had somebody out Saturday.
95%
fewer leads qualified when a 5 minute response becomes 30 minutes or longer.
Not a contractor study. Web leads, and it was published in 2007. But nobody in the trades needs a study to know the shape of it.
Oldroyd and Elkington, MIT Sloan / Lead Response Management, 2007
What that is worth, in your numbers.
3 questions. You know all 3 answers.
This assumes half your missed calls were real work and the rest were somebody selling you something, and that the ones you call back are already gone. If that still looks high, cut it in half. It is usually still a truck.
What we build for this.
The system · Front Desk
Something answers every call and message, at any hour. It asks the questions you need to price the job. It books the visit on your calendar. Then it hands you a written summary before you have even picked up your phone.
It never gives a price and it never promises a time. Those stay with you. A wrong number or a missed appointment costs you the customer, and that is worse than a slow callback.
6:44 PM · On the owner's phone
Marcy Feldman · Coastline Property Mgmt
(203) 555-0148
88 Danbury Rd, Unit 3
RTU blowing warm. Dental office, tenants on site Saturday. Roof access via exterior ladder, gate code 4412. Unit details to pull from the last ticket.
Came in Friday 6:41 PM. Answered 6:41 PM.
It does not just text her back. It asks the questions you need to price the job, then books the visit.
Mock-up · this is what it will do
It does not just text her back. It asks the questions you need to price the job, then books the visit.
Mock-up · this is what it will do
What you see afterward.
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Marcy Feldman Coastline Property Mgmt
BookedCame in Fri 6:41 PM · Answered 6:41 PM
RTU blowing warm, 88 Danbury Rd Unit 3. Dental office, tenants on site Saturday. Roof access by exterior ladder, gate code 4412.
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Tom Reyes Fairfield Self Storage
BookedCame in Sat 10:12 AM · Answered 10:12 AM
No heat in the office, units are fine. Not urgent, asked for Monday morning.
-
Angela Cho Norwalk Retail Group
OpenCame in Sun 8:40 PM · Answered 8:40 PM
Two rooftop units, wants annual service on both. Building is 1990s, no service history with you.
Asked what it would cost. That one is yours.
3 came in · 2 booked · 1 waiting on you
Nothing here starts from zero on Monday.
Mock-up · this is what it will do
- Every call and message that came in, and what was asked.
- What got captured on each one, so the callback is not a fresh start.
- Which ones booked, and which ones are still sitting open.
- What time it came in, and what time it got answered.
What it does not do.
It does not find you new work. We do not do marketing. This makes sure the work already coming to you does not get missed.
It does not replace whoever answers your phone. It covers the hours they cannot.
It does not need a new app. It runs on the number you already give out.
How this goes.
30 minutes on the phone. 1 hour at your shop. One page back in 2 days. All of that is free. Then $1,000 down and 2 weeks to the first thing running.