Booking Standard

What a good booking looks like

A good booking is one where the technician arrives at the right address, at the right time, with the right expectations, already knowing what is wrong and how to get in. The customer knows the fee, the arrival window and what happens next. Nobody has to call anybody back to ask a question you could have asked.

Strong home services teams book 80 to 85 percent or more of real service callers. Average shops book well under half. The difference is almost never the price. It is the call: speed, warmth, five or more good questions, a clear fee, and two specific time options.

The booking call in eight steps

Step	Goal	Target time
1. Greet	Warm, clear, company name, your name, ask theirs	Under 10 seconds
2. Locate	Service address or phone, pull up their record	20 seconds
3. Discover	What is happening, since when, what kind of system	45 to 60 seconds
4. Safety screen	Rule out gas, CO, electrical, water and vulnerable people	15 seconds
5. Reassure	Tell them they called the right place	5 seconds
6. Fee and two slots	Disclose the fee, offer two specific arrival windows	20 seconds
7. Membership mention	One short line if eligible	15 seconds
8. Restate and close	Repeat the booking back, explain what happens next	20 seconds

Full wording is in the script "Inbound Service Call".

What to capture on every call

Capture everything in the field service management system while you talk, not after. Read back anything that could be misheard.

Customer and location

• Full name (spell it back if unsure)
• Best phone number, read back digit by digit, plus a second number if offered
• Email address (spell it back)
• Service address including unit number, ZIP code confirmed inside the service area
• Billing address if different (for example a landlord or property manager)
• Owner, renter or property manager. Renters may need the owner's approval; follow your client's rule
• Consent to receive appointment texts, per your client's process

The problem

• Trade: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, other
• Symptom in the customer's own words ("AC is blowing warm air upstairs")
• When it started, and whether it is getting worse
• Complete failure or partial (no cooling at all, or not keeping up)
• Anything they already tried (thermostat batteries, filter, breaker checked by them)
• Safety screen result

The equipment

• Type (gas furnace, heat pump, central AC, boiler, mini-split, tank or tankless water heater, panel, roof type)
• Brand and approximate age if they know it
• Number of systems and which one has the problem (upstairs, downstairs, attic)

Account and history

• Existing customer or new
• Member or non-member (members get priority and benefits)
• Open estimates on file
• Recent visit for the same problem. A return visit within the client's recall window (often 30 days) may be a recall, which is usually free and goes to the original technician. Flag it, do not decide it
• Warranty notes on file. Promise nothing: "The technician will confirm what's covered."

The appointment

• Job type and priority per the Priority and Dispatch Standard
• Arrival window (never an exact time)
• Fee disclosed: diagnostic, after-hours, weekend or trip fee as it applies
• Access notes: gate code, lockbox, parking, pets, who will be home (must be an adult)
• Lead source ("How did you hear about us?")
• Membership mentioned, and the answer

The CRM note format

Every interaction gets a note someone else can act on without calling you. Use this format in the job or customer notes. Times are in the customer's local time zone unless your client says otherwise.

Note rules

1. Facts, not opinions. Write "customer said the unit is about 12 years old", not "old unit, probably needs replacing".
2. Quote the customer on anything about price, promises, complaints or safety. Use their exact words in quotes.
3. Every unbooked call and every job on hold gets a reason code and a next date.
4. Fill the structured fields (equipment, lead source, job type, priority) and do not only type in free text. Reports depend on them.
5. No personal opinions about the customer. Customers can sometimes see notes, and notes can be read in a dispute.
6. No sensitive data. No card numbers, no Social Security numbers, no medical detail beyond "vulnerable occupant: elderly, medical condition".
7. Write in full words. Avoid private shorthand. "Cust LM 2x" means nothing to a new dispatcher; "Left voicemail twice" does.

Reason codes for unbooked calls

Every call that does not end in a booking gets a reason. This is how the client learns what is costing them jobs. First decide: was this caller a real lead or not?

Not a lead (excluded from booking rate)

Code	Use when
NL-Existing	Customer calling about an existing appointment, invoice or warranty paperwork
NL-Vendor	Supplier, salesperson or marketing company
NL-Job	Job seeker
NL-Spam	Robocall, wrong number, silence
NL-Short	Caller hung up within the first few seconds before any conversation (follow client's time rule)
NL-Internal	Technician or staff calling the office

Lead, not booked (counts against booking rate)

Code	Use when	Next step
UB-Fee	Declined because of the diagnostic or trip fee	Note exact words. Offer membership if it waives or reduces the fee
UB-PhonePrice	Wanted a price over the phone and would not book without one	Note what they asked for
UB-Timing	Wanted a time we could not offer	Add to cancellation list, offer follow-up
UB-Area	Outside service area	Refer per client policy
UB-Service	Service we do not offer (for example commercial, a brand we do not service)	Refer per client policy
UB-Shopping	Comparing companies, will call back	Ask permission to follow up, set date
UB-Renter	Renter needs owner approval	Get owner contact if allowed, set follow-up
UB-Fixed	Problem resolved itself or they fixed it	Offer a tune-up or check, note it
UB-DIY	Will try to fix themselves	Offer help if it does not work
UB-Callback	Needs to check schedule or talk to spouse	Set specific callback date and time
UB-Other	Anything else	Write a clear explanation

How booking rate is calculated

Booking rate = booked calls ÷ (all calls minus not-a-lead calls).

Example: 120 calls in a day. 20 are not leads (existing appointments, vendors, spam). 100 are real leads. 82 booked. Booking rate is 82 percent.

Arrival windows, not exact times

Technicians cannot control traffic, a job that runs long, or an emergency inserted before them. That is why the industry books arrival windows (for example 8 to 10 AM or 1 to 3 PM), not exact times.

• Say: "Your technician will arrive between 1 and 3 PM."
• Never say: "The technician will be there at 1:30."
• Never say: "First thing in the morning" unless that matches a defined window. Say "the 8 to 10 AM window".
• Sales appointments (comfort advisor, roofing inspection) may use shorter windows or exact start times. Follow your client's settings.

Fee disclosure

Disclose every fee that applies before you confirm the booking. Then note "fee disclosed" in the job.

You: There's a (DIAGNOSTIC FEE) diagnostic fee for the visit. The technician will find the problem and give you the exact repair price before doing any work, so there are no surprises.

If your client credits the fee toward the repair, or waives it for members, say so. If an after-hours, weekend or holiday fee applies, disclose it separately and get a clear yes.

Before you hang up: the restate

You: Let me make sure I have everything right. That's (DAY) between 1 and 3 PM at (SERVICE ADDRESS), for the upstairs AC blowing warm air. The diagnostic fee is (DIAGNOSTIC FEE). You'll get a text confirmation shortly, and another text when the technician is on the way. Is there anything else I should tell the technician?

The restate catches wrong addresses, wrong days and missing details. It also makes the customer feel looked after.

Quality checklist (use for self-review and QA)

• Answered within three rings with company name, my name, and asked theirs
• Used the customer's name at least twice
• Asked at least five discovery questions
• Ran the safety screen on every relevant call
• Did not diagnose or guess a price
• Disclosed the fee clearly and got a yes
• Offered two specific windows
• Mentioned the membership if eligible
• Restated the booking
• All required fields filled, note in standard format
• Unbooked call coded with a reason and a next step

Common mistakes

1. Booking before the safety screen. A gas smell gets a Thursday slot. This is the most dangerous mistake on this page.
2. Open-ended scheduling. "When works for you?" leads to long back-and-forth. Offer two windows instead.
3. Hiding the fee. The customer is surprised on site, the tech wastes time, and the client gets a bad review.
4. Missing a recall. The customer had the same problem fixed two weeks ago and gets charged again. Always check history.
5. Wrong number typed. No confirmation reaches them and the tech cannot call ahead. Read every number back.
6. Notes only in your head. If it is not in the record, it did not happen.

Check yourself

1. What is the formula for booking rate, and which calls are excluded?
2. A customer had a plumber fix the same leak 10 days ago. What do you do?
3. Rewrite this note correctly: "cust upset, old unit prob needs replacing, LM."
4. Why do we offer two specific windows instead of asking "When works for you?"
5. A caller says, "Just put the card on file, it's 4111..." What do you do?

Answers

1. Booked calls divided by real leads (all calls minus not-a-lead calls). Existing appointment questions, vendors, job seekers, spam, internal calls and very short hang-ups are excluded.
2. Flag it as a possible recall, note it, and follow your client's recall process (often booking with the original technician at no charge). Do not decide whether it is free yourself unless the client rule is clear.
3. Example: "Customer said they are frustrated that the system failed again. Customer estimates unit is 15 years old. Left voicemail at 3:10 PM, will try again at 5 PM."
4. It is faster, it sounds organised, and it makes saying yes easy.
5. Stop them politely before they finish, and use only your client's secure payment process. Never write or type card details into notes.

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