Inbound CSR and Call Booker Guide

What you own

You are the first voice of the company. The homeowner does not know the technicians yet. They decide whether to trust the company based on the 3 minutes they spend with you.

You own:

• Answering every inbound call fast and warmly.
• Screening every relevant call for safety.
• Booking service, maintenance and sales appointments.
• Classifying every call, booked or not.
• Returning missed calls and contacting new web leads.
• Mentioning the maintenance plan to eligible callers.
• Clean, complete records for every interaction.

You do not own: diagnosing, pricing repairs, approving discounts, deciding warranty coverage, or deciding whether a return visit is free. You capture the facts and route those decisions to the right person.

KPIs that matter

KPI	Narqix standard	Why it matters
Booking rate (real leads)	80 percent or higher. Your client's baseline sets the starting goal	The single biggest driver of client revenue from your seat
Speed to answer	Within 3 rings	Callers in a hurry hang up and call the next company
Hold time	Avoid holds. If needed, ask permission and come back within 20 seconds	Long holds cause hang-ups
Abandon rate (team)	Under 5 percent	Shows whether the team is covering the phones
Missed call callback	Within 30 minutes, 100 percent	A missed caller is often still deciding
Web lead first contact	Within 5 minutes	The first company to respond usually wins
Average call length	2 to 4 minutes for a booking	Shorter often means steps skipped; longer often means diagnosing
Membership mention rate	100 percent of eligible calls	You cannot sell what you do not mention
Membership close rate	10 percent or more of eligible calls	Recurring revenue for the client
Reason code accuracy	100 percent on audit	Clients use this data to fix problems
Note quality (QA audit)	95 percent or higher	Technicians and dispatch rely on your notes
QA call score	90 percent or higher on 5 recorded calls a week	Overall call quality

Know your number

Top teams turn the client's revenue goal into a daily booking target. Example: the client wants USD 100,000 a month in service revenue and the average ticket is USD 2,500. That is 40 jobs. At an 80 percent booking rate, the team needs 50 real leads. At 50 percent booking, it needs 80 leads, which costs far more in marketing. Ask your team lead what your daily target is and track it yourself.

Your daily rhythm

Before your shift (15 minutes)

1. Check in through your campaign's check-in method.
2. Read the handoff from the previous shift and the overnight log: emergencies, callbacks owed, open issues.
3. Listen to any voicemails left since the last shift and list callbacks.
4. Check the weather for the client's area. A heat advisory or freeze warning changes your triage.
5. Check today's board capacity: which windows are open, which are full, any technician out sick.
6. Check the team channel for changes: fees, promotions, service area, special instructions.

During your shift

• Live calls first. Answer within 3 rings. Follow the Booking Standard.

Between calls, in this order:

1. Missed calls and voicemails (30-minute rule).
2. New web leads and text inquiries (5-minute rule).
3. Confirmations for tomorrow's jobs if your role includes them.
4. Tune-up bookings and outbound lists if your client assigns them.

• Every hour, glance at the board for same-day openings you can offer to people on the cancellation list.

End of shift (15 minutes)

1. Every call from your shift is classified. Every unbooked call has a reason code and next step.
2. Every callback you promised is either done or handed over in writing.
3. Write the shift handoff: emergencies, open callbacks, unusual calls, system issues.
4. Check out through your campaign's check-out method.

Tools you use (generic)

• Phone system or softphone with call queues and recordings
• Field service management system: customer records, equipment, jobs, dispatch board, memberships
• Texting platform for confirmations and lead replies
• Email inbox for web forms
• Team channel for real-time questions to the dispatcher and office
• Your campaign's scripts, fee sheet, service area list and escalation contacts

Handoffs

You receive from	What	You pass to	What
Marketing and website	Web leads, chat leads, third-party leads	Dispatcher	Booked jobs with complete notes, emergencies, schedule conflicts
Previous shift	Handoff notes, callbacks owed	On-call technician or manager	After-hours emergencies via the escalation ladder
Dispatcher	Open windows, cancellations, delays to communicate	Follow-up rep	Callers who want to "think about it", estimate questions, cancellation list
Office manager	Fee and policy updates	Comfort advisor	Replacement interest, old equipment, second opinions on replacement
		Office manager	Complaints, billing disputes, legal threats, media, anything outside your authority

Quality checklist

• Greeting under 10 seconds with company name and my name
• Asked the caller's name and used it at least twice
• Located the record and checked history, membership, open estimates, recalls
• Asked five or more discovery questions without diagnosing
• Ran the safety screen on every relevant call
• Reassured the caller
• Disclosed all fees clearly
• Offered two specific arrival windows
• Mentioned the maintenance plan if eligible
• Restated the booking and explained the next steps
• Note in standard format, all fields filled
• Unbooked calls coded with a reason and next date

Common mistakes

1. Sounding rushed when the queue is busy. The caller cannot see your queue. Each caller deserves your full calm attention.
2. Diagnosing to be helpful. "It's probably your capacitor" sets an expectation the technician may not meet, and it can make the customer try a dangerous fix.
3. Quoting from memory. Fees and promotions change. Use the current fee sheet.
4. Skipping the safety screen on "simple" calls. A no-heat call can also be a CO call.
5. Giving up after the first objection. Acknowledge, explain value once, offer the slot again. Then code it honestly.
6. Letting the missed-call list grow. Thirty minutes is the rule, even on busy days.
7. Going off script on location questions. If asked where you are, answer with the client's company and market, using the client's approved wording. Never mention your own country. See the Objection Handbook.

Escalation rules

Situation	Escalate to	How fast
Any safety protocol call	On-call manager or dispatcher	Within 2 minutes
After-hours P1 or P2	On-call ladder	Immediately
Angry customer asking for a manager	Office manager (warm transfer if available, or callback)	Same call or within 1 hour
Complaint about a technician, damage or billing	Office manager	Same day
Legal threat, lawyer, media, regulator, or "I'll report you"	Office manager and your Narqix team lead	Immediately
Request outside policy (discount, free visit, fee waiver)	Office manager	Before you promise anything
Customer wants to stop all calls or texts	Record opt-out immediately, inform team lead	Same day, same shift
System down, phones not working	Your Narqix team lead and the client contact	Immediately

Check yourself

1. What are the time standards for answering, missed-call callbacks and web leads?
2. Name three decisions a CSR never makes alone.
3. Your call took 7 minutes and did not book. What two things might have gone wrong?
4. Who gets a caller who says they want to replace their 20-year-old furnace?
5. What goes in your end-of-shift handoff?

Answers

1. Answer within 3 rings, missed calls back within 30 minutes, web leads within 5 minutes.
2. Any three of: diagnosis, repair pricing, discounts, warranty coverage, whether a return visit is free, fee waivers.
3. You may have been diagnosing or explaining too much, or you did not offer two specific windows and ask for the booking.
4. A comfort advisor. Book a replacement consultation per your client's process.
5. Emergencies and their status, callbacks still owed, unusual calls, complaints, system issues and anything the next shift must act on.

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