Missed calls: the one-job starter

Give the assistant one job only. Answer the calls nobody gets to. Book the appointment. Do nothing else.

Mervin Wickey runs a roofing company. He posted that the gap after hours and at busy times, when nobody answers, is where service businesses lose thousands a week. An AI agent works that gap in his company. In 30 days it booked 26 sales appointments from calls that no one answered, per the owner. He does not name the tool. He does not say how many of those appointments became jobs. Read the full case: 26 appointments from unanswered calls.

Set up the one job

1. Set the hours. The agent answers only when the team cannot pick up. In the case above, that gap is after hours and at busy times.
2. Ask what the caller needs. The agent asks if the job is a repair, a replacement, an inspection, or a leak.
3. Collect the details. The agent takes the caller's name, address, and callback number.
4. Book from the real calendar. The agent checks the calendar for the next open sales appointments. It offers two options. It books the one the caller picks.
5. Read the details back. Before it confirms a booking, the agent reads the details back to the caller. The caller confirms them.
6. Send the owner a summary. The agent sends a summary of every call to the owner on the same day.

A short sample script

This script follows the workflow in the case above. Fill in the parts in brackets. Change the words to fit your trade.

Agent: Hello, this is [business name]. How can I help you?
Agent: Is this a repair, a replacement, an inspection, or a leak?
Agent: May I take your name, your address, and a callback number?
Agent: I can offer [time one] or [time two]. Which works for you?
Agent: Let me read that back. [Name, address, job, and time.] Is that right?
Agent: You are booked. Thank you for calling [business name].

What to check

Count the booked appointments first. In the case above, the owner counts 26 booked appointments in 30 days. He does not report how many became jobs, so count that part yourself before you judge the setup.