Everything the website does ends at a conversation, and the first two minutes of it decide most outcomes. Whoever answers needs three things to hand: enough information to answer the obvious questions, a short set of questions that establish whether the job fits, and a clear next step to offer. Most businesses have never written any of them down.

The part of the funnel nobody optimises

A business will spend months on a website and a budget on being found, and then route the resulting calls to whoever is nearest the phone, with no preparation at all.

That is not carelessness. It is that the call feels like an operational matter rather than a marketing one. But every dollar spent on being found is spent to produce this conversation, and the conversation is where the money either converts or does not.

The good news is that improving it costs nothing and takes an afternoon.

What the caller is doing

Rarely committing. Usually they are checking three things: whether you do this kind of work, whether you cover their area, and roughly what it might cost. They also form a judgement about whether you seem competent and whether dealing with you will be straightforward, and they form it very quickly.

A caller who gets clear answers to the three factual questions and finds the person helpful will usually go along with whatever is proposed next. A caller who gets hesitation on any of them starts thinking about the next number on their list.

What whoever answers needs to hand

What you do and do not take

The service list, and just as importantly the boundaries. Minimum job size, work you refer elsewhere, the things people assume you do and you do not. Someone answering without this either guesses or promises something you cannot deliver.

The service area, precisely

Which places are in, which are out, and which are in with a travel charge. "I think so" on this question costs jobs, because the caller hears uncertainty about something you should obviously know.

Realistic availability

When you could actually attend. Not an optimistic answer that gets corrected later, since a corrected timeline is worse than a longer honest one given up front.

A price position

Whether quotes are free, whether there is a call-out fee, and typical ranges for the common jobs. Refusing to discuss money at all reads as evasive, and the caller usually just wants to know they are in the right region.

The questions worth asking back

Four or five, in a consistent order, so nothing gets missed on a busy day.

That last one is worth protecting even on a busy day. It is the figure that tells you which marketing is working, and it does not exist anywhere else.

Quoting on the phone

The instinct is to avoid it, and a flat refusal loses more jobs than an approximate answer costs.

The workable version is a range with the variables named: what it usually runs to for a job of that description, and the two or three things that would move it. That gives the caller what they need to continue without committing you to a figure for something nobody has seen. It is the same reasoning that applies to publishing ranges on the site, as covered in whether to put prices on your website.

Ending with a next step

The most common failure is a call that ends pleasantly and vaguely. Both parties hang up satisfied and nothing has been arranged.

Every call should end with something specific: a booked visit, a quote to be sent by a stated day, or a call back at an agreed time. The caller should know what happens next, when, and from whom, which is the same handover principle that applies to a confirmation page after a form.

Writing it down

One page, kept where the phone is. What you do and do not take, the service area, current availability, the price position, the five questions, and the three or four things people ask constantly.

The value is not in the document, it is in the consistency. It means a caller gets the same competent answer whether they reach the owner on a good day or an apprentice covering the phone during a busy afternoon. That consistency is worth more than most website changes, and it costs an afternoon to create.

Frequently asked questions

What should someone answering the phone know?

What work you take and do not take, the service area precisely, realistic availability, and the price position including whether quotes are free. Without those, they guess or promise something that gets corrected later.

What questions should I ask an enquiry caller?

What is happening in their words, exactly where, how urgent it is, whether anyone else has looked at it, and how they found you. A consistent order means nothing gets missed on a busy day.

Should I give prices over the phone?

A range with the variables named works better than refusing. It tells the caller whether they are in the right region without committing you to a figure for something nobody has seen.

Why should I ask how they found us?

It is the only reliable attribution most small businesses ever get, it takes four seconds, and it exists nowhere else. It is the figure that tells you which marketing is actually producing work.

How should an enquiry call end?

With something specific: a booked visit, a quote to be sent by a stated day, or a callback at an agreed time. A call that ends pleasantly and vaguely has arranged nothing.

Do I really need a written call sheet?

The value is consistency rather than the document. It means a caller gets the same competent answer whether they reach the owner or whoever is covering the phone that afternoon.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Spending on being found and unsure what happens next?

We help you set up the call sheet and the tracking that shows which marketing is producing calls and what happens to them.

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