Worth reading once, so nothing in it surprises you when a customer mentions it. Everything below is what happens with the booking assistant switched on and a message from someone who is not on a job.
It says who it is
The first reply introduces itself, as your business’s assistant or as the member of staff you chose in settings (“Hi, it’s Wes from Better Call Wes”).
It talks first
The first few replies are a conversation, one message at a time. It answers what they asked (price, area, what a service involves) from your notes, and asks for whatever would help: a photo, the make, where they are. It doesn’t open with a list of services or “How soon do you need us?”.
Once it knows what the job is, it asks once: Would you like me to book you in?, with Yes please and Not yet buttons. For a job you price first it asks whether they’d like a price sorted instead. Nothing about booking starts until they say yes. If they say not yet, it carries on talking and doesn’t ask again unless they bring it up.
If their first message already asks to book (“can you come and service my boiler”, “what’s your availability”), it skips the question and starts.
If it can’t tell what they need after a few messages, or it’s nothing on your list, it passes the conversation on with what it has.
If you gave that service a price, it says it: “That’s £85. Which day suits?”
How soon
Once they’ve said yes. Three buttons: Emergency, This week, No rush.
Emergency never books. The customer gets your emergency sentence, in hours or out of hours, and your staff are alerted straight away. Out of hours it still takes their details so whoever calls back in the morning has the address and the problem in front of them.
Which day, and when
Three days to choose from, filtered by how soon they said. Then morning or afternoon, or your ServiceM8 booking windows, or a list of exact start times, depending on what you chose in settings. Only days and times you actually have free for a job that long, inside your ServiceM8 opening hours and your rules.
Their details
Asked after the time is agreed, not before, because people who have committed to a slot answer admin questions and people faced with a form in the doorway leave.
If their number matches someone you already have, on a client card or a past job, it shows the name, address and email on file and asks if they’re still right. Yes, that’s right books it. Change something lets them send only what’s different, and keeps the rest. Otherwise it asks for name, address and email, and reads them out of however the customer types them.
Jobs you cannot size without seeing
A “Get details, then quote” service asks two or three sizing questions written for your trade (“How many radiators?”), asks for a photo or two, takes their details, and hands everything to you to price from the chat. No visit is booked. Whether a van goes out is your decision, made from the note.
A “We call back” service takes one question and their details, and hands off.
The confirmation
Once booked, the customer is told the day and the window on WhatsApp, with the job number. If they gave an email, they also get a confirmation email with the service, the day and window, the address and the job number. It is sent through ServiceM8 from your account, so it sits on the job diary, and a reply to it goes to your business email.
ServiceM8’s own Booking Confirmation automation does not send for these. It only fires when someone books from the job card’s Schedule window, never for a booking made by an add-on, so the assistant sends its own.
On your side the job exists, on the board, with a description written from the whole conversation. What appears in ServiceM8.
After it’s booked
They can keep messaging on the same chat. It resends the confirmation email if they didn’t get it, tells them when and where the visit is and the job number, and answers questions from your notes. Anything it can’t do, it tells them it’s passed on to you, so they always get an answer. A “thanks” gets nothing back.
Moving or cancelling
If you allow it, the confirmation tells them how: “Need to move or cancel it? Just message here at least 24 hours before.” When they do, it offers new times and moves the booking, or asks them to confirm and cancels it. Too close to the visit, it tells them it can’t do it here and that someone will be in touch. Setting it up.
When it hands over
It stops and tells the customer a person will pick it up when they ask to speak to someone, when the address is outside your area, when it is unsure, when the allowance is spent, or when the conversation has gone round in circles. You are alerted every time, with the reason. Taking over.