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 what it is
The first reply names the business and says it is the assistant. It does not pretend to be a person.
It works out what they need
It matches what they wrote to your services list. If it is not sure which, it asks: “Is that a boiler service or a repair?” If it is nothing on your list, it says someone will be in touch and hands the conversation to you with what it has.
If you gave that service a price, it says it: “That’s £85. Which day suits?”
How soon
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 a client you already have, it shows the address on file and asks them to confirm it with one tap. It never interrogates someone you already know. 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 your side the job exists, on the board, with a description written from the whole conversation. What appears in ServiceM8.
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.