A One-Page Services and Coverage Sheet for Whoever Answers Your Phone

When you are up a ladder, the phone still rings. Whoever picks up, whether that is a partner, a friend, a subcontractor or an automated service, will only be as useful as the information you have given them. Without it, people guess. A guess about whether you cover a postcode or do a certain job can cost you work or send you somewhere you never wanted to go.

The fix is a single page. Keep it short enough to read in a minute and clear enough that a stranger could use it.

Why one page works

A long document gets ignored. A single sheet gets pinned above the desk, saved on a phone or pasted into a setup form. If you ever try a service that answers calls for you, the sheet is also what you hand over. For a sense of the job, read about what AI receptionists for trades do. In short, they answer when you cannot, greet callers in your business name, ask what is needed, take details and pass the message on. They can only do that well if you have decided your answers in advance.

Section 1: What you do

List your main services in plain words, the way customers describe them rather than the way your trade body does. Then add two short lists:

• Jobs you gladly take. Be specific, such as "replacing a tap" rather than just "plumbing".
• Jobs you turn down. Anything outside your skills, your insurance or your interest. Add a line for what to say, for example "We don't do that, sorry", and a suggestion if you have one.

Only list things you are happy to be held to. A vague "we do most things" invites calls you will have to untangle later.

Section 2: Where you work

Name the towns, districts or postcode areas you cover. Then add a fringe category: places you will travel to for the right job, perhaps with a note that the caller should expect you to discuss it first. Also list places you never go.

A clear boundary saves everyone time. The person answering can say yes, no or "let me check with them" without inventing an answer.

Section 3: Call-out basics

This is the section most people forget. Decide what the answerer should ask every caller, and write the questions in order:

1. Name and best contact number.
2. Address or postcode of the job.
3. What the problem is, in their own words.
4. How urgent it feels to them.
5. Whether there is safe access and someone on site.
6. When they are free for a visit.

Keep it to what you actually need to decide whether to take the job. Every extra question makes callers more likely to give up.

Section 4: Hours and urgent work

State your normal working days and hours. Then define what counts as an emergency for your trade and what should happen when one comes in. Does the caller get a call straight back, a text, or a pointer to an emergency service? Be clear about this, because it is the area where a wrong answer matters most. If a situation could involve danger, such as gas or electrical faults, say plainly that the caller should contact the relevant emergency or utility service first.

If you use an automated service, ask how it handles genuine emergencies before you commit, and check that it matches what you have written here.

Section 5: What not to say

Add a short "never promise" list. Typical entries are firm prices over the phone, exact arrival times and guarantees about how long a job will take. Give the answerer a safe line instead, such as "They'll confirm the price after seeing the job."

Also note who to pass tricky calls to: upset customers, complicated quotes and anything unusual should come straight to you.

Keep it alive

Put a reminder in your diary to reread the sheet when something changes: a new service, a new area, different hours. Then test it. Ring your own number as a pretend customer, or ask a friend to, and see whether the answers match the page.

If you trial an answering service, start with your missed calls only. Check the sheet against what callers were actually told, fix gaps, and only then decide how much more to hand over.