One intake script for several trades

The decision to make first

Agree the few questions every caller answers, whatever the trade: name, callback number, service address area, the trade and a one-line description of the problem. Everything else belongs in a trade branch.

Write a short branch per trade

Heating and cooling might ask whether the system is heating or cooling and which unit; roofing might ask whether water is coming in now; cleaning might ask about the property type and preferred day. Keep each branch to three or four questions your office actually uses.

Suggested wording to approve

Example wording: “Thanks for calling. Which service do you need today, and what is happening at the property?” The caller chooses the trade in their own words; the script maps it to the right branch.

Test the difficult case

Try a caller who needs two trades at once, such as a leak that has reached a light fitting. The summary should list both trades and flag the request for a person to review, not pick one silently.

Worked example

Fictional example: a caller says the upstairs AC is blowing warm air. Ava records the trade as heating and cooling, asks which unit and whether anyone at home is at risk from the heat, captures a callback window and passes a same-day request to the office queue.

Review it in operation

Read a sample of summaries each week. Remove questions nobody uses and add one only when the office keeps calling customers back for the same missing detail.

Check before you launch

• Agree the shared questions every caller answers.
• Write three or four questions per trade.
• Test a two-trade request.
• Review summaries weekly and trim unused questions.

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