How to handle an angry caller without losing the job or your temper
A practical script for the furious phone call: what to say in the first thirty seconds, which words cost you the job, and how to keep your own temper in check.
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What to say in the first twenty seconds of a phone call
The order you say things when you answer the shop phone decides whether the caller keeps talking. Here is what to open with, and what to never open with.
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Who is actually calling your shop at 7pm
The 7pm call is rarely a wrong number. Here is who is on the line after hours, what they want, and what it costs a small trade shop to let it ring out.
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What to say when a caller asks how much to look at it
Pricing diagnostic time over the phone is the hardest quote in the shop. Here is how to name a number early, say what it buys, and stop giving away an hour of a tech's day.
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The first warm Saturday decides your whole lawn season
In the St. Louis area one warm March Saturday sets your route for the year. Here is what happens to the mowing and cleanup calls you miss that week, and how to catch them.
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Phone coverage for pest control when the swarm calls start
How St. Louis pest control companies can handle seasonal call spikes, ask better intake questions about the pest and the property, and book inspections without phone tag.
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Telling an electrical emergency from a service call before you drive
A phone triage script for St. Louis area electricians: the questions that separate a burning panel from a dead outlet, and how to cover calls while you're on a job.
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Everyone rounds up. The question that actually matters is spam.
Every answering service bills you in whole minutes, and we do too. Here is why, and the question worth asking instead when you are comparing them.
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Which plumbing calls cannot wait around St. Louis
A practical triage script for after-hours plumbing calls in the St. Louis area: what to ask about a leak or a backup, and how to cover nights and weekends.
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How to choose between voicemail, an answering service, and an AI receptionist
What voicemail, a live answering service, and an AI receptionist actually do on a call, where each one falls apart, and the questions to ask before you sign up.
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The voicemail greeting that loses you the job
Almost every small business voicemail gives the caller a reason to hang up and try the next name. Here is a greeting that does the opposite.
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