This is a sample plan. The answers are made up.
Do this first
Check if any calls are missing from your callback list.
Why
- Your test of the phone line reached the right person. (your guess)
- Your first useful reply tends to go out the next day. (your guess)
- Your records sit in places that don’t match up. (your guess)
Do this before you add reminders or tools. They only help if each call is on the list.
- Who does it
- You.
- Done means
- Each call you checked has an outcome. Or it has a next step with a due time.
Where you stand
3 working, 1 waiting on you, 3 missing.
- New calls come inWorking (your guess)
- Each one is saved, and the right person is toldWorking (your guess)
- One person owns each oneWorking (your guess)
- A real reply goes outWaiting on you (your guess)
- Each one is on your list with a next stepMissing (your guess)
- They know the next stepMissing (your guess)
- Dates you agreed are keptMissing (your guess)
Do this today
- Find the last ten calls. Look in the call log, voicemail and your notes.
- Put them all on one sheet, since your records don’t match up.
- Leave out spam and repeats. Leave out calls about work you have now too.
- Mark each one. Is it handled, waiting on us, waiting on them, or not relevant?
- Write when each came in, and when the first useful reply went out.
Where to look
- Missed calls in the call log.
- Voicemails, old ones too.
- Notes or texts you wrote after a call.
Check the other cases first. Help anyone who is waiting now. Then change things.
Use what you find
| What you find | Your next step |
|---|---|
| What you find: Some calls have no next step. | Your next step: If calls go missing again, fix the step where they slip. Do that before you pick a tool. |
| What you find: You checked each call. Each one was handled. | Your next step: Was each call you checked caught and handled? Then look at the next step instead. |
| What you find: If you can’t tell | Your next step: Log each new call for two weeks. Then check again. |
Your list
Sheet: Your callback list
This list is made up. It is for Summit Air Heating & Cooling.
| Found in | Came in | What they asked about | Reply so far | Callback promised | Next action | Due | Status | How it ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Found in: Voicemail | Came in: Mon 9:40 am | What they asked about: Furnace repair | Reply so far: None yet | Callback promised: Tue, 12 to 1 pm | Next action: Check the list and call back the ones due | Due: Tue 1 pm | Status: Waiting on us | How it ends: Not yet |
| Found in: Call log | Came in: Mon 6:15 pm | What they asked about: AC tune-up | Reply so far: None yet | Callback promised: Not yet | Next action: Reply in your next work hours | Due: Tue 9 am | Status: Waiting on us | How it ends: Not yet |
Your blank copy, 8 rows
What you type here stays on this page. It is gone if you reload. Print or copy it to keep it.
A note you can use
The blanks are your settings. Never fill in a time you can’t keep.
Fill in the parts in [brackets] before you send it.
Check again
When: In one week.
Count these real cases:
- New lead: a real request about this service. Leave out spam and repeats from the same person.
- No next step: a lead with no owner, next step or due time.
- Useful reply: one that helps the person take the next step. An auto reply doesn’t count.
- Callback kept: a callback made in the time you promised.
- Cases still open:
- Keep cases with no outcome yet in their own group. They aren’t lost.
- Later:
- Give people time to decide. Then track each next step on its own. A callback is not a sale. On your path, each of these counts on its own: proposal sent, agreed, then paid when due.
Ten cases show you what to fix. They are not a rate for the whole business.
Change the plan if
- If the check finds a gap:
- If calls go missing again, fix the step where they slip. Do that before you pick a tool.
- If it finds no gap:
- Was each call you checked caught and handled? Then look at the next step instead.
- If you can’t tell:
- Log each new call for two weeks. Then check again.
The whole fix
- Check if any calls are missing from your callback list.Done when: Each call you checked has an outcome. Or it has a next step with a due time.
- If the check backs it up, put every new call on the callback list this week. Keep your old records as they are while you match them. Check that your check times fit your day.Done when: you have checked again on your review day.
- Make it how you work: every real call goes on one callback list. It stays there until it has an outcome or a dated next step.Done when: two weeks pass and no case is missed.
How we can help
Operations Assessment
If your check leaves the cause unclear, we can check the steps and records with you.
We would look at your saved requests and your list, side by side. We would count each new lead and where it stopped. You would get a short note in writing. It says where things stop, why they likely stop, and the next fix to agree on.
If your list and a small change are enough, we’ll say so.
You can also use this plan on your own.
Why this plan
Your first answers picked one area to start with. Then a set of written rules used your later answers to pick the first step. People wrote and checked every rule and every sentence. Your answers stayed in this tab until the plan was shown.
The answers this plan used
- What would help most right now?
- More people asking about our work.
- How do most customers buy from you?
- One job or project at a time.
- Have people paid for this service yet?
- Yes, more than once.
- Could you take on more of the right work next month?
- Yes.
- Do enough of the right people ask about your work?
- No, we need more people to ask.
- What has gone on lately?
- Calls or messages get missed.
- Start here?
- Catch and answer each lead.
- What happens before someone buys this from you?
- We talk it through, send a quote, then they decide.
- Think of the last 30 days. How many new calls, messages or forms came in for this service?
- 15 to 49.
- Where do most of these leads come in?
- Phone calls.
- Who takes the next step with a lead?
- I do it myself. No one else does it.
- Think of your working hours. How long does the first useful reply take?
- The next work day.
- When do you aim to send a real reply?
- I’m not sure.
- Where can you see each lead, who owns it and the next step?
- A few places that we can’t match up.
- What does the customer get as a clear next step?
- A note to reach out again some time.
- Have these cases passed the next-step date you agreed?
- We didn’t agree on a date.
- Could you do this work in the time you tell customers?
- Yes. I checked the schedule or the workload.
- When you last tested this route, what happened?
- It reached the person who replies.
- What have you checked to back up these answers?
- Records for some of the cases.