How do you take a good phone message for a business?
A good business phone message records who called, how to reach them, what they need, where, how urgent it is and when they'd like to hear back, with the phone number read back to the caller to make sure it's right.
The checklist
- Caller's name (ask them to spell anything unusual).
- Phone number, read back digit by digit.
- Address or postcode, if the job is at their property.
- What they need, in their words.
- How urgent it is, and any safety issue.
- When they're free, or a time you offered.
- When the call came in.
Why read-back matters
A wrong digit in a phone number is the most common way a message becomes useless. Reading the number back costs five seconds and saves the job. The same goes for names you'll put on a booking or invoice.
Make messages easy to act on
Write messages the same way every time so whoever reads them can act quickly: who, number, where, what, when. Keep them in one place, not scattered across scraps of paper, texts and voicemails. Mark each one as called back, so nothing is missed and nobody rings twice.
Where Pickuply fits
Pickuply takes messages in exactly this format. It reads the caller's number back, takes the address for jobs at their property and notes their preferred time. Each call becomes a summary email and a card on your leads board, which you move from New to Called back. You can also send leads to HubSpot or Salesforce.
Free to try on a call in your browser. No card needed. Or start without a website.
Questions
Should I write down everything the caller says?
No, just what you need to act. A summary beats a transcript for a call-back.
Where should messages be kept?
In one place everyone can see, with a way to mark them as dealt with.