The office spends all day telling customers when the plumber will get there.

Every customer on today's schedule wants to know when the plumber is coming. When the answer changes, they call, and the front desk spends its day on the same question instead of on the work.

Book a call

A worn-out office worker slumped in a desk chair with the desk phone at their ear, another status call in a long day — Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels

Sound familiar?

The phone rings, and it's a customer who took the morning off, asking where the plumber is.
Your office answers the same few questions all day: what's the status, when will they get here, and do you need anything from me.
The plumber is running long on a stubborn drain, and nobody has told the next customer.
You call the plumber for an update, and they can't pick up because they're under a house.

What it costs you

Every status call is a few minutes your office isn't booking the next job or getting a bill out.

The plumber gets pulled away too, every time the office has to reach them for an answer.

A customer left waiting with no word starts to wonder if you're coming at all. Some will cancel and try another plumber.

And it wears on whoever answers. Hearing the same worried question all day is tiring, even when the answer is good news.

Why it keeps happening

Plumbing jobs are hard to time. You don't know what's behind the wall until it's open, so the schedule slides.

The only person who really knows when they'll be done is the plumber, and they're in the middle of the job.

Customers have nothing to go on but the phone, so they call.

The office often hears about a delay last, from the waiting customer instead of from the plumber.

Who you'll talk to

Kevin Kirchner smiling, in black glasses, a black cap and a green plaid shirt — Kevin Kirchner

Kevin Kirchner here, and yes, you'll be talking to me. I'd like to hear how often your office gets asked when the plumber is coming, and who ends up answering.

Answering the same where-are-they question over and over is repeat work, and it can now stop eating your front desk's day. What that would look like depends on how your days run.

Questions

Why do customers keep calling to ask where the plumber is?

Because waiting with no word is stressful, more so with a leak in the house. If they haven't heard anything, the phone is the only way to find out.

Would more office staff fix it?

It spreads the calls around, but the calls still come. The questions keep coming as long as customers need to ask.

What exactly do you build?

It depends on how you work today; we figure that out on the call.

Give your front desk its day back

Tell me what a normal day sounds like at your front desk and how much of it goes to customers asking where things stand. You'll get a plain yes or no from me.