Tell them what to have ready before they call.

Someone's water heater is leaking. They find your site and call. You ask for the model number. They don't know it, so they walk out to the garage, come back, and the call starts over. Or they hang up and call the next shop.

Most of that back-and-forth is the same every time. You already know the three or four things you're going to ask. Put them on the site.

A short list near the phone number

Right under your phone number, or next to your quote form, add a few lines that start with "Before you call, it helps to have." Then list what you actually ask for. For a plumber, that might be:

• The address of the job
• What's wrong, in one sentence
• A photo of the problem
• The brand or model number, if they can see it

Keep it to what you really need. People will read four lines. They won't read twelve.

Tell them where to find it

"Model number" means nothing to most people. Say where it is. "It's on a sticker on the side of the tank." "Look inside the panel door." One line like that saves a trip to the garage while you wait on the phone.

Make photos easy to send

A photo often tells you more than five minutes of talking. If you take photos by text, give the number. If your form takes uploads, say so, and make sure the upload works on a phone. Try it yourself from your own phone.

Then say what the photo is for. "Send a photo so we can bring the right part" is a good reason for them to bother.

Don't turn it into a wall

This isn't a test they have to pass before you'll talk to them. Add one line at the bottom: "Don't have all this? Call anyway." Some people just need someone to come look, and that's fine.

What you get back

Shorter calls. Fewer second trips for the wrong part. And a customer who can tell you've done this before.

If you want a site that tells people what to have ready, with a phone number they can tap, talk with Hexacomb. You run the business. We take care of your website.