You fixed GBP and turned on ads — then leads sit in voicemail while your techs are on jobs. The front office is where marketing spend converts to booked work. This playbook ties together Speed-to-Lead, Scripts, and Checklists into one system your team can run.
Part of the Lead-to-Close System — step 2 after speed-to-lead, before follow-up and on-site close.
At a Glance
- Owner setup: ~60 minutes — name queue owner, wire alerts, paste scripts, run test leads
- CSR week one: Shadow calls → solo queue with daily check-ins → full queue ownership day 5
- SLA: First human or trusted auto-touch in <5 minutes on LSA, forms, and GBP messages during business hours
- Weekly rhythm: 15-minute Monday huddle + front office checklist
- Measure: Median first contact time and booking rate by source in Metrics
Roles & Ownership
| Role | Owns |
|---|---|
| Owner | After-hours policy, LSA budget, hiring, weekly metrics review |
| Queue owner (named weekly) | All inbound leads during business hours — calls, LSA, forms, GBP chat |
| Dispatcher / CSR | Intake, two-time booking ask, CRM hygiene, review SMS trigger |
| On-call tech | Emergency callbacks only — per written after-hours rules |
Rule: One name on the whiteboard each week: “Queue owner: ___.” No shared mystery responsibility.
Lead Queue Rules
Every source hits the same queue and same SLA:
| Source | Alert destination | Target first touch |
|---|---|---|
| Phone / LSA | Phone + app for 2 people | <5 min human answer |
| Website form | SMS to queue owner, not email only | <5 min call or text |
| GBP messaging | Same as phone queue | <5 min |
| Meta / Google lead forms | Same queue | <5 min |
| Referrals | Log source as “referral” in CRM | <5 min thank-you + schedule |
Missed call: Auto text within 60 seconds — templates on Templates. Full wiring: Speed-to-Lead.
CRM stages (non-negotiable):
- New lead (uncontacted)
- Contacted / qualifying
- Quote sent
- Booked
- Lost (reason required — price, timing, competitor, no response)
Midday rule: zero “New lead” rows older than 4 hours during business hours.
First-Week CSR Training
Use this schedule when onboarding office help or retraining after a bad month.
Day 1 — Listen and log
- Read Scripts That Book Jobs inbound call script aloud 3 times
- Shadow 5 live or recorded calls — note booking ask and tone
- Practice logging: source, time received, time first contacted, outcome
- Learn missed-call text-back — send one test to trainer’s phone
Day 2 — LSA and forms
- Walk through LSA app notifications on two devices
- Role-play LSA opener: license confirm, problem, two times offered
- Process one test form lead end-to-end in CRM
- Read LSA weekly ops checklist
Day 3 — GBP messages and referrals
- Reply to sample GBP message using same script structure as phone
- Practice “how much do you charge?” pivot from Scripts
- Log referral lead with correct source tag for Tracking
Day 4 — Solo queue (trainer on standby)
- Queue owner for half day — trainer monitors response times
- Debrief: any lead >5 min? Why?
- Send review ask SMS within 30 min on one completed job (from Templates)
Day 5 — Full ownership
- Named queue owner for full business day
- EOD report: leads in, median response time, booked count, one improvement idea
Call Routing Matrix
Do not overcomplicate — route by urgency, not personality.
| Situation | Route to | Script note |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency plumbing / no heat / no AC | On-call tech or live answer | State dispatch fee upfront |
| Same-day service request | Queue owner → nearest available slot | Two specific times |
| Estimate / large project | Queue owner → schedule site visit | Confirm address and photos if needed |
| Existing customer reschedule | Queue owner or dispatcher | Pull CRM history first |
| Spam / wrong number | Mark lost in CRM | Do not argue |
After-hours detail by trade: see the table in Speed-to-Lead.
Daily Office Rhythm
Open (first 15 min)
- Check overnight leads — contact every uncontacted row
- Confirm queue owner name is visible to team
- Verify LSA and form notifications on two devices
Midday (5 min)
- Audit CRM: zero “New lead” older than 4 hours
- Return any missed call within 10 minutes if text-back fired
Close (10 min)
- Log booked jobs and lost reasons
- Trigger review SMS for completed jobs (same day)
- Hand off after-hours contact to on-call per policy
Weekly Team Huddle (15 Minutes)
Run every Monday. Printable version: Front office weekly checklist.
- Numbers (5 min): Leads by source, median response time, booked jobs, new reviews
- Queue audit (3 min): Any lead >24h uncontacted? Root cause?
- Call coaching (5 min): Listen to one booked + one lost call — one coaching note
- One fix (2 min): Pick single process change for the week (script, alert routing, dispute, landing page)
Log results in Metrics or your CRM dashboard.
KPIs the Office Team Owns
| KPI | Target | Where to track |
|---|---|---|
| Median first contact (paid leads) | <5 min | CRM or weekly sheet |
| Booking rate by source | Trend up month over month | Metrics |
| Uncontacted leads >24h | Zero | CRM “New lead” stage |
| Review asks sent | Within 30 min of job complete | Office checklist |
| LSA disputes filed | Within 30 days of bad lead | LSA guide |
Owner reviews these in the Monday huddle — not buried in a drawer.
- Name this week’s queue owner and post it where the team sees it.
- Route LSA, forms, and GBP messages to phone + SMS for two people.
- Paste inbound script and missed-call text next to every answer point.
- Create CRM stages: New → Contacted → Quote → Booked → Lost (reason).
- Run one test lead from each source; time minutes to human contact.
- Schedule recurring 15-minute Monday huddle on the calendar.
- Print front office weekly checklist for the team.
Quick Win
Assign one queue owner for this week and run a test LSA or form lead. If a human responds in under 5 minutes using the script, your front office baseline is live.
Next Steps
- Scripts That Book Jobs — word-for-word talk tracks
- Speed-to-Lead Systems — alerts, text-back, after-hours
- Printable Checklists — LSA ops, speed-to-lead, front office weekly
- Templates — SMS, review asks, follow-up
- Lead Follow-Up Playbook — close quotes after first contact
- On-Site Close Playbook — hand off to field techs for estimate close
- Lead Gen Scorecard — find if response time is your #1 gap
- Metrics — weekly CPL and cost per booked job
- 7-Day Quickstart — wire team ops in week 1
- Ultimate Guide — conversion stack in full context
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