The six-question intake script
- "Tell me what's going on" — let them describe the problem before you categorize it.
- "What's the address?" — service area, property type and access, in one answer.
- "How soon are you looking to get this handled?" — urgency and season.
- "Is there anyone else who'd be part of the decision?" — authority, asked politely.
- "Have you had anyone else out to look at it yet?" — competitive position and stage.
- "What would a good outcome look like for you?" — expectation, scope and often budget.
Write your disqualifiers before the phone rings
- Addresses outside the profitable service radius.
- Work outside your licensed trade or size range.
- Renters without owner authorization.
- Insurance inquiries with no filed claim and no intent to file.
- Requests for a firm price with no access to the property.
The three ways a qualification call is allowed to end
Booked: an appointment on a real calendar with a confirmation sent. Scheduled: a specific callback date and reason, owned by a named person. Closed: disqualified with a reason code and a courteous explanation.
There is no fourth ending. "They said they'd call back" is not an outcome — it is an open loop that ages into a lost lead.
Adapting the script to text and web forms
Text intake gets the same six questions, but two at a time and never all at once. Web forms should collect address and problem only — everything else converts better in conversation.
The rule is consistent: the answers land on the same lead record regardless of channel, so nobody re-asks a question the customer already answered.