Who she answers for
The call you can’t take is usually the one worth taking.
Every business misses a particular kind of call for a particular reason. Below is the one each of these trades tends to lose, what’s at stake when it goes, and what ORLA does with it instead.
Six kinds of business, six kinds of missed call
TRADESPlumbers, electricians, heating and roofing
The call you miss: a boiler that’s gone at four on a Friday, or a consumer unit tripping. You’re under a floor with both hands full and the phone’s in the van.
What’s at stake: nothing stops that caller ringing the next name on the list. You lose the callout, the parts on it, and a customer who might have rung you first for the next ten years.
What she does: answers, gets the postcode, the fault, how urgent it is and a number, then sends it to you while you’re still under the floor.
CLINICSDental, physio, private GP, veterinary
The call you miss: someone in pain wanting the first appointment you’ve got, ringing at twenty to nine while reception is checking in a queue.
What’s at stake: an empty chair. Clinical hours are the one thing you can’t make more of, and an hour that goes unbooked doesn’t come back.
What she does: takes the request, whether they’re a new or existing patient, how soon they need to be seen and when they can come. She doesn’t triage and she doesn’t give clinical advice.
SALONSHair, beauty, barbers, aesthetics
The call you miss: the phone goes while you’ve got both hands in someone’s colour. You genuinely cannot stop, and the client in the chair is watching you not answer it.
What’s at stake: a booking that goes to the salon down the road, and a gap in the column that stays a gap.
What she does: takes the service they want, the stylist if they ask for one, when they’re free and a number, so you can fill the gap between clients rather than at nine at night.
PROPERTYLetting agents, estate agents, block management
The call you miss: a viewing enquiry the same evening the listing went up, or a tenant with water coming through a ceiling at nine at night.
What’s at stake: applicants book with whoever answers, and an out-of-hours leak that waits until morning gets more expensive overnight.
What she does: takes the address, whether it’s a viewing or a repair, how urgent it is and how to reach them, then flags the ones that can’t wait.
AGENCIESRecruitment, marketing, design, consultancies
The call you miss: someone who found you, won’t fill in a contact form, and rings while the whole team is on a client call.
What’s at stake: inbound new business calls are rare, and the person who picks up the phone the first time is usually the one who gets the brief.
What she does: qualifies what they’re after, asks the scoping questions you’d ask, and routes it to whoever owns that relationship.
LOCAL SERVICESCleaners, garages, removals, pest control, gardeners
The call you miss: almost any of them, because doing the job is what stops you answering the phone about the next one.
What’s at stake: when it’s one person, the work and the phone compete for the same hands. Whichever wins, the other one loses.
What she does: covers the hours you’re on site, takes the job, the address and the timing, and leaves you a list to work through rather than a voicemail box.
Not on the list
The list isn’t the point. ORLA is configured around what you actually do, which services you offer, where you’ll travel, what you charge for and what should never be promised on the phone. If your callers ask a fairly predictable set of questions, she can be set up to handle them.
The fastest way to find out is to ring her. Call 01395 201218 and try to catch her out, or tell us about your calls and we’ll tell you honestly whether she’s a fit.