A message that says "someone called about a job" is not a message. It is a reminder to make a phone call you may or may not get around to. The difference between that and a message you can act on is four or five good questions, asked every time.
Whether a person or an AI is answering for you, decide the questions in advance. Here is what works.
The three you always need
- Who is calling and what is the best number? Read the number back if it came through on caller ID, and ask if it is the right one to call back on.
- What is the call about? Open-ended, asked early, and followed by silence so they fill it.
- Is it urgent? Ask it directly. People will tell you, and the answer changes what you do next.
Everything else depends on your industry.
Tradies
- What type of work do you need done?
- What suburb is the job in?
- How urgent is it, is it an emergency?
- Roughly what budget do you have in mind?
- When would you like the work done?
The suburb question is the one most people forget, and it is the one that decides whether you take the job. Budget is awkward to ask in person and easy for a receptionist to ask on your behalf.
Real estate and property management
- Which property is this about?
- Are you looking to buy, sell, rent, or is this about an existing tenancy?
- Is there anything urgent, such as a maintenance issue?
- What is the best time to reach you?
Tenant maintenance calls need triage. "Gas smell" and "dripping tap" should not arrive in the same pile.
Health and allied health
- Are you a new or existing patient?
- What would you like to book or ask about?
- Is this urgent?
- What days and times suit you?
A receptionist should never give medical advice, and should tell anyone describing an emergency to call 000. Make that an explicit instruction.
Legal and accounting
- What is the nature of your enquiry?
- Are you an existing client?
- Is this time-sensitive?
- What is the best time and number for a callback?
Existing clients want to feel recognised. New enquiries want to know they have reached the right kind of firm. Both want to know when someone will ring back.
Hospitality and venues
- Is this for a booking, or a question about the venue?
- How many people, and what date and time?
- Is there an occasion or anything we should know?
- What name and number should we use?
Most venue calls are the same three questions: are you open, where are you, can I book. A receptionist with your hours and address answers the first two on the spot and only needs to take a message for the third.
How to word them
One question at a time. People answer the last thing they heard. "What is the job and where is it and when do you need it?" gets you one answer, usually the wrong one.
Plain words. "What suburb is the job in?" beats "Can you confirm the service location?"
Ask, then wait. The silence after a question is where the useful detail comes from. A good receptionist, human or AI, does not rush to fill it.
Confirm the callback. Every call should end with the caller knowing what happens next: "Thanks, I have passed that on and Nick will call you back this afternoon."
Setting this up with an AI receptionist
With AfterTone the questions are set per business type when you build your assistant, and you can edit them any time from your dashboard. The assistant asks them one at a time, follows up naturally, and puts the answers in the summary email under clear headings so you can decide in ten seconds whether to call back now or later.
Want to see the questions in action? Build your assistant free and it will ring you.