How are you scheduling calls?

[anthonyg1]

We are currently using the arrival window booking system, (IE- "We have you all set up in our system with an arrival time of 9am-11am.") We want to move away from providing a time we will be heading out to the property. Does everyone on here provide an arrival window or how do you schedule your board ? 

[jsoch]

Both options (either using a smaller window, or a large open window) are completely viable. The key that we have found is to be consistent and to communicate thoroughly with your clients.

There is also a bit of a balancing act between giving your client a narrow enough window that they can schedule around and giving your technicians enough time to ensure that they can make those windows without issue. Most clients will be more upset if given a window and the technician does not make it vs being given a longer window but the tech arrives on time. 

Any services that we perform that we need to have a client home, we use 4 Arrival windows (8-10, 10-12,12-2,2-4)  whereas if the service does not require the client to be home, we use an all day window.

Setting the expectations for your client will help things along regardless of which method you choose. I know that when we used larger windows (Morning and Afternoon) folks were not exactly thrilled about things, but we always arrived on time and the technicians felt a lot less pressure in the field, we also went into things knowing that if the client expected a specific time or tighter window that they were most likely a customer that we did not want to service at that time. As we got a bit bigger we were able to narrow the windows as we had more technicians. 

[emily_r]

We use a two-hour arrival window and a set-time arrival for the first calls of the day. Sometimes I even overlap the calls and schedule something like 8am, 9am-11am, 10am-noon. That's if I'm pretty sure the call will be short and they're located near each other. In the peak times I emphasize that these windows are only an approximate time (basically my best guess) and if the tech is delayed, I will update them as soon as I can. Giving a huge arrival window and updating someone all day--I just don't have time for that.

Also, as a customer, it helps to have a more narrow idea of when the tech is coming. If I work too far away from home, I'll have to take the whole day off to wait (and then it really sucks if they can't show up that day for some reason). If I know it's going to be within a certain 2 hour window, I can arrange things better beforehand. It doesn't really help me to update during the day of if I need to request time off. 

[AggielandCSR · Accepted solution]

We have 2 windows we offer for arrival, Morning (8am-12pm) or Afternoon (1pm-5pm). We do that so that I can route the calls better to be more efficient for the technicians as well as it takes the customer being upset if your tech is running behind by little bit. 

[LukeMacaulay]

Anthony, we have been using the "windowless" approach for about 6 years now. The way we kind of preempt customer concerns/objections to this is by saying something such as, "We know that your time is valuable so please feel free to go about your day as normal. We will keep you updated on your appointment throughout the day of your appointment by text or phone call. Which one do you prefer? Perfect. Now is 30-45 minutes going to be enough notice for you or do you need more time? Great, so I have your appointment scheduled for (date) and again we will be keeping you updated throughout the day by (preferred communication method)."

[ECSoffice1]

We are a new user with ST, and currently only use three window options. We normally a larger window of 9-4 for service calls, and we use two smaller windows (8-12 & 1-4) for maintenance calls. This is because customers see the arrival window (though not the scheduled time) and maintenance is typically scheduled in advance, while problem calls are done same-day or next day. We utilize the "tech on the way" text notification for most customers, unless they special request a phone call. I find that most customers are understanding of not having a smaller window of arrival, as long as they get that notification on the way.

[JessicaSmith]

I love a big window. Ideally just tell the customer "We can be there today" or "we can be there tomorrow."  Let the customer know they don't have to wait at home all day, then between the automated dispatch notification and proactive dispatchers, keep the customer in the loop about estimated arrival throughout the day. This is the best way to maximize your schedule in my opinion.

[wch_alex]

Honestly I think keeping the 1-3 hour window is best for the customer but I feel like service titan works better with longer windows of like 4-6 hours which we don't really like to do here because we try and focus more on the customer experience. I think is some situations and some jobs it is better to have those larger windows but but our techs are service crew a 1-3 hour window is plenty long. Yes we also provide an arrival window of 1-3 hours.

Sorry I don't think I can be much help but I thought I'd tell you what we do here.