Skip to content
BizBinder
Early access open Get early access

Popular in the binder

Can’t find it? Tell us what you were after →

Staying organized

Response Time

The short answer

Response time is the promise of how fast you reply to a call or message. State a window and keep to it. Lead time is different: it says when a job can start.

What it means

A client cannot see your diary. Response time is the one promise they can test. Every reply lands inside the window you stated, or it does not. A stated number, such as "within one working day," replaces a vague hope. The client can hold you to it, and you can meet it.

Two other promises sound similar. The out-of-hours rate is the price of a call outside normal hours. It says nothing about how fast you answer. Lead time is how soon a job can start once booked. It says nothing about how soon you reply to the enquiry. All three can apply to the same message. State each one separately.

For example

A tradesperson states a response time. It reads "within one working day, Monday to Friday." A message arrives on Friday evening. It gets a reply by end of day Monday. That is inside the stated window, even though two days have passed on the calendar.

The mistake to avoid

Answering fast most of the time and calling that a response time. A real response time is your slowest reply. A client remembers the one message that took three days, and forgets the ten that took an hour.

See also

Out-of-Hours RateLead TimeOn-Call

Where this shows up

Guide

Working hours and boundaries — the hours you answer are the promise

A client cannot see your diary. They judge your hours by when you answer. Set the hours you work and the hours you answer as two windows. Say both in the three places a client looks. Price a real emergency in advance, and hold the line the first time it is inconvenient.

 Guide

Responding to a new inquiry — the reply that keeps you in the running

The job is often decided before a quote exists. It is decided by how fast you reply. It is also decided by whether you ask the right questions instead of guessing a number.

 Guide

Fully booked — what to say when your diary is full

A full diary is a good problem, until a late reply or a rushed job shows it. This guide covers what to say to a new client instead of "soon". It covers a short waiting list, who gets the next free slot, and pricing new work when demand is high. It ends with passing the overflow to someone you trust.

 Free tool

Working hours check

Enter the hours you intend to work, the hours you actually answer, and the admin hours outside both. The tool shows the gap between the week you meant to run and the week you run. It also shows what each one pays per hour.

 Templates

Working hours scripts, for saying when you answer

Six messages that keep the hours you work apart from the hours you answer. Cover the quote or booking line, the voicemail message, and the next-morning reply to a late message. Add a note to a client who always calls late. Offer or refuse a priced emergency route. Reset the hours with a client you answer at all hours. Fill in your details once at the top of this page, and every script below updates.

 Templates

Fully booked scripts, with a waiting list for a full diary

Six messages for a full diary. Give a new enquiry a real date, add a client to a waiting list, and offer a free slot. Answer an existing client who asks to fit in. Pass on an urgent job with a referral. Tell a new client about your higher rate. Fill in your details once at the top of this page, and every script below updates.

Want this in one place?

BizBinder keeps quotes, jobs, invoices, and follow-ups in one binder.

A human reads every one. No newsletter, ever.

Filed

You are on the list.

A person reads every request. You will hear from us within one business day.

  1. 01 A person reads your note — not a queue.
  2. 02 You get an invite as spots open.
  3. 03 Your admin starts filing itself.

The free library is open while you wait. Nothing in it needs an account.

Open the free library →