Survey and packing chase for moving companies
Quick summary
- You are on the stairs. The Saturday survey still has no one to open. The packing is still in the wardrobes.
- The list is a named date, a survey reminder, or a packing chase. Not a second price from a picture.
- Every call starts with the name on the file. If they do not recognise it, the call stops.
- It does not say the piano fits. Packing done is a yes or no. Volume is the survey.
- If they ask for a figure, the assistant writes the question down and says the price comes after volume.
- SMS does the first reminder. The voice call is for the first-of-the-month that still has no survey two days out.
TL;DR
The sofa is on the stairs. Eight surveys still have no one to open and Wednesday's packing never started. Nobody is going to spend the afternoon ringing. An assistant works the list you give it: name on the file, one purpose. It asks whether packing is done. It does not name a figure, whether the piano fits, or whether two men can do a fourth floor. If they ask, it writes the question down and says the price comes after volume. It can book a new survey if that time is free. It will not ring a landlord's mobile about someone else's flat.
Key takeaways
- Build each list from your own files: name, the number on the file, and one purpose.
- Do not put a landlord mobile on a tenant chase unless that number is the number on the file.
- Write the purpose as a reminder or a chase, not as a question about a price.
- If the client asks for a figure from a photo, the assistant ends the call and flags the office to call back.
- Check the book before you speak a date. Do not read Saturday off last week's pad.
- Keep photo-prices and lift-fit sentences off the script. Volume is after the survey.
The lists on the cab while the sofa is on the stairs
The landing is not clear. Eight surveys still have no one to open. Wednesday’s packing never started. You are not going to spend the afternoon ringing.
That is the outbound problem in this firm. Not a campaign. Not a hunt for new flats. A list of people you already know, a date you have already written down, and nobody free to ring because the sofa is still on its side.
SMS can do the first reminder. The voice call is for the first-of-the-month that still has no survey two days out, and for the packing that did not answer the text.
One purpose, the name on the file
Every call on this list has one job. Who opens on Thursday. Is packing done. Can we keep Saturday.
The call opens with the firm name and the name on the file. If the person on the line does not recognise them, the call stops. That is how you avoid telling a landlord about a tenant’s piano, or a colleague about a basement.
Do not put a landlord mobile on the list unless it is the number on the file. A chase that briefs the wrong person is worse than no chase.
If they start asking for a figure from a photo, the purpose has ended. Write the question. Flag the office. Do not finish the reminder with a cubic metre so the file feels done.
Survey, packing, Saturday job
Survey. Walk the rooms. The assistant asks whether someone can be there at the time you already booked. Yes or no. A new time only if the book is free. It does not confirm a truck from the reminder.
Packing. Still in the wardrobes or boxes in the hall. Yes or no. If packing has not started and the job is Saturday, flag it. Do not tell them how to wrap a marble top. Do not add hours on the phone as a price.
Saturday job. Already priced after a survey. Reminder of the time, who has the keys, street access as a fact you already wrote. Not a new photo-price. Not “the lift will be fine”.
A first-of-the-month hold that is still only a survey is a reminder of the walk, not a promise of the truck. Keep unpriced jobs off the truck list.
What the assistant must not say while it chases
A figure. A range. “Flats like that are usually…” That sentence, on a recorded outbound call, is yours.
Piano in the lift. Two men on a fourth floor. Crane. Flag those questions. Do not answer them to keep the key holder on the line.
A permit they should file. The assistant can repeat that access was flagged. It does not tell them which office to call.
A Saturday the book does not have. Check first. Last week’s sheet is how you double-book a truck.
How CITT handles the chase
- You build the list. Name, number on the file, one purpose.
- SMS first if you use it, in the language of the original booking.
- Voice for what SMS did not close — no key, packing not started, a time that has to move.
- The call stops if the person is not on the file, or if they ask for a figure.
- A new time is checked against the same book the office uses.
- You get the transcript, the yes or no on packing, and any flagged question.
Rates live on the pricing section of the home page. They are not repeated here.
What you set first
Export surveys without a confirmed opener. Export jobs whose packing was not done. Export Saturday trucks in the next seven days. One purpose each.
Write the opening line: firm, name on the file, stop if they do not recognise it. Write the forbidden sentences: photo-price, piano fit, truck confirmed before volume.
Connect the book so a moved survey is a real survey. Keep landlord numbers off a tenant list unless they are the opener on the file.
A chase that names a figure has stopped being reception. Put that in the notes, in those words, if you have to.
After the list is worked
A survey that would have been empty on Thursday now has a name who opens, or a slot you can give to another date. A Saturday that would have arrived to wardrobes now has a packing flag or a moved day.
It does not replace the survey. It replaces the afternoon you were never going to spend on the phone. The price, if any, is still after the rooms. The packing yes or no is the only answer this call needed.
AI receptionist, in-house staff, or a call centre
| CITT | In-house | Call centre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packing chase before Saturday | Yes, from your list | When someone has time | If you write a script |
| Survey and key reminders | Yes | Yes | Sometimes |
| Starts with the name on the file | Yes | Yes | If you insist |
| Names a figure to hurry the packing | Never — volume after the survey | The office does, after the rooms | A risk if the script drifts |
| Answers whether the piano fits | No — flags the office | The survey does | Must not; sometimes does |
| Offers a Saturday the book does not have | No — checks the book, or takes a callback | If they check | Often from last week's sheet |
| Rings a landlord about someone else's flat | No — only the number on the file | Only if you said so | A risk if the list was not read |
What unchased packing cost one month-end week
Worked from these assumptions — change any of them and the answer changes:
- Two trucks, 14 open jobs before a Saturday, each waiting on packing or a survey.
- This example treats 6 of those 14 as still missing two days later.
- A job that sits incomplete, or is pulled when the packing is still in wardrobes at seven, wastes about €90 of reserved time — put your own figure in, not ours.
- A two-day outbound chase recovers half of those missing confirms. Challenge this first; firms vary.
- 6 jobs still open on paper, two days out.
- Half recovered — 3 jobs that move on the packing or the key they needed.
- 3 × €90 = €270 of reserved time protected, in one week.
- Several such weeks a year — this example counts eight month-ends.
About €2,160 a year of crew time, from calls that only ask whether packing is done.
What it costs
CITT is pay as you go: no packages, no minimum, no contract. The current rates — the monthly fee per number and the per-minute rate — are on the pricing section of the home page, which is the only place they are published.
Frequently asked questions
Can it tell them which rooms still need packing?
It can name the visit you put on the list — survey, packing chase, Saturday job. It should not rebuild the inventory on the call, and it should not decide that a basement is included. If they ask for a figure from a new photo, that is a callback. The price comes after volume.
What if they ask whether the piano fits, on the chase call?
The assistant does not answer. It says the survey decides access, takes the question in the client's words, and ends the chase. A chase that becomes a fit has no reviewer, no file note of a decision, and no survey attached. The transcript still helps — the office returns a real question rather than “they rang”.
Can it offer a new survey time if they cannot do Thursday?
Yes, if you allow that purpose and if it checks the book before it offers a time. It still does not name a figure beyond the visit type you entered. A reminder that starts pricing photos has stopped being a reminder.
Does it still ask for the name when we ring?
Yes. The call opens with the firm name, the name on the file, and it stops if the person on the line does not recognise them. That is how you avoid briefing a landlord about a tenant's rooms, or a colleague about a piano.
Can it chase a first-of-the-month hold from an existing survey?
As a reminder, yes: we have a survey this week, can you be there, here is who must open. Not as a sentence that the truck is confirmed, and not as a price. “We still have Thursday at 18:00 for the survey” is reception. “The van is yours on the first” is a hold you only make from the book after volume.
Who decides who is on the list?
The office. The assistant does not invent people to ring. You export or tick the files that need a reminder or a chase, with one purpose each. A list that mixes “have you packed” with “see if they also want the island house” is two jobs, and only the first one belongs here.
