A name and a phone number is a lead. A job is a name, a phone number, and enough detail that you know what to bring and roughly how long you will be there. The gap between those two things is most of your unpaid time.
Whatever platform you use, this is a reasonable list to expect. If it cannot supply it, you are being sold a lead with better marketing.
The checklist
- What the problem actually is, in the homeowner's own words rather than a dropdown category
- Photographs, where the problem is photographable — and most are
- Model or serial numbers where the trade needs them, appliance and HVAC especially
- Whether it is an emergency or can be scheduled, established up front rather than guessed
- The address, not just the ZIP, so you can judge the drive before you accept
- Whether the homeowner has already tried something, which changes the diagnosis more often than people expect
- A confirmed appointment time, agreed with the homeowner rather than promised on their behalf
Why this is worth being fussy about
Every item missing from that list becomes a phone call, and every phone call is time you are not billing. Three unpaid calls per job is a part-time job you are doing for free.
It also changes what you can charge. Arriving with the right part is a one-visit job. Arriving blind is two visits, and the second one is rarely paid at full rate.
How Roger handles it
Roger's intake asks the homeowner the diagnostic questions before anything is routed — what it is doing, what it is not doing, photographs where they help, and whether it can wait. The job arrives scoped, and the appointment is confirmed with the homeowner rather than promised for you.