Restoration company calling playbook: call blocks, cadence and KPIs

What this playbook covers

A restoration office’s phone work is four motions: emergency callbacks that decide the job, estimate follow-ups that close the quote, partner development that feeds next quarter, and storm response that tests all of it. This playbook structures the day and week so the emergency lead never waits behind a marketing list, and so every call produces a record dispatch and the office can act on.

List hygiene, sorted by urgency

Emergency leads are their own queue and never share a list with marketing work. Overnight forms sit at the top of the morning block, worked newest first, with the inquiry time on every row. The established business relationship from an inquiry covers 90 days under the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR 310.2); after that, the registry and consent rules govern.

Estimate lists carry their own context: the scope, the insurance fork, the homeowner’s stated concern. Partner lists carry the relationship history. Storm lists are assembled per event from your own customers first, then genuine inquiries, then sourced lists scrubbed against the National DNC Registry on the 31-day cycle. Your internal DNC list applies to all of it, quiet hours run per lead, and the TCPA’s wireless restrictions at 47 CFR 64.1200 apply to every list, which is why the whole operation is human-dialed.

The calling day in blocks

Emergency callback block, first thing and all day. Overnight inquiries, then same-day forms as they arrive. Five dispatch questions per connect, disposition immediately, crew rolling. This block is not scheduled around others; others are scheduled around it.

The opener references the actual hesitation: “you mentioned the crawlspace readings worried you.” Insurance leads get documentation discipline; self-pay leads get a price conversation and a start date. Treating them as one pile loses both.

Partner block, weekly, 45 minutes. Plumbers, realtors, insurance agents, property managers. The call asks what they need and confirms the after-hours number. Dispositions: sent a job this month, asked for lunch, needs cards, dormant. Over a quarter this list tells you which relationships are real.

Storm block, per event. Own customers first, street by street where relationships exist, then inquiries, then scrubbed lists with an inspection offer.

Attempt cadence, fitted to the work

Emergency leads: attempt immediately, again within the hour, once more the same day, then a dispositioned cooldown. Estimates: three attempts over two weeks, varied hours, one voicemail. Partners: monthly touches, quarterly at minimum for active referrers. Storm lists: two attempts inside seven days of the event, then stop; a storm lead three weeks old is a canvass archive item, not a queue. Attempt caps enforce all of it, and a do-not-call disposition removes the number from every list.

Dispositions dispatch and the office can act on

Emergency dispatch, inspection scheduled, estimate follow-up, claim filed, self-pay, already has contractor, no damage wrong list, left voicemail, do not call. The partner side adds sent a job, dormant, needs cards. Insurance status is a field with four values: none, filed, adjuster assigned, dispute. It is never a promise and never a disposition, which keeps the claims conversation inside the lines the state requires.

Three lines per coordinator mean the morning emergency queue clears before competitors finish their first cup, and the voicemail layer stops eating the estimate block. The coordinator checks rooms and structure against the recording before release, because a misheard room count loads the wrong truck. Outputs can be missing, delayed or wrong; verify important details before you rely on them.

KPI ranges and the production benchmark

Plan around ranges; hold the emergency numbers absolute.

• Response time on fresh emergency leads: attempt inside 15 minutes when the form arrives during business hours, and first position in the morning queue overnight. No asterisks on this one.
• Dials per active calling hour: 70 to 100, median near 85 in The team’s own daily use, single line, 90 days.
• Dials per coordinator day: 400 to 650, median near 600 for a full day; storm days run higher.
• Person-connect rate: 17.8 percent measured over the last 30 days; set your planning band from your own list mix. Emergency queues connect far higher; storm lists lower.
• Estimates followed up within 14 days: 100 percent of open quotes get their call; the cadence enforces it.

The benchmark figures come from 37,411 dials over 90 days to 2026-09-26 in the team’s own daily use, aggregate activity, not customer results and not a promise about your market.

Compliance checklist for the restoration office

Callbacks to your own inquiries ride the 90-day relationship; cold consumer marketing needs registry scrubbing, calling hours and immediate opt-out honoring. Wireless restrictions under 47 CFR 64.1200 apply to every list, so no prerecorded blasts and no autodialed cell calls. Document damage; never negotiate, interpret or predict coverage unless your state licenses you to, and never imply carrier affiliation. All-party recording consent via the approved disclosure in the states that require it. Nothing here is legal advice; the claims-conduct rules vary by state and belong in your written policy with counsel’s review.