Locksmiths: separating planned jobs from emergency call-outs

Put planned work online and keep emergencies on the phone. A lock change after moving in, a new multipoint lock, a security upgrade or a quote visit can wait a day or two, so customers can pick a slot on your booking page. A lockout or a broken lock after a burglary can't wait, so your page should say clearly: "for an emergency, call this number". Then leave gaps in your day between planned jobs, so an urgent call doesn't push every booked customer back by two hours.

A locksmith's day holds two very different kinds of job. Planned work is known in advance: the customer knows what they want, the job length is roughly predictable, and they can be home at an agreed time. Emergency work arrives when it arrives: someone is locked out, a key has snapped in the cylinder, a door was forced overnight. The first kind rewards a clean schedule; the second breaks it.

When everything comes by phone, planned jobs get squeezed between emergencies, customers wait at home without knowing when you'll come, and you spend evenings calling people back to fix times. Taking planned work through a booking page moves that back-and-forth out of your day.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Each slot belongs to one service, with its own start and end. Customers pick a service, then one of its free slots. With one place per slot, a booked slot is full and disappears from your page.

Lengths and prices are examples: set your own, and say in the description what the price covers (labour, standard parts) and what may change it on site.

Emergencies don't belong in a slot picker. Someone locked out at 11 pm won't wait for Thursday morning. Write it at the top of each service description, with your phone number: "Locked out or broken in? Don't book, call us." This does two things: the urgent caller reaches you straight away, and your booked slots stay for people who chose a time.

If an emergency comes up on a day full of bookings, you have two options. Take it in a gap you kept free, or move a planned job: open the booking in your bookings list and reschedule it to another free slot, then call or text the customer, because Book doesn't send them an email about the change.

A fully packed day leaves no room for urgent calls. One option is to open planned slots in the morning and early afternoon only, and keep late afternoon free for emergencies and overruns. Another is to leave a gap between two planned jobs. Create your slots on the weekdays you work and repeat them each week until a date; you can add or remove individual slots when a week looks different.

Customers who call for a planned job can still be booked: pick a free slot in your calendar and enter their name; email and phone are optional, and with the email they get a confirmation with a calendar file. That slot is then no longer offered online. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.