Field notes

A careful brief for the lockout call.

By Eric Berg · Last updated August 2026

Lockout callers are rushed; that makes restraint more important, not less. The employee can collect location, situation, service type, and contact details. Identity checks, security decisions, dispatch, arrival promises, and unusual pricing stay with the locksmith.

Where the phone work piles up

• The urgent caller. A lockout inquiry needs quick, careful intake without weakening identity or security checks.
• Mid-job. A locksmith working with both hands cannot also collect the next caller's location and lock details.
• After hours. Pricing, service area, verification, and dispatch authority need to be explicit before the desk handles a late request.

What belongs in the brief

Teach the business name, service area, supported lock types, hours, exact approved price rules, and the intake questions the locksmith needs. Add hard lines: no verification bypass, no lock advice, no promise a technician is rolling, and no invented price. The employee can capture a request for owner confirmation. See the exact product loop.

What it costs

Keeping a front-desk employee after the card-free audition is CA$149 per month, cancel anytime. The same number, approved brief, and everything taught by text stay with the employee.

Fair questions

Can the employee quote lockout prices?

Only exact rates the owner approves. Otherwise the employee collects the details and leaves the price open rather than improvising.

How does he handle someone locked out right now?

It can collect the caller's location, what they report being locked out of, and a callback number. It cannot verify entitlement, promise dispatch, or make a safety decision.

Does this work for automotive and residential both?

He handles whatever services you teach him - auto, residential, commercial, safes - and takes messages for anything you don't do.