The Five Questions People Ask Before They Book

Listen to your own phone for one week. Not the bookings — the questions. Write down what people ask before they commit. By Friday you will have the same five questions over and over, in slightly different words.

Those five questions are the entire gap between someone looking at your business and someone booking with it. Right now they're being answered by whoever happens to be near the phone, if anyone is. Half the time nobody picks up, and the person calls the next shop on the list.

You can answer all five on your website, in writing, once. Here they are, and here's what a good answer looks like.

1. What does it cost?

This is always first. Nobody books a service without a number in their head, and if you don't give them one they'll assume the worst or move on.

You don't need a fixed price list. You need a range with the variables named. "Women's cut and style, $75–$120 depending on length and stylist." "Brake pads and rotors, most sedans $450–$650 parts and labour, we confirm before we start." "Catering, $22–$35 per person depending on menu, 15 person minimum."

The range does two jobs. It filters out the people who were never going to book you, which saves you a call. And it anchors the people who do book, so the final invoice isn't a surprise. We've written more on why prices belong on your website and why "call for pricing" reads as expensive.

If your pricing genuinely depends on a site visit — roofing, renovation, commercial work — say that, then give the thing you can quantify. The cost of the estimate. The typical project size you handle. The minimum you'll take on. Something.

2. When can you fit me in?

People aren't asking for your hours. They're asking how soon. There's a big difference between "open 9 to 6" and "next available appointment is Thursday."

The best answer is a live booking calendar where they can see open slots and grab one. Second best is a plain sentence that sets expectations: "We usually have same-week availability. Saturdays book out two to three weeks ahead." Third best is a form that promises a reply window — "we respond to all requests within two hours during business hours" — and then actually hitting it.

Make sure your posted hours are true, including holidays. A customer who drives over on a day you decided to close writes a review about it. We covered that in detail in Google business hours that don't get you a one-star review.

3. Where are you, and where do I park?

Address isn't enough. In most of the GTA, parking is the actual question and the actual reason someone picks the other place.

Write the parking sentence yourself. "Free lot behind the building, enter from the side street." "Two-hour green P across the road, $2/hour, free after 6." "Street parking on the side streets, metered until 9pm." "We're a four-minute walk from the subway, exit the north side."

If you're in a plaza with a confusing entrance, say which entrance. If you're on the second floor, say so. If deliveries and customers use different doors, say which is which. Every one of those details is a phone call you don't take and a customer who arrives on time instead of circling the block getting annoyed.

4. How long will it take?

Two versions of this question, and you should answer both.

How long is the appointment itself — "colour and cut runs about two and a half hours, book accordingly." And how long until the work is done — "most repairs are same day if we have the part, two days if we order it."

This is the question that protects you. Someone who books a 45-minute service expecting 20 minutes is already irritated when they sit down. Someone who was told 45 minutes and is out in 40 thinks you're excellent. The number you publish sets the standard you get judged against, so publish a slightly generous one.

It also helps the customer plan their day, and people book the thing they can plan around.

5. What happens if something goes wrong?

Nobody asks this out loud. They think it, and the silence makes them hesitate.

What if I need to cancel. What if I don't like the result. What if the part fails next month. What if the weather ruins the patio booking. What if you're running late.

Answer them in plain language, on the site, before anyone has to ask. "Cancel or reschedule up to 24 hours ahead at no charge." "Not happy with your cut? Come back within seven days and we'll fix it, no charge." "All labour warranted 12 months or 20,000 km." "Deposits are credited to your bill and refundable up to 48 hours out."

A written policy is not a legal document, it's a trust signal. It tells a stranger you've thought about the bad outcome and you have a plan that doesn't involve arguing with them. If you take deposits, say exactly what they cover — we broke that down in taking deposits without scaring off new clients.

The layout: all five above the fold

Here's the part most sites get wrong. These answers exist on a lot of websites — buried on a separate FAQ page, three clicks deep, after the mission statement.

Put them on the first screen of the home page. Top to bottom:

Line one: what you do and where. "Full-service auto repair in Scarborough." One line, no slogan.

Line two: the booking button. Big, obvious, says what it does. "Book an appointment" or "Request a quote," not "Learn more."

Right under it, a strip of five short items. Price range. Next availability. Parking. Typical duration. Cancellation or guarantee. One line each, six to twelve words. Not paragraphs. A customer should be able to read all five in about eight seconds without scrolling.

Then the phone number, clickable on mobile, with your hours beside it.

Everything else — gallery, team bios, story, reviews — goes below. Those things matter, but they matter to someone who has already decided you're plausible. The five answers are what make you plausible.

On a phone, "above the fold" is small. If you can't fit all five, keep price, availability, and parking at the top and put duration and the guarantee immediately after. We go through this screen-by-screen on our services page, and we did a version specific to clinics in what belongs on the first screen of a dental website.

Why this is really about the phone

Here's the uncomfortable math. Every one of these five questions is currently arriving as a phone call during your busiest hour. You're mid-service, mid-rush, hands full. The phone rings. Either you stop what you're doing and lose the thread, or you let it go to voicemail and lose the customer, because almost nobody leaves a voicemail for a business anymore.

Answering these five on the site doesn't stop the phone from ringing. It changes who's on the other end. The price-shoppers and the parking-checkers get their answer without you. The calls that come through are from people who already know your range, already know you're open, and want to book.

That's a better phone day for you and a better experience for them. And it costs you one afternoon of writing down what you already say twenty times a week.

Start with the notepad by the phone. One week. The five questions will write themselves.