Live Case Study

Feelings vs. Facts:
A Real Dispatch Decision

A dispatcher defended their tech assignment with gut instinct and customer reviews. Let's see what the data actually says — and what it means for your revenue.

The Setup

The Scenario

Light dispatch day. A new customer maintenance call comes in. Here's what we know:

🏠

Home Built in 1983

43-year-old home. Equipment age unknown — no notes in the job summary. Potential replacement opportunity hiding.

👤

New Customer

First visit. Prime membership conversion opportunity. First impression matters.

🔧

Maintenance Call

Maintenance-level priority. Low urgency — but high strategic value on a new customer.

📋

Light Board

Fewer calls today means every single dispatch decision carries more weight, not less.

The Dispatcher's Logic

The Feeling

The dispatcher assigned Tech A (Ryan) to this call. When asked why, here was the reasoning:

“Ryan has almost zero callbacks on maintenance calls. He gets great reviews from his customers and they enjoy his way of explaining the systems.”

— The Dispatcher

Sounds reasonable, right? Great reviews. Low callbacks. Customers like him.

But what's missing? Numbers. Let's check the data.

Fact Check #1

“Almost Zero Callbacks”

The dispatcher said Ryan has almost zero callbacks on maintenance calls. We pulled 90 days of data.

The Feeling

“Almost zero callbacks on maintenance calls”

The Data

Ryan had 2 maintenance call callbacks out of 134 total opportunities. Derek had 0.

The tech they didn't pick — Derek — is actually the one with zero maintenance call callbacks. The dispatcher's own reasoning for choosing Ryan applies better to the other tech. That's the gap between gut instinct and data. If we're wrong about the small things, what are we missing on the big things?

Reframe

What's the Goal of This Call?

Before we decide WHO to send, we need to ask: what are we trying to accomplish?

1

Convert a New Customer to a Member

This is the primary goal of any maintenance call on a non-member. A maintenance visit that doesn't convert a membership is a missed opportunity for recurring revenue.

2

Identify a Potential Lead Flip

1983 home. Equipment age unknown. A thorough tech might find aging equipment during the maintenance call that warrants a replacement conversation or lead to the sales team.

3

Make a Great First Impression

Yes, this matters. But “great reviews” alone doesn't pay the bills. The tech who converts members AND leaves great reviews is the one we want here.

Head to Head — Memberships

0% vs. 11%

Membership conversion rate over the last 30 days. This is the primary goal of a maintenance call on a new customer.

Ryan

Memberships Sold0

Membership Opps31

Conversion Rate0%

VS

Derek

Memberships Sold4

Membership Opps37

Conversion Rate11%

Head to Head — Lead Generation

3% vs. 8%

Lead conversion rate over the last 30 days. With a 1983 home and unknown equipment age, lead identification matters.

Ryan

Opportunities34

Leads Set1

Lead Conv. Rate3%

VS

Derek

Opportunities40

Leads Set3

Lead Conv. Rate8%

The Full Picture — 30 Days

Every Metric Points the Same Direction

Same 30-day window. Same team. Different outcomes.

Revenue per HourRyan $173 · Derek $478

Ryan

Derek

Billable EfficiencyRyan 27% · Derek 62%

Ryan

Derek

Membership ConversionRyan 0% · Derek 11%

Ryan

Derek

Lead ConversionRyan 3% · Derek 8%

Ryan

Derek

Training Guide — Section 6

The Assignment Decision Tree

How this scenario should have been worked, step by step:

1

Assess the Opportunity

New customer. 1983 home. Maintenance call — low urgency, but high strategic value. Membership conversion is the primary objective. Equipment age unknown — lead flip possible.

→ Training Guide §3: Reading Jobs for Profit Potential

2

Evaluate Available Technicians

Pull the scorecards. Don't go from memory. Compare membership conversion, lead generation, and revenue per hour. The data should narrow your choice — not your feelings about who's “good with customers.”

→ Training Guide §5: The Success Tracker

3

Match and Assign

Derek: 11% membership conversion, 8% lead rate, $478/hr. Ryan: 0% membership, 3% leads, $173/hr. This isn't close. Send the tech who converts.

→ Training Guide §6: The Assignment Decision Tree

The Lesson

Feelings Fill the Schedule.
Facts Produce Revenue.

The dispatcher wasn't wrong to value great reviews and low callbacks. But those metrics don't answer the most important question for THIS call.

The Dispatching for Profit Question

Before you assign any job, ask yourself: What is the goal of this call, and which tech gives me the best shot at achieving it?

Good reviews are nice. Low callbacks are nice. But if the goal is to convert a new customer into a member and the data says one tech does that and the other doesn't — the answer is in the numbers.

Right tech. Right job. Right outcome.