Move-up list: offer earlier times to waiting customers

Overview#

Customers often ask "call me if something opens sooner". In TradesWork you tag their appointment Wants earlier. When time opens up (a future appointment is canceled, a technician finishes at least 30 minutes early, or you offer a time by hand), TradesWork builds an offer listing the tagged customers who fit. The offer goes out by text, and the first customer to reply YES is moved into the slot after a live capacity check. Everyone else who replies is told it's taken.

Before you start#

• You need a role that dispatches (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Customer service) to tag appointments and send offers.

• Texting must be connected (Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting). Without it, offers are still built and you can book customers by phone, but texts show Not texted with the reason.

• Choose how offers go out in Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams (Owner, Admin or Dispatcher).

Steps#

Turn on move-up#

1. Go to Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams.

2. In Move-up and work streams, set Move-up offers:

   • Off: no offers are created.

   • Propose; a dispatcher sends with one tap (the default): offers wait on the board for you.

   • Text eligible customers automatically: offers go out as soon as they're created (outside quiet hours).

3. Set Customers texted per opening (1 to 20, default 5) and Offer stays open (minutes) (10 to 720, default 60).

4. Click Save.

Tag an appointment as wanting earlier#

1. On the Dispatch Board, click the appointment block (it must be Scheduled or Dispatched).

2. In the panel, find Wants earlier and pick a preference:

   • Any earlier time

   • Earlier the same day

   • Earlier, but not sooner than N days out (then enter the number of days).

3. Click Tag. The block now shows an up-arrow mark.

4. To change it, pick again and click Update. To stop offers, click Remove tag.

Work an offer#

1. When there is an offer, the toolbar shows Alerts & move-up with a count. Click it.

2. The Move-up card lists each offer: the date and window, why it opened (Cancellation, Finished early or Open time), the technician, and the customers who fit.

3. Offer status reads Ready to send, Texted, Filled, Expired or Withdrawn. Each customer reads Eligible, Texted, Not texted, Took it or Too late.

4. Click Text [n] to send a Ready to send offer. A note confirms how many were texted and how many couldn't be.

5. If a customer calls in instead, click Book for them next to their name.

6. Click Withdraw to cancel an offer you don't want to send.

Offer open time by hand#

1. When the board shows a finished early alert, click Offer the time to customers who want earlier. TradesWork offers a 1-hour slot starting about 30 minutes from now with that technician.

2. If nobody tagged fits, you see "Nobody who asked to come earlier fits that time."

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams: move-up mode, customers per opening, and how long an offer stays open.

• Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting: the texting connection and company number.

• Settings › Communications › Customer Notifications: quiet hours. Offers aren't texted during quiet hours. In automatic mode they're held and sent afterwards by the scheduler.

Tips#

• Who fits: the opening must be earlier than the customer's current time and inside their preference. The job must fit in the opening's length. If the opening has a technician, that technician (or crew) must hold the job's required skills.

• Each customer appears once per offer, for their soonest tagged visit. Customers tagged first are offered first.

• When a customer takes a slot, the appointment moves to the new time (and to the opening's technician, if it had one), the tag is removed and a note is added to the job, for example "Moved up to … (customer replied YES to a move-up text)".

• Customers can reply YES, Y or EARLIER. Replies are matched to offers texted in the last day.

Troubleshooting#

• "It's quiet hours (…), so no texts go out now." Cause: you tried to send during quiet hours. Fix: send it after the time shown, or book customers by phone.

• Customers show Not texted. Cause: texting isn't connected, the phone is missing, or the customer opted out. The reason shows next to their name. Fix: connect texting or call them and click Book for them.

• "Someone else already took that time." or "That time is no longer free." Cause: the slot filled or capacity changed. Fix: nothing to do; the offer is closed.

• "Only scheduled appointments can be moved up." Cause: the appointment is already en route, working or closed.

• Offers never expire on their own. Cause: the move-up scheduler isn't running on your deployment. Fix: ask your administrator to schedule it (every 10 minutes). Expired offers can't be accepted either way.

• No offer after a cancellation. Cause: move-up is Off, the canceled time had already started, or nobody tagged fits.

FAQ#

Does the customer lose their original time if they don't reply? No. They keep their booking until they take an earlier slot.

Can several customers take the same slot? No. The first YES wins after a live capacity check. Later replies get a "that time was just taken" text.

Is there a separate move-up list page? No. Tagged appointments show a mark on the board, and offers live under Alerts & move-up.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same idea: keep a list of customers who want an earlier appointment and fill cancellations from it.

• Different: TradesWork builds the offer for you when time opens, texts it, and books the first YES. In ServiceTitan the dispatcher usually calls down the list.

• Where it lived: the move-up tools are in the appointment panel and Alerts & move-up on Dispatch › Dispatch Board; settings are in Settings › Dispatch Board › Zones, Move-up & Work Streams.