When a driver calls after a wreck, your front desk has one job: book an estimate or a drop-off at a specific time. Get their name and number first, calm them down, learn the car, the damage and where the claim stands, then offer two times instead of a price. The scripts below give your team the exact words.
The goal of the first call
A good first call ends with a time on the calendar: an estimate slot, a drop-off, or a tow on its way to your lot. Not a price, and not “we’ll call you back.”
Pricing on the phone backfires both ways. Guess high and they call the next shop. Guess low and your written estimate looks like a bait and switch.
Nobody can see what’s behind a bumper cover from a phone call, and calibrations change both the bill and the schedule. CCC’s Crash Course 2026 report found 28.3% of repairable estimates included calibrations in 2025, up from 21.8%.
Drivers still want a person for this. Invoca’s 2025 B2C Buyer Experience Report, which surveyed US and UK consumers about high-stakes purchases including automotive, found 44% now prefer calling a business for help, up from 32% in 2022.
The phone is where paid inquiries turn into cars. At AE Collision Center in Tampa, we rebuilt the ad campaign and corrected call and form tracking, and Joniel’s team answered the inquiries, wrote the estimates and closed the jobs. The AE Collision Center case study has the numbers the shop reported.
Every call ends with a time on the calendar, a tow on the way, or a clear reason why not.
For one week, mark every new-damage call yes or no on that rule. That count is your baseline.
The call, word for word
Keep it short and in this order. Words in brackets change for your shop.
- Answer by the third ring: “Thanks for calling [shop name], this is [your name].”
- Calm first. When they say they’ve been in an accident: “Sorry to hear that. Is everyone okay?” Let them talk for a moment, then: “We’ll help you get this handled.”
- Name and number before anything else: “First, what’s your name and the best number for you, in case we get cut off?” Calls from the roadside and the tow yard drop all the time.
- The car and the damage: “What are you driving, year, make and model?” Then: “Where’s the damage, front, back or side? Did any airbags go off? Any warning lights on the dash?”
- Drivable or tow: “Is it safe to drive, or does it need a tow?” If it’s already at a tow yard: “Which yard? We can help get it moved here so storage fees don’t keep adding up.” Offer a tow only if your shop arranges one.
- Where the claim stands, in this order: “Have you filed a claim yet?” “Is it going through your insurance or the other driver’s?” “Has the insurance company sent you a photo estimate or asked you to use their app?” “Do you have a claim number? No problem if not.”
- Two specific times: “We can look at it today at 3:30 or tomorrow at 8:15. Which is better?” For a tow-in: “Once it’s here, we’ll look it over and call you by noon tomorrow.”
- Confirm and text it: “You’re set for tomorrow at 8:15. Bring your license, your insurance card and the claim number if you have one. It takes about [20] minutes, and we’ll text you the address now.”
Why it’s built this way:
- Asking whose insurance it’s going through tells you who’s at fault without making the driver relive the wreck.
- Two real times are easier to say yes to than “whenever works for you,” because the driver only has to pick one.
- If they’re still at the scene, keep it to name, number and where the car is going, and call back for the rest. Never put a driver on hold before you have their number.
When they ask how much
Price comes up early. Here’s an answer to “How much is this going to cost?” that keeps the call moving:
- “Fair question. Every hit is different, and the price depends on what’s behind the panel, so a number over the phone would just be a guess. Our estimator can look at it and give you a written estimate in about [20] minutes. Would today at 3:30 or tomorrow at 8:15 work?”
If they push for a number:
- “If you text us a few photos, we can give you a rough idea today and the real number once we see it.”
Offer that only if your estimator is willing to work from photos.
Some price callers are deciding whether to file a claim at all. LendingTree’s June 2024 survey of 2,000 US consumers found 39% of insured drivers who had an accident or incident paid for repairs without filing a claim. In the same survey, 44% said their deductible was higher than the cost, and 42% didn’t want their insurance to go up.
For those callers:
- “A lot of people check the price before they decide whether to file. Come in and we’ll give you a written estimate, so you can compare it with your deductible.”
Retire “Probably around $1,500” and “Bumpers usually run about $800.” Even when you’re close, it becomes the number they hold you to.
When insurance comes up
When the insurer suggested another shop
“My insurance told me to go to their shop” is common. In CCC’s “Moments of Truth” study with Magid (2,400 policyholders, reported in October 2024), nearly one-third of consumers said an insurer’s recommendation was the deciding factor in where they took their car. About two-thirds decided on something else, such as past experience, friends and family, price, location or reviews.
So the referral isn’t the end of the call:
- “That’s common. Insurance companies have shops they work with. It’s your car, and it’s your choice where it’s fixed. If you’d like us to fix it, we’ll work with your insurance company on the claim. Want to come by at 3:30 and see the shop?”
Use the “we’ll work with your insurance” line only if it’s true for your shop. Don’t knock the insurer or its shops, and don’t quote laws. Keep it about the driver’s choice and your work.
Shops without DRPs live on this answer, and we cover the bigger picture in growing a shop without DRP work.
When they ask if you take their insurance
“Do you take my insurance?” usually means “Can you fix my car if my insurance is paying?” Never answer with “We’re not on their list” or “We’re not in network.” The driver hears no.
If it’s true for your shop:
- “Yes. We work with all insurance companies. We’ll write the estimate and work with your adjuster on the claim.”
If there’s a carrier your shop won’t deal with, agree on the honest answer with your CSR before the phone rings, and write it on the checklist.
When they ask about a rental
The CSR shouldn’t guess at coverage:
- “Check whether your policy has rental coverage. If the other driver’s insurance is paying, ask them about a rental. Once we have a drop-off date, we’ll help you line it up for that morning.”
Use the last line only if your shop coordinates rentals.
When they ask how long
The honest answer to “How long will it take?” is that you don’t know yet. Say so, and say what happens next:
- “We’ll give you a real date once we’ve seen it and checked on parts. A lot of the wait is parts and insurance approval. We’ll text you updates on set days, so you’re never chasing us.”
Don’t promise “a few days.” J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction Study put the average repair cycle time for repairable vehicles at 19.3 days, down from 22.3. A driver told “a few days” who gets the car back weeks later writes the review you don’t want.
For a heavy hit, don’t promise a repair at all. CCC’s Crash Course 2026 report found total losses hit a record 23.1% of all claims in 2025. Say:
- “Once we see it, we’ll tell you straight whether it looks repairable. The insurance company makes the final call on a total loss.”
Then keep the update promise. Pick update days, like Tuesday and Friday, and text on those days even when the news is “still waiting on the bumper.”
After-hours voicemail and texts
Wrecks don’t keep shop hours, so your voicemail is the after-hours CSR. Script it too, and keep it under 30 seconds:
- “You’ve reached [shop name] in [town], and we’re closed right now. Leave your name, number and what happened, and we’ll call you back by 8:30 tomorrow morning. If your car needs a tow tonight, the tow driver can bring it to [street address], and our key drop is by the office door.”
Mention a key drop or tow-in spot only if you have one. Give a callback time you’ll keep, and skip “24/7” unless a person answers around the clock.
How fast that callback happens matters as much as the words. We put dollar figures on it in the real cost of a slow lead response.
Four texts cover most follow-up. Keep them short, sign them with a name, only text people who contacted you, and stop when they ask:
- Missed call, within minutes: “Hi, this is [shop name] in [town]. Sorry we missed your call. Is this about a repair? Reply here or call [number] and we’ll help.”
- Booking confirmation: “Hi [name], you’re set for an estimate at [shop name] on [day] at [time]. We’re at [address]. Bring your license, insurance card and claim number if you have one. Text this number if anything changes. [your name]”
- No-show, 30 minutes after the slot: “Hi [name], we had you down for [time] today. Want to pick a new time? We have [time] or [time] tomorrow.”
- After the estimate: “Hi [name], your [car] estimate is done and sent to [insurer]. We can take it in [day] or [day] morning. Which works?”
The checklist by the phone
Print this and tape it next to every phone that rings at the front desk. Each morning, write two open estimate times for today and tomorrow on a sticky note beside it.
The call is one of six places a lead can die. To score the other five, see why collision leads aren’t turning into booked jobs.
Every call
- Answer by the third ring: shop name, your name.
- “Sorry to hear that. Is everyone okay?”
- Name and cell number first.
- Year, make, model. Where’s the damage? Airbags? Warning lights?
- Safe to drive, or tow? Where is the car now?
- Claim filed? Whose insurance? Photo estimate yet? Claim number?
- Offer two specific times. Get one.
- Text the confirmation: day, time, address, what to bring.
- Log it: name, number, time in, result.
Never
- Quote a price over the phone.
- Promise what insurance will pay.
- Promise a finish date before the estimate.
- Knock an insurer or another shop.
- Hang up without a time, a tow or a reason.
What to do this week
- Print the checklist and tape it by every front desk phone, with two open estimate times on a sticky note each morning.
- Role-play five calls with your CSR: a price shopper, an insurer referral, “do you take my insurance,” a tow-in and a heavy hit.
- Re-record the after-hours voicemail with a callback time you’ll keep.
- Load the four text templates as saved replies in your phone system or on the shop’s cell.
- For one week, mark every new-damage call yes or no on whether it ended with a time, then compare the next week against it.
Questions owners ask
Who should answer these calls: the CSR, the estimator or the owner?
Whoever can answer live by the third ring and stick to the script. In most shops that’s the CSR, with the estimator as the rollover when the CSR is with a customer. The owner makes a fine backup, as long as the owner doesn’t start pricing the job on the phone.
Should we record calls?
Yes, if someone will listen to them. Pick five a week, play them with your CSR and score them against the checklist. Tell callers the call may be recorded, and ask your phone provider how to set that up for your state.
What if the driver only wants a price and won’t come in?
Offer a photo estimate if your estimator does them, and text the photo list: four corners, the damage straight on and at an angle, the VIN and the odometer. If they still want a number on the phone, thank them, log it as price-only and follow up once the next day.