Guide
Moving-estimate call checklist
Ask about timing, both addresses, access, what's moving and what help the caller wants, then confirm how to follow up. The list below puts those questions in an order most callers can answer without stopping to think.
Before you pick up
Keep three things within reach so you can answer as well as ask:
- the list of towns and ZIP codes you serve;
- what you will and won't say about price on the phone;
- your deposit, cancellation and rescheduling rules.
A caller who asks "do you go to my town?" and has to wait for a callback may call the next company on the list.
1. Who is calling
- Full name
- Best phone number, and whether texts are welcome
- Email address for the written estimate
- How they heard about you, if you track it
Get the phone number early. If the call drops halfway through, you can still call back.
2. Timing
- Preferred move date
- Whether the date is fixed or can move, and by how much
- What sets the date: a closing, a lease ending, a job start
- Time-of-day limits at either building
"Flexible" means different things to different people. Ask for the earliest and latest days that would work.
3. Where from and where to
- Pickup address, or at least the street and town
- Delivery address, or the town if they haven't closed yet
- Any extra stops: storage unit, office, a relative's garage
- Type of home at each end: house, apartment, condo, townhouse
4. Access
Ask about both ends. Callers tend to describe the home they're leaving and forget the one they're moving into.
- Floors and flights of stairs
- Elevator, its size, and whether it must be booked
- Distance from where the truck parks to the door
- Parking: driveway, loading dock, street, permit needed
- Building rules: move hours, floor protection, a certificate of insurance
- Narrow halls, tight turns or low ceilings that big furniture must clear
5. How much is moving
- Bedrooms and other furnished rooms
- Garage, basement, attic, shed or patio furniture
- How full each space is
- What is staying behind, being sold or going to donation
If your company prices from an inventory, walk through it room by room. If you schedule a video or in-home survey for this size of job, say so now and offer times.
6. Large and special items
- Pianos, and what kind
- Safes and gun safes
- Exercise machines
- Large appliances, including ones that need disconnecting
- Artwork, mirrors, antiques, chandeliers
- Furniture that must come apart to fit through doors
If you don't move some of these, say so on this call rather than on moving day.
7. Services
- Packing: all of it, some rooms, fragile items only, or none
- Boxes and materials
- Unpacking and debris removal
- Storage, and for how long
8. Their questions
Leave room for the caller to ask. Common ones: whether you're licensed and insured, how deposits work, what happens if the date changes, and whether the crew takes furniture apart. Write down any question you couldn't answer so whoever calls back can start there.
9. Next steps and consent
- Tell them what happens next and when: a written estimate, a survey, a callback
- Confirm the number and email to use
- Ask permission to call or text them about the estimate, and note the answer
- Read back the move date and both towns
Interstate moves
For an interstate household move, federal rules require the mover to do a physical survey of the goods and give a written estimate based on it. The customer may waive the survey, but the waiver must be in writing and signed before the shipment is loaded. The written estimate must also say whether it is binding or non-binding. See 49 CFR 375.401. A good phone intake prepares you for that survey. It doesn't replace it.
Details that are easy to miss
- Access at the new home.
- A storage unit or second pickup the caller assumes you already know about.
- The single heavy item that changes crew size.
- Whether the caller agreed to a text or a call back.