If you typed it three times today, it doesn't need you tomorrow

You're in the truck between jobs. Three texts are waiting.

"Do you work on my brand of furnace?" "How soon can you come out?" "What do you charge just to look at it?"

You answered the same three questions yesterday. And the day before.

It adds up quietly

Each answer only takes a minute. But it's a minute in the truck, a minute at lunch, and a minute at dinner, and every one pulls you away from whatever you were doing. Count how many you answered this week. That's your real number.

Here's the turn

These questions aren't a problem. They're a good sign: people want to hire you. The problem is writing the answer from scratch every time. Write it once and it's done. Your answer gets better too, because you're not typing it with one thumb in a parking lot.

Try this week (free)

• Make the list. Scroll back through this week's texts and emails and write down every question you answered more than once. Start with the top ten.
• Answer each in one or two sentences, in your own words. Be straight. If the price depends on the job, say what it depends on.
• Save them on your phone. Your phone's keyboard settings let you save a short code that expands into a full answer (for example, on an iPhone it's called Text Replacement). Type "brands" and your full answer appears.
• Put the top few where people look first. Your website and your Google listing both have room for common questions, so some people get the answer before they text.

One rule stays the same: anything new, unusual, or upset still gets a person. Saved answers are for the easy ones.

When you're ready to hand it off

A digital helper can answer the common questions for you, in your words, and pass anything else to a person. See FAQ Replies.

Want to see what else is eating your week? Take the free Business Check-Up.