The life of a request
A request is the first record of a piece of work, made before anyone has promised anything. This page follows one from the moment it arrives to the moment it is finished, so the rest of the Requests pages have somewhere to hang.
The five stages
Section titled “The five stages”1. It arrives
Section titled “1. It arrives”A client asks for something — by phone, at the counter, by email, through the client portal, or through a form on your website. Whoever takes it opens Add Request and picks the form that fits what has arrived: enquiry, ticket, booking. The request lands at the top of the Request list as New.
Nothing is scheduled and nobody is assigned. That is what makes a request worth raising for every enquiry, including the ones that go nowhere: it costs a minute and it stops work living in one person’s inbox.
See where requests come from, creating a request and taking requests from your website.
2. What was asked for is written down
Section titled “2. What was asked for is written down”The request records the client, the services they want, the time they would prefer, how they came to you, a description of the problem, and anything they sent — a photo of the leaking unit, the error on the display.
The preferred time is a wish, not a booking. Recording it commits you to nothing, which is exactly why reception can take it without checking anyone’s diary.
3. Someone decides what it needs
Section titled “3. Someone decides what it needs”This is the triage step, and it is where the request earns its place. From the + on the request’s timeline:
| If the answer is | Raise |
|---|---|
| “We need to look before we can price it” | an appointment |
| “They want a price first” | a quote |
| “It is agreed — go and do it” | a job |
| “They want an inspection” | an audit |
| “This is ongoing, not a one-off” | a contract |
| “Nothing yet, but someone should know” | a comment or message |
One request can lead to several of these, in sequence — a visit, then a quote, then the job the client approves. Each one is created with the request’s client and site already filled in.
See acting on a request.
4. Everything lands on the timeline
Section titled “4. Everything lands on the timeline”Creating the request starts a timeline, with the request as its first card. Everything done from then on joins it in order — the quote, the appointment, the job, the purchase order for the parts, the proforma invoices, the final invoice — each with its own status and date.
That timeline is not only on the request. It follows the work into the other modules: open the quote, the job or the contract that came out of this request and the same chain is across the top of it. Whichever record someone is looking at, they can see everything that led to it and everything that came after.
The request stops being an enquiry at this point and becomes the case file. When a client rings six weeks later asking what happened, this is what answers.
See the timeline.
5. It gets closed
Section titled “5. It gets closed”As the request moves, its status moves with it: from New, through whatever middle stages you have set up, to a finish — Closed, or Won and Lost if you track intake as a pipeline.
An enquiry that came to nothing is closed, not deleted. The client, what they wanted, what you quoted and why it died all stay on record for the next time they ring.
See request statuses and editing and deleting a request.
Who touches it along the way
Section titled “Who touches it along the way”| Who | What they do with it |
|---|---|
| Reception or front desk | Takes the call and raises the request |
| A manager or admin | Triages it, prices it, decides what it becomes |
| The client | Raises their own through the portal or your website, and reads the messages you send on it |
| The fieldworker | Gets the job or appointment that came out of it, and the messages sent to them |
Nobody has to be looking at the same screen at the same time. The request is the handover.
A worked example
Section titled “A worked example”A ducted HVAC system is not cooling. The client rings.
- Reception raises Req-11 for John Matthews on the HVAC form, with the fault in the description and an 11:19 am preferred start.
- A purchase order goes out for the part, and is marked Delivered.
- A job, HVAC-20-1, is scheduled and comes back Completed.
- Two proforma invoices are raised as the billing is worked out, then the invoice, INV-66.
- The request is set to Closed.
All five steps sit on one timeline, in order, on the request:
Request page → timeline
Two things the process does not do on its own
Section titled “Two things the process does not do on its own”- Filling in the preferred time books nothing. Scheduling happens when you raise the appointment or job.
- Changing the status tells the client nothing. It records what you know. To tell them, send a message.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| How requests work | The request list and the request page, screen by screen |
| Creating a request | The Add Request form, field by field |
| Acting on a request | Raising an appointment, job, quote, audit or contract from one |
| The cart and advance payment | Pricing what was asked for, and taking a deposit up front |
| Request forms | Building the intake form your own process needs |
| Taking requests from your website | Letting clients raise their own, from your site or the portal |