First workflow
Your first workflow: from enquiry to invoice.
One job, five stages, a clear owner at each step. Follow a fictional example, then try a short exercise with your own team in mind.
The five stages
Many service jobs follow these handovers. Gaps can appear when work moves between stages and nobody is sure who has the next step. Write down who owns each one in your business.
| Stage | Usual owner | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | Office | Owner, next action and due date set. Fit checked. |
| Quote | Estimator or owner | Scope, inclusions, exclusions and approval recorded. |
| Schedule | Office | Window, duration, skills, parts and travel checked; route order reviewed by a person. |
| Job | Technician | Approved work done, variations approved before doing them, completion recorded. |
| Invoice | Office | Checked against quote and approved variations, sent, exceptions owned. |
Follow one example day
Step through the scenes below. This is an authored illustration with fictional records — not a screenshot of a live account. Each scene shows what the system does, and what a person decides.
A request arrives with its details.
A customer messages from your website. The service, area and preferred time land in one shared inbox, next to their customer record.
Your office turns it into a request and decides what happens next.
Shared inbox · Website chat
Hi, our kitchen tap is leaking under the sink. Could someone come Thursday morning?
- Service
- Tap repair
- Area
- Sample Street
- Preferred
- Thursday morning
- Status
- New request
The same job, stage by stage
- EnquiryA website message about a leaking tap arrives at 07:42. Thandi takes ownership, sets the next action "call to confirm access", due 08:15.
- QuoteThandi sends a fixed-price quote: replace mixer, included parts listed, ceiling repair excluded. The customer replies "Approved".
- ScheduleThe visit goes into Sipho's Thursday. The route suggestion proposes an order; Thandi keeps the 08:00 fixed visit, reviews and applies it.
- JobSipho opens the job on his phone, sees access notes and the checklist. He finds a faulty isolating valve, gets the customer's approval for the extra, and marks the job complete.
- InvoiceThe office checks the invoice against the quote plus one approved variation, then sends it. The customer pays through the business's own payment provider.
Try it: one small exercise
Monday 16:50, WhatsApp: "Hi, the aircon in our shop is blowing warm air. We're in Umhlanga, open till 18:00. Can you look at it this week?"
Fill in the three fields as you would for your own business.
Where optional AI can help — and where it stops
AI is optional. Many teams run this whole workflow without it. Where a business chooses to use it, it can:
- Suggest a first reply to an enquiry, drafted from knowledge you approve.
- Help collect basic details — area, service, preferred time — before a person takes over.
It does not:
- Set your prices, approve variations or make commercial decisions.
- Diagnose technical faults or replace your technician's judgement.
- Apply a schedule or route without a person reviewing it.
Usage is metered and explained before you start. The guides on enquiry ownership, clear quotes, day planning and job to invoice go deeper on each stage.
Want this set up around your team?
Book a personal demo to talk through your enquiries, jobs, schedules and invoices, and which level of help fits. Or compare the plans first.