When a customer says yes, do four things before the day of the job. Confirm it in writing, decide how the deposit works, put the visit on your calendar with the details, and say what you need from them. After the work, send the invoice the same day.
Winning a job isn't finishing it. The visit, the invoice and the thank-you are all still ahead of you. This guide is short on purpose, so you can read it in a truck or at a kitchen table and know what to do next.
Confirm the yes in writing
Send one message as soon as they say yes, by whatever channel they used. Save it as a template so you only fill in the blanks. It should say:
- the job, and the date and time window
- the address, so the customer can confirm it's right
- the price you quoted, or how the price will be set
- what the customer needs to do beforehand (clear a driveway, put pets away, leave a gate unlocked)
- your cancellation rule, in one sentence
- how to reach you
- if you take a deposit, that the date is firm once it arrives
A short version to adapt:
Hi [first name], here are your booking details: [job] on [day, date] between [start] and [end] at [street address]. Price: [price]. Please reply YES to confirm. (If you take a deposit: Your date is firm once your [amount] deposit arrives: [link].) Please [one thing they need to do]. If you need to cancel or move it, tell me by [deadline] so I can offer the slot to someone else.
When a date is firm
A date is firm when the customer confirms it in writing. If you take a deposit, it's firm when the deposit arrives.
Until then, pencil it in. Put a "?" on the calendar title and take it off only when the date is firm. If a penciled date never firms up, clear it after a day or two so it stops blocking real work. Don't turn down other jobs for a date that isn't firm.
Decide how the deposit works
Decide before the job, not after. A deposit helps on large jobs, jobs where you buy materials, new customers, and dates that are hard to refill if someone cancels.
- Pick the amount. A flat sum or a share of the price both work. If you buy materials, it should at least cover them.
- Write the rule into your quote or confirmation: when it's due, what it's for, and what happens if the customer cancels.
- Take it in a way that leaves a record, such as a card link, a bank transfer or a payment app. Send a receipt.
Fictional example: "A $40 deposit holds your date. It's refunded if you cancel more than 48 hours ahead." Use your own numbers.
Rules on deposits and cancellation fees differ by place, and some trades have their own. Ask your state's small-business office, your licensing board or a local professional what applies to you.
Put the job on the calendar
Make each booking a full event. Put the customer's first name and the job in the title. Put the address in the location field so your phone's maps app can find it. Put the phone number, the quoted price and any access notes (gate code, pets, where the key is) in the description.
Set the length to the time the job really takes, with drive time as its own event. Send a reminder the day before and ask for a reply. No reply means you can call that evening instead of finding out at the door.
Run the job from a checklist
Keep one checklist per service in a note on your phone, with 8 to 12 lines in three groups: before you start, during, and before you leave. Build it from your last three jobs. Add a line each time something goes wrong.
Take photos with the phone's own camera. Shoot the same spot from the same place, once wide and once close, first thing when you arrive and again as the last thing you do. Photograph any damage that was already there. Those photos give you something to point to if a customer says the damage is new.
Keep them in one folder per customer, named by date and service. Ask before you post any photo anywhere, and keep faces, mail, house numbers and screens out of it.
When a customer says "while you're here, could you also...", say what it adds in price and time, text it to them, and wait for a yes before you start. Add it to the invoice as its own line.
Finish with a short message that says it's done, what you did, and what comes next.
Send the invoice
Send it the same day, in the way the customer likes. One page is enough. Put on it your business name and contact details, the customer's name and the service address, an invoice number, the date and a due date, one line per service with a price, any deposit already paid, the amount due now, and how to pay.
Fictional example: a $145 job with a $40 deposit already paid leaves $105 due.
Offer two ways to pay and put both on every invoice. Check that the money has reached your account before you call the invoice paid. Sales tax on services depends on where you work and what you do, so ask your state's department of revenue or an accountant before you add it.
A won job isn't a finished job
Winning a job and finishing it are different events, and a list that treats them as one will hide work.
A list that clears every won job hides the ones whose invoice hasn't gone out, and the overdue invoice never shows. Track the work, not the sales status, and clear a job's next step and date only when nothing is left to do.
You can use this rule without any file. After the yes, write the next step on the job: send the invoice, then ask for a review or a repeat booking. When all of those are done, close it. If you want the free Excel file, it's on the tracker page. It's made for Microsoft Excel. If you open it in another spreadsheet app, check the Due column before you rely on it.
The full guide, The One-Person Back Office, covers this job and 17 more.