Job orders received by email, entered only once
Clients send job orders by email, each in their own layout, and the office retypes them into the schedule, the client file and invoicing. A dedicated inbox, a prepared record to approve and a single entry could feed all three tools.
Illustrative use case. It describes a problem we come across often and what we could build to solve it. It is not a client project: no results are claimed.
The starting point
Clients send their job orders by email: sometimes in the body of the message, sometimes as a PDF, sometimes as an attached spreadsheet. Each one gives the client and their reference, the site address, the contact on site, the requested dates, the type of job and any special instructions. Someone in the office reads every email, then copies the details into the schedule, into the client file and later into the invoicing software.
The actual problem
The same address is typed three times, with three chances of getting it wrong. An order that the client sends twice, or that a colleague forwards, can be created twice. Missing details, such as a time slot or an on-site contact, only show up at scheduling time, and then someone has to chase the client. When the person who handles the inbox is away, orders wait. And nothing really links an email to the job it produced.
What could be built
- An email address reserved for job orders and checked continuously, so nothing gets lost in a personal inbox.
- Reading the expected details from each email or attachment, with a template per client when their orders always look the same.
- An approval screen showing the original email next to the prepared record: someone corrects, completes or rejects it before anything is created.
- A duplicate check based on the client’s own reference, so an order received twice only creates one job.
- A single entry in the tool that is the reference for jobs, then the relevant details sent on to the schedule, the client file and invoicing.
- A queue of incomplete orders listing what is missing, so the client can be chased without rereading the whole email.
What would change for the team
- Each order is entered once, then checked, instead of being retyped into three systems.
- An order sent twice is caught before it reaches the schedule.
- Incomplete orders are visible as soon as they arrive, and the client is chased sooner.
- From any job, you can get back to the email that started it.
- The inbox no longer depends on one person: anyone on the team can work through the queue.
What stays under human control
- Approving each record before it is created, at least until a client’s template has proved reliable.
- Deciding to accept a job, and on what terms and price.
- Unusual orders: urgent requests, unknown sites, unusual safety instructions.
- Talking to the client when information is missing or contradictory.
Going further
The article Stop double data entry without replacing your systems covers how to pick the system of record, how to avoid duplicates and what to do when a sync fails.