Enquiry management software for the next conversation

An enquiry from your public form carries the details the customer supplied. Open the conversation to review the message, contact information and any relevant service or form details. That gives the person replying more to work with than a name copied into a separate list.

Read the original request before deciding what comes next. A question about a boiler visit may need more information before a plumber can quote. A salon enquiry may be about a service the customer cannot choose confidently online. Keeping the wording helps the team answer the actual question rather than guessing from a short label.

The inbox has views for unread, assigned and replied conversations, alongside categories such as general, booking, quote and invoice enquiries. Use the view that fits the work you are reviewing. The unread list answers a different question from the conversations already assigned to you.

Opening a conversation marks it read, but reading is not the same as resolving it. Check the reply history and the next step before assuming someone else has dealt with the request. The useful handover is a clear responsibility and an answer the customer can act on.

Assign a conversation to the staff member who should handle it. A colleague covering reception can then distinguish a request waiting for allocation from one already being dealt with. Review the assignment when responsibility changes rather than relying on a message outside the record.

Keep the reply useful to the next person as well as the customer. Say what is needed, what has been agreed and whether a quote or booking is the next step. Clear wording reduces the need for the customer to repeat the same details when another authorised colleague opens the conversation.

A suitable enquiry can move into the supported lead, quote or customer workflow. A lead is useful when you still need to follow up. A quote is useful when you can describe the proposed work and price. A customer record gives the person a place in the wider business history.

Those choices serve different purposes. Turning an enquiry into a lead does not book a date, and preparing a quote does not mean the customer has accepted it. Follow the relevant record through its own next step so the enquiry, agreement and appointment do not become three competing versions of the job.

Some inbox conversations already belong to a quote, invoice or another business record. Open the linked work to understand the question in context. The existing customer and document history are often more useful than starting a new lead for someone who is already dealing with the business.

Linked conversations have their own conversion limits because they already belong to a record. Use the link rather than treating every message as a fresh sales enquiry. For Garage Pro, supplier conversations can also relate to purchasing work; those should remain distinct from a customer asking for an appointment.

A homeowner asks about replacing a radiator and includes the room details. A colleague opens the request, checks the contact information and assigns the conversation to the person who can price the work. That person asks for the missing measurements in the same conversation, keeping the original request close to the reply.

Once the scope is clear, prepare the quote through the supported route and review the customer and site details. The customer can then consider the proposed work through the quote journey. Agree the date separately when the work is ready to book. The enquiry started the conversation; it did not silently promise a price or reserve time.

Keep a reply about the requested service separate from a later marketing campaign. Contact information supplied for a question is useful for answering that question, but it should not be treated as blanket permission for unrelated promotions. Review the relevant communication choices before adding someone to a campaign audience.

Keep attachments and personal details within the access the team needs. Use the conversation to support the service rather than copying private information into general notes or forwarding it widely. Staff permissions and a clear handover matter just as much at the enquiry stage as they do after the first booking.

Choose when the team checks unread and assigned requests, and who covers them when the usual person is away. The inbox can show recorded activity, but it does not decide which enquiry deserves a same day call or whether your business can deliver the work being requested.

Archive conversations when that fits your process and use the relevant views to find earlier work. Keep the distinction between a quiet conversation and an agreed job clear. A tidy inbox is useful because the next action is easier to see, not because every request must become a booking.

A customer who has already booked may send a question rather than starting new work. Check the matched customer and any linked record before creating another lead. The appointment or invoice history may already contain the answer, and keeping it connected avoids asking the customer to repeat information they have supplied.

If the contact details have changed or more than one person shares a company account, review the match carefully. The useful result is the right conversation with the right record, not simply converting every message because the control is available.