Handyman Customer Intake Checklist

A handyman customer intake checklist should identify the person, the property, the requested work and the next decision. Before ending the first conversation, confirm what you still need to check and what will happen next. Keep the customer's description separate from a diagnosis, a quoted price or a confirmed appointment.

“Can you fix a sticking door?” sounds like a simple request. It still leaves questions: which door, at which address, what does “sticking” mean, and is the caller asking for a visit or a price? A short intake record helps you carry those details from the first call into the estimate without relying on memory.

Start with the contact and the service address

Ask who you are speaking with, how to reach them and where the work is needed. Confirm the spelling or digits before saving the details. For an existing customer, check whether the request concerns the address already on file or a different property.

Separate the person arranging access from the person who will receive and discuss the estimate when those roles differ. Write down what each person is handling. A phone number belongs to a contact; it does not tell you who has approved the work.

Collect information relevant to the request. Keep payment-card details, passwords and unrelated personal information out of general intake notes. If access instructions are needed later, share them only through the appropriate working record with the people who need them.

Use a short first-call worksheet

The worksheet below is a manual intake aid, not a claim that the software asks every question automatically. You can adapt the wording to your services while keeping the same distinction between what was reported and what remains unconfirmed.

Ask how the customer found you when that information is useful to your business. Preserve the answer they give rather than assigning a more specific advertising source you cannot verify. “A neighbour recommended you” and “I clicked your Facebook ad” are different observations.

Write the customer's words before choosing a repair

Here is a fictional example. Jordan calls about an interior door and says, “The door catches at the top when I close it.” Jordan would like it to close normally and asks whether Friday is possible.

• Reported: an interior door catches at the top when closing.
• Requested result: the door closes normally.
• Requested timing: Friday, not yet agreed.
• Still to check: the relevant door and property details, available information and what assessment is needed before pricing.
• Next action: confirm the information needed and when Jordan should expect a response.

Do not quietly turn that note into “replace hinges, booked Friday.” Those are decisions the conversation has not established. If a relevant photo would help explain the request, say what it needs to show without treating the image as proof of hidden conditions.

Once the work can be described, use the contractor estimate guide to separate included work, options and unresolved items. The intake note supplies context; the estimate documents the proposed work and price.

Put customer details and job decisions in the right records

ThePocketBoss's core CRM stores customer names, contact information, addresses and notes. In the web CRM you can also record an interaction and a next-follow-up date. These customer tools are included in every plan, subject to account permissions. The handyman CRM overview shows how customer records connect with the rest of the workflow.

Use the customer record for stable contact information. Keep the particular request and unresolved questions in the relevant notes or recorded interaction, with a reference that you can find later. Check the customer and service address again when preparing the estimate or appointment.

A saved customer date is a reminder to review the conversation. It does not send a message, assign a task or book a visit. Separate Tasks and the online booking page require Essentials or above. A manually recorded phone enquiry does not require the customer to have used an online booking page.

End with a clear next step

Read back the request and the next action. For the fictional call, that could be: “I have noted the door that catches when closing and your Friday preference. I will review the information we discussed and get back to you about the next step. Friday is not booked yet.” Use only a response time you can actually meet.

Before closing the record, check that you can answer four questions:

1. Can I contact the right person about the right property?
2. Have I preserved what the customer reported without inventing a diagnosis?
3. Can I tell which scope, price and timing decisions remain open?
4. Does someone know the next action and when to review it?

Move any promised response into your follow-up list. A useful intake ends with enough context to take the next step, without presenting the first conversation as an approved estimate or a confirmed job.