Booking and Job Intake: the full procedure

Capture every new inquiry consistently and qualify it so each job enters the schedule with complete, accurate information.

• Applies to: Owner / office
• Frequency: Every inquiry
• Scope: Covers how leads are captured, qualified, and scheduled so nothing falls through and the field crew gets what it needs. Does not cover pricing math (see the written-estimate SOP) or any safety/lead screening beyond flagging the build year (see the lead-safe screening SOP).

What you need

• Intake form/CRM
• Shared calendar
• Phone with call log
• Email/text templates
• Build-year and scope checklist

The procedure, step by step

1. Capture the lead immediately — Log every call, text, form, and referral the same day with name, address, contact info, and how they found you. A logged lead is a lead you can win; an unlogged one is lost.
2. Record the scope — Note the work type (new hang, repair, ceiling, texture), rooms, approximate size, desired finish level, and any timeline. Capture enough to estimate without a second call where possible.
3. Flag the build year — Ask and record whether the home was built before 1978 — this routes the job into lead-safe screening and must be on the intake, not discovered later.
4. Qualify the job — Confirm it’s work you do, in your service area, with a realistic budget and timeline. Politely decline or refer out anything outside your lane rather than over-promising.
5. Set expectations — Tell the customer the next step and when they’ll hear from you (e.g., site visit or written estimate within a stated window). Confirm the best contact method.
6. Schedule the site visit or quote — Book the measure/takeoff on the shared calendar with all intake details attached. Send a confirmation.
7. Hand the file forward — Pass a complete intake record to whoever measures and estimates, so they aren’t re-gathering basics on site.
8. Track the lead status — Mark each lead’s stage (new, quoted, won, lost) so follow-up happens and nothing stalls in limbo.

Quality check before you finish

• Every inquiry is logged the same day with contact and source.
• Scope, rooms, size, and desired finish level are recorded at intake.
• Build-year (pre/post-1978) is captured to route lead-safe screening.
• Out-of-scope or out-of-area jobs are declined or referred, not over-promised.
• The customer is told the next step and timeframe, with a confirmation sent.
• The site visit/quote is scheduled with full details attached.
• Lead status is tracked through won/lost so follow-up happens.

This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Drywall business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.

Sources

• U.S. Small Business Administration — manage your business / customer intake (https://sba.gov)
• EPA — Lead RRP build-year trigger reference (https://epa.gov)
• SCORE — small business operations and intake guidance (https://score.org)