Building a Simple Intake Workflow

Start from your real process, not a template

Before choosing statuses, write down what actually happens to an enquiry from first draft to sign off in your business. Most workflows have four to six genuine stages; anything longer is usually duplicating a stage under a different name.

Use a small, fixed set of statuses

Draft, Ready for Enquiry, Under Enquiry, Changes Requested, Revised, Awaiting Intake, Converted and Archived cover almost every situation a small team or freelancer will meet. Resist the urge to add a status for every exception.

Assign clear ownership at each stage

Every status should have an obvious answer to whose desk is this on. If nobody is clearly responsible for an enquiry sitting in Under Enquiry, it will sit there far longer than it should.

Decide what moves an enquiry forward

Define, in writing, what has to happen before an enquiry can move from one status to the next. This removes ambiguity about whether something is genuinely ready to progress.

Keep the workflow visible

A workflow only works if everyone involved can see where an enquiry currently sits. Make status visible to contacts and clients rather than keeping it in your head.

Test the workflow on a real enquiry

Run one real enquiry through the full workflow before rolling it out across all your work. This usually surfaces one or two stages that need adjusting.

Revisit the workflow occasionally

A workflow that suited three clients may not suit thirty. Enquiry it every few months and simplify anything that has become unnecessary friction.

In summary

A clear enquiry process becomes easier to sustain once there is a structure around it: defined intake stages, organised follow-up notes, tracked records and useful follow-up notes. IntakeHarbor organises that information; the enquiry and intake decisions themselves always remain with you and your contacts.

This article is general information about enquiry-enquiry practice. It is not legal advice and does not constitute enquiry or signature certification.