Bookings
Create a booking with a customer, set its reminder and address, and understand its statuses. Close or delete a booking you no longer need.
A booking is time with a customer, run by one of your employees: a site visit, a measure-up, a consultation. When the work goes ahead, you convert the booking to a quote or job, and its files and activity go with it.
Create a booking
You need Bookings: Create.
Start a new booking
On the Appointments screen, select New, then New booking. Or select a time on the calendar while the Booking tab is open, or select Create Booking on a contact's page.
Choose who
Under Who, search for the contact by typing at least two letters of their name, and select them. Then choose the employee who'll run the booking. It starts as you.
Set when
Under When, set the Start date, Start time, End date and End time. Times move in 15-minute steps, and the length shows beside them.
Add notes
Add anything the employee needs to know in Notes, such as access instructions or what to measure.
Fill in the extra details
Use the tabs under the notes: Contact to choose the contact person and site, Reminders to choose when the reminder is sent, and Address for where the booking is.
Save
Select Save. The booking appears on the calendar in the employee's colour and stays open in the panel.
The booking's details
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Contact | The customer the booking is for. Required. |
| Employee | Who runs the booking. Required. The booking appears in their colour, and they get the reminder. |
| Start and end | When it happens. The end must be after the start. |
| Notes | Anything the employee needs to know. Shown when you point at the booking on the calendar. |
| Contact person | Who to deal with at the contact, if the contact is a business. |
| Contact site | Which of the contact's sites the booking is at. |
| Reminder | How long before the start the reminder email is sent: 15 mins, 30 mins, 1 hour, 2 hours or 1 day. Starts at 15 mins. |
| Address | Where the booking is. Start typing in Address to pick a suggested address and fill in Suburb, City, Postcode and Country, or type them yourself. |
Once a booking is saved, the panel shows Details, Address, Files, Activity and Convert tabs. Details also shows the contact's email and phone.
Reminders
The employee a booking is assigned to gets a reminder email before it starts, at the time you chose under Reminder. If you move the booking, the reminder moves with it. Closing a booking cancels its reminder.
The customer isn't sent anything.
Booking statuses
| Status | What it means | How it gets there |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled | Booked in and still to happen, or happened recently. | Every new booking starts here. |
| Overdue | Two days have passed since it started, and it hasn't been converted or closed. | Automatically. See Overdue bookings. |
| Converted | A quote or job has been created from it. Shown with a green ring on the calendar. | Automatically, when you convert it. |
| Closed | Finished with, without becoming a quote or job. Shown grey on the calendar. | When you select Close booking. |
You don't change a booking's status by hand. A contact's page shows the status of each of their bookings.
Edit a booking
You need Bookings: Edit. Select the booking on the calendar, change what you need, and select Save. To change only the time, you can drag it on the calendar.
Close a booking
Close a booking that's finished but won't become a quote or job, for example when the customer decides not to go ahead. Closing keeps the booking and its history, takes it off the overdue list and cancels its reminder.
Open the booking, select Close booking, and confirm. A closed booking can't be reopened.
Delete a booking
You need Bookings: Delete. Open the booking, select the bin icon (Delete booking), and confirm. The booking is removed for good. If you want to keep a record of it, close it instead.