A free enquiry does not automatically need a site visit
When several enquiries arrive together, it is tempting to put every address into the diary and call it a quoting round. That can turn an incomplete question into hours of driving before you know whether the work fits your capability, schedule or quoting process.
Start by collecting the information you can obtain remotely. Book an assessment only when an on-site fact matters to the next decision, confirm its purpose and access, then group confirmed visits without treating that route as approval of the work or a finished price.
Triage the enquiry before offering a visit
Use the same short triage for every request. The answer may be a remote next step, an assessment, a request for more information or a polite decline.
- •Requested outcome and the exact part of the job the customer wants assessed
- •Photos, dimensions or other information already supplied—and what is still unknown
- •Whether access, condition, hazards or scope genuinely need an on-site check
- •Whether the work appears inside your capability, service area and availability
- •Who can confirm access and make the next decision
- •What the assessment will and will not establish, including any disclosed fee
Do not use a category label, a few photos or a short phone call to pretend an uncertain scope is known. Equally, do not drive out merely because the customer used the word “quote”.
Copy this assessment run sheet
Keep one line per enquiry in your normal diary, spreadsheet or job system. Leave private access details out of a public planning tool.
- •Enquiry and requested outcome
- •Information received and missing facts
- •Visit needed—and the specific reason
- •Confirmed contact, address and access
- •Agreed assessment scope and any disclosed fee
- •Time window and assumed assessment plus note-writing time
- •Travel, parking and deliberate contingency
- •Unresolved scope or costs
- •Next action, owner and date
- •Work authorised? yes / no / not yet
Group only confirmed assessments
Place fixed paid work and genuine access commitments first. Then compare nearby confirmed assessments using realistic visit, travel, note-writing and contingency allowances. Geographic closeness is useful only when the visits are ready and the proposed day still protects existing commitments.
An unconfirmed address is not a route stop. A missing dimension, unavailable decision-maker or uncertain access may be a reason to request information first rather than reserve travel time on speculation.
A fictional 150-minute gap
Assume two nearby confirmed assessments need 25 minutes each, travel including the return takes 40 minutes, notes and follow-up need 20 minutes, and you preserve 20 minutes of contingency. Those labelled fictional inputs total 130 minutes inside a 150-minute gap before an existing booking.
A third enquiry has unconfirmed access and essential dimensions are missing, so it stays off the booked run sheet. The remaining 20 minutes is not evidence that another visit fits, and this example says nothing about the eventual job price, acceptance, revenue or savings.
Close every assessment with one honest next action
After the visit, record one next step rather than leaving the customer to infer that work has been accepted.
- •Prepare a written quote with scope, costs, timing and acceptance terms
- •Obtain supplier, specialist or regulatory information before pricing
- •Ask the customer for a missing decision or document
- •Decline or refer work outside your capability
- •Record planned versus actual assessment, travel and admin time for your own review
Business.gov.au and Business Queensland both emphasise understanding requirements, resources, costs and terms before issuing a quote. This run sheet supports that preparation; it is not a quote or legal template.
Where DayRoute fits—and where it does not
Once the assessment visits are confirmed, DayRoute's free web planner can compare route order and estimated travel using the addresses and durations you enter. As checked on 5 November 2026, email sign-in is required, a route can include up to 10 jobs and each account has 10 successful calculations; a successful recalculation uses another calculation.
The planner does not decide whether a visit is needed, confirm access, issue a quote, enforce customer windows, price the work, obtain approval or prove profit. Check its result against the windows and paid work you have already agreed. The free planner is separate from the paid iOS app workflow and does not automatically transfer a route into the app.
Check the confirmed assessment round
Collect the missing facts and confirm each visit first, then compare the order and estimated travel. Email sign-in is required; the free planner allows up to 10 jobs and 10 successful calculations per account.
Related pages
Sources and scope
- Business.gov.au — Prepare quotesReviewed 5 November 2026. Supports clear written scope, itemised costs, terms, timing and acceptance. It does not make this assessment run sheet a quote or legal template.
- Business Queensland — Preparing a business quoteReviewed 5 November 2026. Supports understanding customer requirements, resources, availability and true costs before quoting. It is general guidance, not trade-specific legal advice.
- Solar Victoria — What to look for in a solar quoteReviewed 5 November 2026 as one official example of a quotation developed through an onsite or remote assessment. It does not establish a rule for every service business.
- DayRoute — Free field-service day plannerReviewed 5 November 2026 for current sign-in, job and calculation limits. The planner does not issue quotes or approve work.
- DayRoute — Product factsReviewed 5 November 2026 for the distinction between the bounded web planner and paid iOS app workflows. It is direct product evidence, not proof of customer outcomes.
- Public Australian trade discussion — quote visitsReviewed 5 November 2026 as qualitative operator and customer language only. It does not establish identity, prevalence, prices, willingness to pay or DayRoute demand.