Requests
Keep track of what people ask you for, in their words.
A request is what a customer asked you for, kept in their words. It is a record of the asking — not of the doing. Some requests become work; some are answered in a sentence and finished.
Logging one
Requests → Log a request. CLEO asks two things:
- Who asked — any customer or lead. A portal account isn't needed; a phone call, an email or something said in person all count. Press Continue.
- What they asked for — a single line under What they asked for, in one line, the Kind of request, and their own words under What they said. Press Log request.
The request itself
A request opens with the customer's own words under The ask, noted "In their words", and three tabs:
- Conversation — everything said since.
- Work — what, if anything, is being delivered because of it.
- Status and due date — where it stands.
Replying, and notes only you see
Under Conversation, write in Reply or note and press Add update.
- A reply is sent to the customer by email, when you have an email address for them.
- An internal note is never sent. Tick the internal option before adding it, and it stays between you and your team.
You can attach a file to either.
Marking it critical
A request can be flagged as critical when it should come before everything else. On the Status and due date tab, tick Critical — needs attention before anything else; it saves as soon as you tick it, and unticking it takes the flag off. CLEO then treats the request as needing you, and shows it first in the Requests list. Use it sparingly: everything marked urgent means nothing is.
Due dates
Most requests have no due date until you set one — CLEO doesn't invent a promise you didn't make. Set or change it under Status and due date.
Requests from a customer on a CLEO website service plan are the exception: their plan sets the date automatically.
Where it stands
A request moves through a handful of states: newly arrived, seen, being worked on, back with the customer, finished, or cancelled. Change it on the Status and due date tab.
Two of them matter more than the rest:
- Back with the customer means nothing is needed from you. Those requests move out of your waiting list, and the Requests page groups them under Back with the customer, noted as needing nothing from you.
- Finished closes it. A request you answered without doing any work is simply finished.
Requests and work are not the same thing
The Requests page opens with Waiting on you, and that is the whole point of the screen: what people have asked for and haven't heard back about.
A request can lead to work, be added to work you're already doing, or need no work at all. Starting work doesn't finish the request, and finishing work doesn't finish it either — you finish it when the customer has what they asked for.
From a request to work covers the three ways they connect.
If a request hasn't become work, CLEO says so on Home, with a one-tap answer: start the work, or record that none was needed.