Six pairs of curtains, three rooms and a diary entry
A customer calls about cleaning the curtains in their living room, dining room and two bedrooms. They want you to take them down and put them back. The manager writes it in the diary for Tuesday and pops round with a tape measure. The quote is jotted on a notepad.
The following week someone else goes to take them down. They are not sure which curtains go with which window, so they label them with sticky notes. Back at the shop the curtains are cleaned, one pair turns out to have a lining that shrinks differently, and nobody noted the hook positions or the number of hooks.
On rehang day, the fitter finds the bedroom curtains are a few hooks short and one pair now sits slightly higher than before. The customer is not impressed, and the fitter has to come back.
A project handled like a counter ticket
The curtain job is really three or four linked tasks over a couple of weeks, done by different people. The shop's systems are built for counter tickets, so the job is broken into a diary entry, a notepad quote and a set of sticky notes.
- Measurements and quote are on paper that stays with the manager.
- Which curtain belongs to which window is marked on sticky notes.
- Hook counts, track types and heading styles are not recorded.
- Existing condition (sun fading, weak linings) is not photographed before take-down.
- The rehang visit is booked when the curtains are ready, if someone remembers to ring.
Return visits and uncomfortable rehangs
Every return visit to fix a rehang is unpaid time on the road. A fading or weak lining discovered after cleaning becomes a dispute without a before photo. Jobs are quoted inconsistently because measurements are not tied to a price rule. And customers who wait weeks with bare windows because nobody rang them to book the rehang are unlikely to recommend you.
How we build curtain job cards
- The first call creates a job card with the customer, rooms and a proposed survey or take-down visit, confirmed to the customer by text or email.
- At the visit, the staff member uses a phone app to record each window: room, measurements, heading, track or pole, hook count and position, and photos of the curtains hanging and of any existing wear.
- Each curtain gets a tag linked to its window on the job card, replacing the sticky notes.
- The quote is built from your curtain price rules and sent to the customer for acceptance.
- Cleaning is tracked like any other ticket. When every curtain on the job is ready, the customer gets a link to book the rehang visit.
- At rehang, the fitter's app shows each window's notes and photos, so the curtains go back the way they came down.
| Detail | Today | On the job card |
|---|---|---|
| Which curtain goes where | Sticky notes | Tag linked to the window |
| Hook count and position | Not recorded | Recorded at take-down |
| Condition before cleaning | Memory | Photos |
| Rehang booking | Phone call if remembered | Link sent when all curtains are ready |
The job card links to your normal ticket system for payment, so the counter can see the job if the customer calls in.
Curtain jobs without the return trip
The fitter arrives with the right curtains in the right order and the notes for each window. The rehang takes one visit. If the customer asks about a mark or fade, the before photo is there. The manager can see every curtain job in progress and which stage it has reached.
Do your curtain jobs look like this?
- Curtain jobs are managed from a diary and a notepad.
- Staff use sticky notes to track which curtain goes where.
- Rehang visits sometimes need a second trip.
- Condition before cleaning is not photographed.
- Customers wait to be called to book the rehang.