The job that disappeared into a queue
The survey spotted a looped supply, or a main fuse that your surveyor was not happy with. Correctly, the install was paused and the customer was told to contact their network operator, or you raised it for them. That was in spring. It is now autumn, and the customer rings to ask whether you are still coming.
Nobody knows. The job is not in the diary, not in the quote pipeline and not in the invoicing list. It is in a spreadsheet tab called On Hold, last updated by someone who has since changed role.
Paused jobs fall out of every list
Job systems are built around work that moves forward: enquiry, quote, booked, done, invoiced. A job waiting on somebody else does not fit, so it is marked with a vague status or taken out of the flow altogether. The dependency (an unlooping, a fuse upgrade, a landlord's consent, a new meter position) has its own timeline, owned by someone outside your business.
- The job status says On Hold with no reason or date.
- It is unclear whether you or the customer is meant to contact the operator.
- Reference numbers for operator work are in a customer's email, not yours.
- Nobody has a date to chase, so nobody chases.
- When the work is done, the customer does not think to tell you.
A quiet list of lost work
Each parked job is revenue you have already spent effort to win: an enquiry answered, a survey done, a quote accepted. When they drift, some customers give up on the idea, and some go to whichever installer rings them first after the upgrade. The rest turn into catch-up calls that make you look disorganised. And because nobody can count the list, nobody knows how much work is sitting in it.
A holding list with dates and owners
- When a job is paused, the person pausing it has to pick a reason from your list (looped supply, fuse, consent, meter work, customer finance, other) and say who owns the next step: you, the customer or a third party.
- Any reference numbers, contacts and expected dates are recorded against the job.
- The system sets a chase date based on the reason. On that date the owner gets a task, and the customer gets a short, friendly check-in by text or email asking whether anything has changed.
- Customer replies are read and matched to the job. If they say the work is done, the job moves to ready to book and the scheduler is told.
- A weekly summary shows parked jobs by reason, age and owner, so the oldest do not quietly rot.
- When a job is released, the original survey and quote come back with it, with a prompt to check whether anything has changed.
| Question | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Why is this job paused? | Status says On Hold | Recorded reason |
| Who is waiting on whom? | Unclear | Named owner of the next step |
| When do we chase? | When someone remembers | Chase date set by reason |
| Has the work been done? | Customer rings eventually | Check-in reply moves the job |
| How much work is parked? | Nobody knows | Weekly summary by reason and age |
Whether a job can proceed after the dependency clears is your surveyor's call. The holding list only makes sure the question is asked at the right time.
Paused, not lost
Parked jobs become a pipeline you can see and work. Customers hear from you before they wonder whether you have forgotten them. The scheduler gets released jobs as they clear, which fills gaps in the diary with work that was already sold. And the operations meeting can talk about the on-hold list in concrete terms, not as a feeling that there is a lot of it.
Is your on-hold list working?
- You have a list of paused jobs nobody has opened in weeks.
- Customers ring to ask whether you are still coming.
- You cannot say how many jobs are waiting on network operator work.
- References for operator work live in the customer's inbox.
- Released jobs are booked without re-checking the survey.