Managing Multiple Jobs

Forget complicated apps. The most effective system for a sole trader or small team is a spreadsheet with five columns:

Job Name — Customer name and what the job is. "Mrs. Patel — kitchen rewire."

Status — Where the job sits: Quoted, Booked, In Progress, Complete, Invoiced, Paid.

Date — When the job is happening or when the quote was sent.

Value — How much the job is worth.

Notes — Materials needed, customer preferences, access instructions, anything you need to remember.

That is it. Open it on your phone each morning and you know exactly what your week looks like. Ask AI to build this for you: "Create a Google Sheets job tracker for an electrician with columns for job name, status, date, value, and notes. Include sample data and conditional formatting so booked jobs show in green and overdue quotes show in red."

The biggest time sink for busy tradespeople is not the work itself — it is the admin around it. AI can help you set up simple automations that save hours every week:

Pre-job reminders. Use your phone's calendar to set reminders the day before each job. Include the customer's address, access details, and materials list in the calendar event. Ask AI: "Write me a standard text message to send customers the day before a job, confirming the time, what to expect, and my contact number."

Quote follow-ups. We covered this in yesterday's lesson. Schedule your three follow-up messages when you send the quote so you do not have to remember later.

Post-job messages. After finishing a job, send a thank-you message and request a review. Set a calendar reminder for 24 hours after completion. AI writes the message in seconds: "Write a friendly post-job text for a landscaper asking for a Google review."

Invoice reminders. If you are chasing payments, AI can write polite but firm reminder messages. "Write a 7-day overdue invoice reminder for a painting job. Keep it professional but clear."

These are not complex automations requiring special software. They are calendar reminders paired with pre-written messages that AI generates for you in advance.

When you are mid-way through a three-day kitchen fit, the last thing you want is to stop and respond to new leads on RatedPeople or Thumbtack. But if you do not respond quickly, those leads go to someone else.

Here is how to handle it:

Set response templates. Have a pre-written message ready for new leads that buys you time: "Thanks for getting in touch. I'm on a job today but I'd love to discuss your project. I'll call you this evening — would that work?" AI can write five or six variations for different trades and job types. Save them in your phone's notes for quick copy-paste.

Batch your lead responses. Respond to all new leads during two windows: morning before you start work, and evening when you finish. This takes 15-20 minutes total and means no lead waits more than half a day.

Know your capacity. If your tracker shows you are fully booked for three weeks, be honest with new leads: "I'm booked until the 15th but happy to quote now and schedule after that." Honesty builds trust and many customers are willing to wait for a tradesperson they feel confident about.