Ten steps from enquiry to delivery and follow-up
A delivery from Loopback goes through ten steps, from enquiry to follow-up. The enquiry gets a case number and a confirmation the same day, a person replies within one working day, and the scoping call takes 20–30 minutes.
The ten steps below describe a project or a one-off delivery – typically 05 Consultancy. If you have a service agreement, most of everyday work runs outside this track, and that is further down the page.
TEN STEPS
From enquiry to follow-up
The enquiry becomes a case
Whether it arrives by form, phone or email, it gets a case number and one category. You get a confirmation with the case number the same day, and a person replies within one working day. The category decides who takes the case on – and the same name follows it all the way to the invoice.
Scoping call, 20–30 minutes
What is the problem, what do you have today, who decides, what is the timeframe, and is there a budget. The most important clarification is often a different one: does this actually belong to consultancy? Much of what looks like a small project is already covered by the service agreement – or it is a licence to be bought.
Mapping, if the job is bigger than a day or two
Small jobs are priced straight from the call. Anything above that requires someone to look at what is there: servers, networks, accesses, integrations between systems, who owns what. We say how much mapping is included, and turn the rest into a small delivery of its own with its own quote.
The quote
Scope, what is not included, and whether it is an hourly rate or a fixed price – it always says which. If the figure is an estimate, the word estimate is there, together with what it is based on and what happens if the scope changes. Plus the assumptions: which accesses we need, what you have to provide, and when we can start. Prices excl. VAT, valid for 30 days.
Acceptance and start
A written order – an email saying “yes, we are ordering” is enough. Then a start-up check before anyone begins work: a contact person on both sides, accesses in place, a test environment to try things in if the job needs one, and an agreed reporting rhythm. Jobs that start without the accesses in place always end up costing more than agreed.
Execution
Hours are logged against the case number the same day, not on Friday. You get status in the agreed rhythm, and the status says how many hours of the estimate have been used. Changes are handled in writing, every time: this comes in addition, it costs roughly this much, confirm before we do it.
Testing and handover
The acceptance criteria were in the quote – otherwise “finished” is a negotiation. The handover is three things: that it works and has been tested together with you, documentation of what has been done, and training for the people who will use it.
Handover to operations
If you have a service agreement, the job is not finished until the new thing is inside operations: documented, added to monitoring, passwords in the password vault, and backup set up and verified. Skip this, and something is sitting there that nobody is looking after.
Invoicing
Hour lines with the case number in the comment field, fixed price by milestone or on delivery, always excl. VAT. The invoice should be readable against the quote without calling us.
Follow-up after two to four weeks
A short phone call: does it work as intended? At the same time we say what counts as warranty – faults in what we delivered – and what counts as a new order. We say that at handover, not when you call.
HONESTLY
The four places this usually goes wrong
We know where consultancy deliveries go wrong, because it is the same four places every time. That is why they are written here, and not only on our own checklist.
- step 2
The boundary against the service agreement
What the customer calls “a small project” is often already paid for. If that is not clarified first, it ends in an invoice for hours someone believes they already bought.
- step 4
The estimate that was read as a price
If it is an estimate, the word estimate belongs there – with what it is based on, and what happens if the scope changes.
- step 6
The change that was never written down
“Could you just add …” is the one sentence that eats the margin. The antidote is a short email before the work continues, every single time.
- step 8
The handover to operations that never happened
Without this step, something has been built that nobody is looking after. The first time it breaks, it becomes a problem whatever the contract says.
IN WRITING
What the quote contains
Seven fixed parts, in the same order every time.
Scope
What the delivery consists of.
Not included
The boundary, written down – not taken in the difficult conversation three months later.
Pricing model
Hourly rate or fixed price. It always says which of the two.
Estimate
If the figure is an estimate, the word is there – with what it is based on.
Assumptions
The accesses we need, what you have to provide, and when we can start.
Validity
30 days from the date.
VAT
All prices are excl. VAT.
What we need from you
Four things, and they are settled before anyone starts work. It is the cheapest half hour in the whole delivery.
Contact person
One at your end and one at ours, with a name and a number.
Accesses
In place before the work starts, not along the way.
Test environment
Where the job needs one. We say so in the quote if it does.
Reporting rhythm
How often you want status. Weekly is enough for short jobs.
And if you have a service agreement?
Then most of it runs outside the ten steps. A service agreement is not a series of projects – it is something that runs. If you are changing IT provider, it is the three questions on the front page that decide when we can start.
You report a case
It gets a case number and a category, like everything else. Fault fixing covered by the agreement is not invoiced as hours.
Monitoring runs without you noticing it
If something is down, you get an incident notice with the five fixed parts. We do not wait for you to call.
Updates and patching happen continuously
Patching – closing known holes in the software – does not happen as an event you have to approve each time, but as a routine agreed in advance.
New equipment and new users are taken into operations
Documented, added to monitoring, passwords in the password vault, backup set up and verified. Otherwise something is sitting there that nobody is looking after.
If the case grows beyond the agreement, we say so first
Before we begin, not on the invoice. Then it is 05 Consultancy, and then it goes through the ten steps above.
Ready for the first call?
The scoping call takes 20–30 minutes. Afterwards you know which category the task belongs to, and what happens next.
No obligation · Confirmation with case number the same day · A person replies within one working day · The quote is valid for 30 days, prices excl. VAT
PARTNERS
Loopback is a Google Partner and a Lenovo Partner. Hardware we resell goes on separate lines with purchase date and warranty period – so it can be read on its own.