Back to the website

Field notes / 01

The business foundations checklist.

A practical review of your website, enquiries and customer journey.

Find the gaps that make it harder for people to choose you, get a response or take the next step. Use what you find to choose three improvements your business can actually deliver.

How to use this workbook

  1. Set aside 30-45 minutes. Have your website, enquiry inbox and customer records available, and involve the person who handles new enquiries.
  2. Mark each check In place, Needs work or Not relevant. If you cannot verify it, mark Needs work. Add a short evidence note so you can revisit the decision.
  3. Use a fictional test enquiry when checking forms or automation. Agree the test first and prevent it from messaging real customers.
  4. Choose three priorities on the final page. Give each one an owner, a first action and a review date. This is a working review, not a performance score.

Your entries stay in this page. Print or save a copy before closing it; nothing is submitted.

0 of 24 checks reviewed

1. A clear first impression

A new visitor can understand your offer, trust what they see and take a useful next step.

01 Your offer makes sense to someone new.

Show your homepage to someone unfamiliar with the business for ten seconds. Can they explain who you help, what you do and the next step?

02 Your website describes the business you run today.

Compare your main service pages with what you currently deliver. Check scope, locations, contact details and any published prices or availability.

03 Your evidence supports your promises.

Review your examples, testimonials and claims. Remove outdated or unsupported statements and confirm you can use the material you publish.

04 Important pages have an obvious next step.

Open your homepage and main service pages. Can someone easily enquire, book or find the information they need without guessing where to click?

05 The journey works on a real phone.

Read a service page, open the menu and complete a test enquiry on mobile. Check readable text, usable controls, clear errors and confirmation.

06 Your business basics are easy to find and consistent.

Check your website and business profiles for the same business name, contact details, service area and opening hours where relevant.

2. Enquiries that go somewhere

Every enquiry reaches the right person, carries enough context and has a clear next action.

07 Every enquiry route reaches its intended destination.

Test your website form and check your published email, phone and booking routes. Confirm where each enquiry arrives, not just that a success message appears.

08 Someone owns the response, including when they are away.

Name the person responsible for each enquiry route, the response time you aim for and the backup person. Make sure the team knows the arrangement.

09 Your form asks for useful first-contact information.

Explain why you need each field. Move onboarding questions to later, make optional fields clear and test missing or incorrectly entered information.

10 Customer details and conversation history can be found together.

Pick a recent enquiry. Can the person replying find the contact details, original request, previous replies and source without searching several places?

11 Open enquiries have a status, owner and dated next action.

Review five recent open enquiries. For each one, identify its current stage, who is responsible, what happens next and when. Resolve any unclear hand-offs.

12 Resource requests and marketing preferences stay distinct.

Check where you record a requested resource, a person's marketing choices and any later opt-out. Make sure the team can find and respect those preferences.

3. Follow-through that feels considered

People know what happens next, and useful reminders support the conversation.

13 People know their enquiry has reached you.

Read your acknowledgement or first reply. Does it explain what happens next and when to expect a response, using a timeframe your team can meet?

14 Booking and changing an appointment are straightforward.

Try the booking route with a test appointment. Check available times, time zone, confirmation, joining details and the route to reschedule or cancel.

15 Proposals and quotes have a clear next step.

Review a recent proposal. Does the recipient know what is included, what they need to decide, how to proceed and when you will follow up?

16 Automated messages stop or change when the situation changes.

Review triggers, delays and stop conditions with a fictional contact. Check what happens after a reply, booking, cancellation or opt-out, and when a person takes over.

17 The move from enquiry to customer is joined up.

Walk through an accepted proposal. Confirm who welcomes the customer, what information is needed, who receives it and how the next milestone is explained.

18 Existing customers receive useful, relevant communication.

Review the messages a current customer could receive. Remove repeated requests and outdated reminders, and make it clear how they can get help or update preferences.

4. A foundation you can maintain

Your business can keep the system working, understand what is happening and improve it over time.

19 The business controls its essential accounts and assets.

List your domain, website, business email and customer systems. Record the account owner, renewal date and how authorised people obtain access. Do not write passwords here.

20 Access and recovery arrangements are current.

Review who can access each essential system, remove access that is no longer needed and check recovery contacts and available sign-in protection with the account owner.

21 Important information can be recovered.

Confirm what is backed up or exportable, where a copy is kept and who is responsible. Record when you last checked that the information could be restored or read.

22 Your tools have a purpose and a clear source of truth.

List the tools you pay for, their owners and the information each holds. Identify duplicate entry, disconnected records and subscriptions nobody uses.

23 You review a few useful numbers consistently.

Choose measures that fit your business, such as enquiries received, response time, appointments or accepted proposals. Agree their definitions and where the figures come from.

24 Someone checks that the journey still works.

Set a recurring review for key pages, enquiry delivery, booking routes and follow-ups. Record the owner, next review date and where faults or improvements are logged.

Your next step

Choose what happens next.

Start with the gaps that lose enquiries, leave customers waiting or create repeated work. Fix a broken hand-off before adding another tool. Keep each first action small enough to schedule.

Example: Enquiries wait in a shared inbox. First action: assign an owner and backup, then review new enquiries each morning. Owner: Alex. Check after two weeks: every open enquiry has an owner and dated next action.

Priority 01
Priority 02
Priority 03

Bring the pieces together.

If you would like help with your priorities, Clarence House Solutions can review the gaps with you and agree a practical scope for your website, customer systems or follow-through.

Discuss your project