Outcall Client Records — The Seven Fields To Get Right First

You built a client sheet with thirty columns. Six months later, only the name and phone number are ever filled in.

⚠️ With client records, "always filled in" matters far more than "lots of fields".

The short version

• Start with seven fields
• The key is the phone number — if it's inconsistent, everything else drifts
• Put the do-not-book list in from day one
• Decide who fills it in, and when
• Add fields only after three months

The seven fields

One   Phone number     …the key; digits only
Two   Name you use     …what the desk calls them (needn't be a real name)
Three Category         …regular / new / caution — three to five options
Four  Do-not-book      …entertainers this client must not be booked with
Five  Visit history    …when, who, how long, how much
Six   Note             …preferences, warnings, what happened last time
Seven Address or usual hotel

⇒ With these seven, the desk can make almost every decision the moment the phone rings.

One number, one format

090-1234-5678 / 09012345678 / +81 90…
⇒ the same client becomes three people

⇒ Store digits only, no dashes. Clients with a second number get it in the note.

Few categories

Regular / New / Caution / Barred

⇒ Ten categories means nobody picks one. Keep it to what the desk can choose without thinking.

⚠️ If you run several venues, the category can differ by venue — a regular at one, new at another.

Do-not-book from the start

An entertainer says "never again with him"
⇒ it goes in that night

⇒ If the list lives on paper or in the manager's head, the late shift books them anyway.

Who and when

Whoever takes the call fills it in, while taking the booking
Entertainers' handover notes go in the same night

⚠️ "I'll update it later" never happens. Put the update inside the booking flow.

Add later

Birthday, drink, request pattern, how they found you

⇒ Only once the first seven are filled in every time.

The numbers to keep

One   share of clients with all seven fields filled
Two   clients duplicated under different number formats
Three do-not-book pairs on record

⚠️ If Two isn't zero, fix that first.

A sheet for the office

────────────────────────────────────
  Client record: seven fields

  Phone (digits only) / name used / category / do-not-book
  visit history / note / address or hotel

  Filled in by whoever takes the call, there and then
  Do-not-book: the night it's reported
  New fields: after three months
────────────────────────────────────

Common objections

"We want more detail"

⇒ Add it once the seven are reliably filled.

"We can't ask for real names"

⇒ You don't need them. The phone number is the key.

"Entertainers don't like reporting do-not-book"

⚠️ That's exactly why it matters. Give them a one-line way to tell the manager.

This week

One   list the fields in your current client sheet
Two   cut to the seven
Three standardise phone number format
Four  gather every do-not-book into one place
Five  decide who updates records, and when

Doing it by hand, or on a screen

By hand …client book, a do-not-book sheet and booking notes, all separate
On screen …one client with all seven fields together

⇒ tasteck keeps each client's phone number, name, category per venue, do-not-book entertainers, visit history, note and address together, with entertainers' handover notes attached to the same client. With a CTI phone system connected, the client comes up when they call — so whoever answers can update the record there and then.

⚠️ Phone number formats are not standardised automatically. Agree the format as a team.

Wrapping up

• Start with seven fields
• The key is the phone number, digits only
• Do-not-book from day one
• Whoever answers updates it, there and then
• Add fields after three months

Seven fields that are always filled beat thirty that never are.