Someone has sent an enquiry. You can see the service they asked about, but you still cannot explain exactly what they need you to do.
Take that one request and prepare a scope discussion sheet. Separate what the person wants to achieve, the work they are asking for, what you could deliver and what still needs an answer. Finishing the sheet gives you a useful next conversation before estimating or agreeing to work.
This exercise begins after the first enquiry has reached the appropriate person. It does not add fields to the original form. For that earlier task, use the service quote request form guide.
The example below is fictional. No conversation, quote, agreement or customer result is being reported. The sheet itself does not set a price, reserve capacity or authorize work.
Find the task inside the requested solution
“We need a new brochure” names a possible output. What will somebody use it to do? Which information is missing from the current one? Who needs to supply that information?
Ask those questions before turning the requested object into a list of deliverables. GOV.UK's discovery guidance recommends examining a predefined solution, understanding the problem and identifying constraints and exclusions. Apply that reasoning to a small service conversation; the government's delivery phases and typical durations are not requirements for your business.
Use three separate notes:
| Note | What to capture |
|---|---|
| Requested solution | What the person initially asked you to produce or change |
| Intended task | What someone needs to do with the eventual result |
| Current obstacle | What gets in the way today, with an example if available |
Keep the requester's words distinguishable from your interpretation. “The menu is confusing” might mean inaccurate ingredients, unclear layout or too many options. Your first guess is a question to check.
Ask about one concrete example
Invite the person to describe a recent instance. What were they trying to do, what information did they use and where did they need help? Ask a follow-up when an answer leaves an important gap.
GOV.UK's interview guidance recommends open, neutral questions and attention to actual examples. A commercial scope conversation is not automatically a research study, but those questioning habits help you avoid filling the silence with your preferred solution.
Try “Which detail did you have to explain?” before “Would a complete redesign solve this?” Let the answer change your proposed scope. If you need to see an example document, request an appropriate shareable copy. Do not ask for a customer list or private account credentials to make a planning discussion feel thorough.
Build a fictional scope sheet
Imagine Birch Table Studio receives this invented enquiry from a small workshop organiser: “Can you tidy up our workshop catalogue before the next season?”
In the fictional discussion, the organiser says readers cannot consistently find the duration, materials supplied and preparation required for each workshop. The current catalogue has six workshop descriptions. The organiser wants the descriptions edited, not new workshop offerings invented.
| Scope question | Proposed answer in this example |
|---|---|
| What task should the result support? | Let a reader find duration, supplied materials and required preparation for each workshop |
| What will the studio produce? | One edited document containing six workshop descriptions with those three details clearly labeled |
| What starts the work? | The organiser supplies the current six descriptions and confirms the missing factual details |
| What work is included? | Edit the supplied wording and use a consistent structure; one revision from a consolidated response |
| What is outside this scope? | Inventing facts, adding workshops, designing a PDF, changing a website, taking bookings or promoting the catalogue |
| How will the draft be checked? | Organiser checks the six descriptions against their source facts; studio checks the agreed sections and the consolidated revision |
| What is still unresolved? | Materials information for two workshops, the delivery date, fee and available capacity |
The business has not agreed to perform this work. These are proposed boundaries to confirm. A content review condition describes what to inspect; it does not promise bookings, a conversion improvement or that every reader will understand the catalogue.
Give each missing fact a consequence
“Waiting on information” is difficult to act on. Name the fact, who can answer it and what it prevents you from deciding.
For the fictional catalogue, the organiser must confirm the supplied materials for workshops five and six. Without that answer, the studio can discuss the proposed structure but cannot treat those descriptions as factually complete. Writing a confident sentence would hide the dependency.
The delivery date is a separate question. A desired date tells you what the requester needs; it does not establish that the studio can meet it. Record the requested date, the actual availability decision and any conditions separately. Do the same with a fee or a budget limit. Avoid turning “we will discuss it” into “included.”
Choose the next step from the evidence
Try three variations of the same enquiry. All details and decisions remain fictional.
Scroll horizontally to compare all columns.
| Case | Situation | Useful next step |
|---|---|---|
| S01 | All six descriptions and factual details supplied; proposed boundaries understood; fee and timing not agreed | Ready to prepare an estimate under the business's usual process. No work or date is booked. |
| S02 | Two materials lists missing; the organiser also asks for a finished PDF | Clarify the missing facts and whether PDF design is a separate task before presenting a complete estimate. |
| S03 | The organiser needs someone to run event bookings and take payments | Explain that this request falls outside the fictional editing service. Offer another route only if one is genuinely known. |
These outcomes are estimate, clarify and outside current scope. They are not scores for how valuable a prospect is. Someone can have a useful project that does not fit your particular service.
The unresolved facts in S02 should change the next question, not disappear into a broad promise to “handle everything.” If the business can estimate a clearly separated portion, state that portion and its assumptions rather than implying a complete solution.
Read back the proposed boundary
Before the next decision, give the requester a short account they can correct:
The proposed task is to edit six existing workshop descriptions so duration, supplied materials and preparation are easy to locate. You would supply and confirm those facts. The proposed output is an edited document with one consolidated revision; PDF design, website changes and bookings are outside it. The two missing materials lists, fee and delivery date still need to be settled.
This is a fictional draft message, not a message sent on anyone's behalf. Ask what you misunderstood or omitted. Record corrections against the same version of the scope sheet. Silence does not establish that the requester accepted your interpretation.
Use the business's existing process to confirm price, timing and authority to begin. If the requested output changes, update the scope and its open questions before relying on an earlier estimate.
Finish one scope discussion sheet
Download the service-enquiry scope worksheet. Fill the request, task, proposed output and first unresolved dependency. Leave an unknown visible when the relevant person has not answered it.
For a ClickFunnels AI project, keep this sheet with the funnel's enquiry plan and consult the agent guide for current workflow and access requirements. A public guide or completed sheet does not grant builder access, configure intake, send a quote or publish a page. Your next useful step is the question that prevents the scope from being clear.