Skip to content
Driive Help Center home
Driive Help Center home

Creating a Request

Most requests arrive on their own — from your booking page, a call Dot answers, a text. But when a customer calls you directly or walks in the door, your team logs the request by hand. The New Request dialog is built for exactly that moment: type what the customer needs while they're still on the line, and worry about the rest later.

Opening the dialog

You can start a new request from two places:

  • The Requests page — click New Request in the header.
  • The Inbox — click New Request in the header there, too.

Both open the same dialog.

Step 1: Pick or create the customer

The conversation always starts with who's asking.

  1. By default, you're in select existing mode. Type a name, email, or phone number in the search box (Search by name, email, or phone...) and pick the matching customer from the results.
  2. First-time caller? Click Create new to switch modes, then fill in:
    • First name and Last name (required)
    • Phone and Email (optional — you can capture them later)
    • Address (optional) — the customer's own address, with Google-powered suggestions. Pick one from the list to verify it.

Tip: Always search before creating. Repeat customers already in Driive bring their saved address with them, which pre-fills the service address in step 3.

Picked the wrong person? Click Change on the selected customer card to search again.

Step 2: Describe what they need

Under Summary, the field asks the only question that matters: What does the customer need?

Type it in their words — "roof is leaking over the garage after last night's storm," "AC blowing warm air, wants someone out this week." This summary rides along on the request as What the customer said, so whoever picks it up next has the full picture.

Step 3: Pick the appointment type (optional)

The Appointment type picker starts as Not sure yet — and it's fine to leave it that way. Not every phone call makes the job obvious, and the type can be set later on the request.

When you do pick a type (say, Roof Inspection), two things appear:

  • Service address — pre-filled automatically: the appointment type's default location if it has one, otherwise the customer's saved address. A note tells you when it's using this appointment type's default location. Type over it or pick a different address from the suggestions any time — once you've set it yourself, Driive never overwrites your choice.
  • Booking questions — the questions configured on that appointment type, right in the dialog. Answer what you can; anything you skip can be gathered later.

Note: Switching to a different appointment type clears the answers you entered, since each type asks its own questions.

Step 4: Create it

Click Create request. The footer says it plainly: the request lands at the top of the inbox, ready to gather details.

What happens next

  • Something's still missing (no type, unanswered required questions, no address) — the request appears at the top of your Inbox flagged Needs information, and you'll see a Request created toast. Gather the rest on the request detail page — or send the customer a link so they fill it in themselves.
  • Everything required is already there — Driive skips the wait and immediately creates an appointment at Needs Scheduled. The toast reads "Appointment created — needs scheduling," and all that's left is picking a time.

Tip: If the customer is ready to commit to a date and time while you have them on the phone, skip the request entirely and book the appointment yourself — it books a scheduled appointment in one flow.

Next steps

Powered by Plain