Trackline
Three clients ask us for the same thing
Build your folder once and answer from it. The work is in gathering, not in uploading.
**Almost everything you are asked for is the same handful of documents, so the work is done once.** What differs between clients is rarely the content: it is the name they give it and the form it has to go into.
Your folder, built once
| What to keep | With what beside it |
|---|---|
| The documents always asked for | Their expiry date |
| The ones that lapse yearly | An alert beforehand, not on the day |
| The ones a third party issues | How long they take to issue |
| The ones that are hard to obtain | Who to ask and how, so you never rediscover it |
Important
**The column that really changes things is the last one: how long each document takes to obtain.** A certificate that takes three weeks is not requested when someone demands it, it is requested beforehand. And that information exists nowhere unless you noted it the first time you had to ask for it — which is exactly when nobody notes it.
What saves more time than it looks
Watch out
A nuance that prevents sending the wrong thing: **being asked for the same document does not mean it is wanted for the same purpose**. One client wants it to onboard you, another because a third party requires it, a third because an audit is due. When someone asks for something outside your usual folder, the useful question is not «why do you need this?» but «what do you need to be able to demonstrate?» — because what you already hold often serves just as well.
›Can I send the same folder to everyone?
The content yes; each will want it through their own route and naming.
›Is it worth keeping it tidy?
If more than two clients ask each year, yes, by a distance.
›What about documents that expire?
Those are exactly the ones to hold with an alert: that is where the time goes.
A real case
The situation
Three clients request the same paperwork in one month and it is hunted down from scratch each time.
What you do
- Builds a folder with the usual set, expiry dates and who issues each item
What you get
The second and third requests are handled in minutes rather than days.
The situation
A certificate that takes three weeks is requested the day a client demands it.
What you do
- Notes beside each document how long it takes to obtain and requests it with margin
What you get
Requests stop being answered late because of a lead time that was never yours.
The situation
Three clients ask for the same thing and it is prepared three times.
What you do
- Keeps its own file current
What you get
Every request is served from the same place.
The situation
Each client asks in a different format.
What you do
- Keeps the original and adapts on sending
What you get
The underlying work happens once.
The situation
A document expires and three clients must be told.
What you do
- Renews once and resends to all three
What you get
Renewal does not multiply by clients.
The situation
An old version is sent to a client by mistake.
What you do
- Always sends from the current file
What you get
Everyone receives the same version.
This article answers
- several clients ask for the same paperwork
- sending the same documents to everyone
- how to organise the paperwork clients request
- every client asks for their own version