A client who answers by phone, on WhatsApp or on the way out of a meeting does not answer in the folder. To record a client’s answer given by phone, Kolinea offers “Record for…”: you file their answer in the folder, in their name, with the channel it came through and, if you have it, the proof. The folder stays the source of truth, even when the decision was made elsewhere.
Why does an answer given outside the folder cause trouble?
You asked the question in the folder: oak parquet or tiles? The client answers in the evening on WhatsApp, or tells you on the phone. Their ID arrives by e-mail. Nothing wrong with that, but the folder is still waiting: the request stays “to do”, the reminder goes out, and in three months nobody will know where to look for the choice. The answer exists, but not where the team will look for it.
How do you record an answer in your client’s place?
On the request’s card, whoever asked or the folder’s responsible chooses “Record for…”. Several kinds of answer can be recorded this way:
- a decision’s choice;
- the answer to a request, or its refusal;
- an appointment’s slot;
- a sign-off;
- the values of a form;
- a document deposited.
You say where the answer came from: phone, WhatsApp or text, e-mail, in person or letter. You can attach the proof, whether it is the screenshot of the message, the e-mail or the signed document. A document deposited for the client is accepted at once, since you are the one who checked it when you filed it.
What shows in the folder, and what does the client receive?
The answer is the client’s, and everyone reads under it “Recorded by Claire Martin, by phone”. The folder’s history keeps the trace too. The client receives an e-mail saying what was recorded in their name. If it is not what they said, they reply to that e-mail, and their reply reaches the folder through e-mail replies: the team sees the gap and can settle it.
When two contact records are merged, the mention of who relayed an answer, a decision, a form value or a file follows the record that is kept: the trace is not lost in the merge.
What is a sign-off recorded by the team worth?
A sign-off recorded by the team remains the agreement of a named person, dated, and marked as entered by you. It is worth no more than an agreement given from the folder link, that is a simple validation, with no value of a qualified signature. The “Recorded by” mention is there so nobody mixes up the two situations: did the client click themselves, or did someone note their answer? Choice decisions follow the same logic.
What happens in the API and for the AI assistant?
The API accepts an answer recorded for a participant, and the answers it returns carry the channel and the author of the entry. The AI assistant never records for anyone: only a person of the team records an answer in a client’s name.
What are the limits of “Record for…”?
- Only for a participant who could answer. You only answer in place of someone who could answer themselves at that moment.
- Only once. A decision already made is not taken back this way.
- A person of the team, never the assistant. The entry is always attributed to its author.
- Not a signature. The recorded agreement is a simple validation, with the trace of who entered it.
What does it look like in a real case?
A client confirms by phone that they pick the tiles. You open the decision in the folder, choose “Record for…”, select the tiles, state “Phone” and attach, if you have one, the note of the call. The answer stands as the client’s in the folder, the client receives an e-mail saying what you noted, and the folder’s history keeps the date and your name. In three months, the choice is found in the same place as all the others.
From the cockpit, “They answered” opens this entry directly after a call: it is the shortest path when you have just hung up. To see everything the tool allows, read the page on relaying answers, or Stop losing your client’s choices along the way.