How to Manage Inquiries Made on Your Website: Effortlessly Convert Inquiries into Big Money Bookings

Contents:

1. Inquiry Overview
2. Managing Party & Catering Inquiries
3. Managing Reservation Inquiries
4. Managing SpotHopper's Online Orders
5. Inquiry Statuses and Follow-Up
6. Managing Inquiries From the Mobile App
7. WATCH: Manage Inquiries From the Mobile App | Quick, Easy & ON THE GO
8. WATCH: How To Manage Your Inquiries | Never Miss a Big Ticket Inquiry

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Inquiry Overview

Navigate to the "Sales & Inquiries" cluster on the left sidebar. Here you’ll find all inquiries for your active revenue drivers, organized into their respective tabs.

After selecting a tab, your inquiries will appear in two available formats — List View and Calendar View. 

List View

The List View displays all inquiries in a table-style layout, where you can click on a customer’s name to open the full Inquiry Details page.

While the layout may vary slightly depending on the inquiry type, each page includes the same essential controls and filters, allowing you to sort or narrow inquiries by date range and status.

You also have a date navigator, located just above the list view on the right, below the "Add New Inquiry" button.

By default, the List view is set to show upcoming inquiries. To use the navigator, first change the date filter to either Historical or All Dates.

Then, use the left ( < ) and right ( > ) arrows to move between different time periods and view inquiries from earlier or more recent dates. You can scroll back up to 12 months to review past inquiries.

Adding New Inquiry

In addition to inquiries submitted through your website, you can manually add inquiries for guests who contact you by phone or in person. This allows you to track and manage all inquiries in one centralized place.

From the List view, click the green "Add New Inquiry" button on the right.

A pop-up window will appear—enter the relevant details and click "Save" to create the inquiry. 

Calendar View

The Calendar View displays the same inquiries as the list view but organized by date, giving you a clear, day-by-day overview of upcoming and past inquiries.

To view the full details of an inquiry from the Calendar View, simply click on the inquiry card displayed on the desired date. This will open the Inquiry Details page, where you can review all customer information, manage statuses, and take further actions.

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Managing Party & Catering Inquiries 

To manage Private Party or Catering inquiries, navigate to the respective tab under Sales & Inquiries. Click on any Party or Catering inquiry from the list or calendar to open the Inquiry Details page.

Inquiry Details

At the top of the page, you’ll find key inquiry information, including the customer’s contact details, occasion, event date, party size, and budget (if provided).

In the lower-left corner of the Inquiry Details section, use the Status drop-down menu to update the inquiry status.

Internal Notes

Use the "Add New Note" button to add an internal note/reminder for you and your team. This will not be visible to the customer.

Proposals & Payments

If your subscription includes Event Planner, you will see the option to "Create New Proposal/Payment Request."

From here, you can send payment proposals and request deposits, cancellation fees, or partial or full payments. You can find more info in our Creating and Sending Proposals & Payment Requests guide.

Message Composer 

Below the internal notes section, you will find the message composer.

You can respond to the customer in a few different ways:

1) From Scratch - Type your own personalized message.

2) Using Template Responses (Event Planner only) - Select from preset template messages designed to save time and maintain consistency.

Each template response is linked to an automatic status update, based on the preset value configured on the Settings page (for example, Waiting on Customer or Confirmed).

You can override the default status by clicking the down arrow and selecting a different status before sending.

3) Automatically (Event Planner only) - If you have enabled Auto Responses, the system will automatically reply with your preset message. Once sent, the auto-response will appear in the message thread.

With Event Planner, you’ll have additional tools available below the composer box:

• Attach Document or File – Send supporting files such as menus, layouts, or event packages.

• Attach Contract & Add E-Signature – Send digital contracts that customers can easily sign online.

• Will be Sent as Text - In addition to the email, your composed message can also be sent as a text message if this box is checked.

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Managing Reservation Inquiries

Once you navigate to the "Reservations" tab under "Sales & Inquiries," you can open any reservation inquiry by clicking the customer's name from the List or Calendar view.

Inquiry Details

The key inquiry details, along with the customer's contact information, are displayed at the top of the page.

From there, you can also change the inquiry status. Just click the down arrow to expand the status drop-down menu.

Internal Notes

Just like with all other inquiry types, the inquiry details page for reservations has a Note section where you can add internal inquiry-related notes that will not be visible to the customer.

Payment Details

If you have set up cancellation fees or deposits, their details appear in the Payment Details section, where you can also capture or refund payments.

Message Composer

At the bottom of the page, you will see the composer section where you can type and send an email to the customer.

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Managing SpotHopper's Online Orders

Navigate to the "Online Orders" tab under "Sales & Inquiries."  On the List view, besides the customer's name and date, you will also see the size and price of the order.

To view the details, just click the name to open the inquiry details page.

Order Details

At the top of the page, you’ll find the full order information, including the order type (pickup or delivery), items, pricing, and total amount, along with customer details such as name, email, phone number, and delivery address (for delivery orders only). 

In the lower left corner of the Order Details section, you will find the status drop-down menu. New inquiries will have the "received" status by default, and you can expand  this menu to change it.

 

Internal Notes

You can add internal notes for your team only by clicking the "Add New Note" button. These notes will not be shared with your customer.

Message Composer

At the bottom of the page, you will see the composer, where you can type a message that will be sent to the customer.

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Inquiry Statuses and Follow-Up

All communication with a guest is kept within a single thread on the Inquiry Details page. Messages sent by your team and responses from the customer appear in the same conversation, making it easy to track the full exchange in one place.

When a customer responds, the inquiry status automatically updates to Waiting on You, helping your team quickly identify which inquiries need follow-up.

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Managing Inquiries From the Mobile App

In addition to managing inquiries from the desktop platform, you can also handle them directly from the SpotHopper mobile app.

Once you download the app and log in, you will see your inquiries on your mobile screen:

Similar to the web-based platform, you can also sort your inquiries by type, date, and status:

Each of the correspondences will have the next step indicated on the right:

You can take further action by clicking the orange prompt, which can be to either respond or follow up.

View Full Details

To view the full details, simply click the desired inquiry:

Once selected, the full info will appear on your screen. Depending on the type of inquiry, the details on this screen will vary. 

- Inquiry details - Name, email, phone number, date, number of people, ordered items, etc.

- Messages - you can view your conversation with the customer and also send them a new message from this page.

If your subscription includes Event Planner, you will be able to send Auto responses and attachments (such as Catering packages, menu, etc.)

- Payment - If included in your subscription, you can quickly capture payments such as Deposits or Cancellation fees via the app.

- Delivery - This will only be visible for Delivery Order Inquiries. Once the order status is set to "Accepted," it will trigger a DoorDash driver notification and start the process.

On this tab, you can see the full delivery details, including the driver's name, phone number, and time tracking for each step.

- Notes - You can take/record notes for each inquiry.

- Status - At the bottom of the screen, you will be able to see the current status of the inquiry, as well as change it.

Long Press Menu

If you long press (press and hold) on a specific inquiry, you will open the long press menu.

The long press menu allows for a quick action and change of inquiry details, without having to fully open the entry.

This way, you can either delete the inquiry or quickly change/set its status.

Lock Screen/Banner Notification

Depending on your notification settings, you can receive lock screen notifications each time you get a new inquiry. This is a highly recommended setting, as it helps you make sure not to have a booking slip through the cracks, even on the busiest of days. 

If you long press on the notification window, you will get more options, but those will differ, depending on the type of inquiry.

For instance, you will have a "Respond" option for a Party booking vs. an "Accept Order" for an Order inquiry.

For "Jobs," you will only have two options: "See details" and "Respond."

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 Manage Inquiries From the Mobile App | Quick, Easy & ON THE GO

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How To Manage Your Inquiries | Never Miss a Big Ticket Inquiry