Your week
Fifteen minutes in Today every day, a longer review every Monday, and set time for new owners. Here is what to check, where it is in your portal, and what to do when something looks wrong.
On this page
The routine at a glance
Your business runs on two things: owners moving toward a yes, and companies recording hours that get accepted. A short check every day keeps owners moving. A longer review every Monday catches a slow company before one quiet week turns into three.
| When | Where in your portal | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every day | Today | Clear what needs you: follow-ups due, contracts not signed yet, kits that stopped recording. | About 15 minutes |
| After each call or visit | People | Tell the assistant what happened and set the next follow-up date. | A minute per person |
| Every Monday | Today, Companies and Earnings | Check each company's recorded and accepted hours, and your total of rejected hours. Call any company that went quiet. | 45 to 60 minutes |
| Every Monday | People | Move stale follow-ups, close out owners who said no, and pick who to call this week. | About 15 minutes |
| Two or three times a week | Your town, then People | Meet new owners. Add each one to People the same day. | 1 to 3 hours each |
| Every four weeks | Companies, Earnings and People | Step back: which companies grew, which slipped, and where your best new owners came from. | About an hour |
Every day: 15 minutes in Today
Today opens with how many things need you. Under that are four numbers for all your companies together: hours accepted, hours in review and hours rejected over the last 7 days, and your estimated fees. Then comes the list of what needs you, your pipeline (New, Talking, Contract, Signed, Recording) and recent activity, like an owner who signed up through your link or a company that signed its contract.
What the list can show
| What Today says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Follow up with an owner | A follow-up date you set in People has come. | Call or text. Log what happened and set the next date, or mark them Not interested. |
| A company hasn't signed its contract yet | Colby sent the contract and the owner hasn't signed. | Ask if anything is holding them up. Pass questions about terms to Colby instead of answering them yourself. |
| A kit hasn't recorded in 3 nights | One phone at that company has sent no video for three nights. | Text the owner the same day. Keeping companies recording covers the usual causes. |
| A kit has no recorder | A phone at that company has nobody using it. | Ask the owner who will wear it. The new person makes their own account in the recording app. |
- Open Today and read the line that says how many things need you.
- Work the list from the top. A phone that stopped recording loses hours every night it sits, so don't leave kit items for later.
- Make your calls and texts. After each one, tell the assistant in People what happened, typed or by voice. It updates your list, and it never contacts anyone.
- Look at the four numbers. If rejected hours jumped, call the owner today, not on Monday.
- Check recent activity. When an owner signs up through your link, Colby calls them. A short text from you that day reminds them who you are.
Every Monday: review your companies
Block out an hour on Monday and go company by company. You are looking for companies that went quiet, companies whose accepted hours lag, and companies stuck before they record.
- In Today, write down the last 7 days for all your companies together: accepted, in review and rejected hours. Rejected hours show only as this total, not company by company.
- Open Companies. For each company, note where it stands (Talking, Contract, Signed, Recording), how many of its kits have been sent, and its recorded hours. The hours are a running total, so write the number next to last Monday's. The difference is what its crews recorded since then.
- Open Earnings. For each company, write its accepted hours next to last Monday's, and look at its hours waiting for review.
- Mark each company green, yellow or red, using the list below.
- Call every red company today and every yellow company this week. Log each call in People.
What to check, and what to do when it looks wrong
| What you check | Where | It looks wrong when | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours recorded since last Monday | Companies, against your note | A recording company added few or no hours. | Call the owner. Ask about people, phones, sites and uploads, in that order. |
| Rejected hours, all companies | Today, last 7 days | Rejected hours are close to accepted hours, or above them. | Find which company it is: look for one whose recorded hours grew but whose accepted hours didn't, then ask that owner what feedback the crew got. Send the crew sheet and the kit guide. The crew fixes it before recording more. |
| Accepted hours since last Monday | Earnings, against your note | A company recorded hours, but its accepted hours barely moved. | Ask the owner whether the crew got notes from review. If hours are still in review, wait a few days. |
| Hours waiting for review | Today and Earnings | A lot of hours sit in review. | Usually nothing. Review takes time, and hours count once they are accepted. |
| Companies at Contract | Companies and Today | A company has sat at Contract for more than a few days. | Call the owner. Pass any question about terms to Colby. |
| Signed companies with no hours | Companies | Kits were sent, but no hours came after the first few nights. | Ask whether the phones arrived, each recorder made an account, and the crew did a test recording. |
| Kits sent | Companies | Fewer kits sent than the company signed for. | Ask Colby support where the rest are. |
| Follow-ups | People | Overdue follow-ups are piling up. | Move each date or mark the owner Not interested. A clean list is faster to work. |
Green, yellow, red
- Green: recorded and accepted hours both up since last Monday. Send the owner a short thank-you, and ask whether anyone else on the crew wants to record.
- Yellow: recorded hours down, or recorded hours up while accepted hours barely moved. Call this week.
- Red: no new recorded hours since last Monday. Call today.
Example
One Monday with eight companies
Today shows about 210 accepted, 90 in review and 60 rejected hours for the last 7 days, across all eight.
Five companies added recorded and accepted hours since last Monday. Green. Each owner gets a thank-you text.
One company added recorded hours, but its accepted hours in Earnings barely moved. Yellow. You call, and the owner says review flagged two new recorders for wearing the phone too high. You send the crew sheet and the kit guide, and the owner checks each recorder's test video before the next shift.
One company added no hours. Red. You call: a phone stopped charging on Wednesday. You write to Colby support that morning.
One company has sat at Contract for a week. The owner has a question about the term, so you pass it to Colby.
Total: about 50 minutes and three calls.
Time for new owners
Some companies slow down and a few stop, so a business that only looks after the companies it already has will shrink. Put time for new owners on your calendar and protect it.
- Plan two or three sessions a week: calls, visits, and stops where owners buy supplies or meet.
- Add every owner to People the same day, with a next step and a follow-up date. If you are driving, say it to the assistant.
- Do your follow-ups before you look for new names. Ten minutes of follow-ups often does more than an hour of new names.
- When an owner is ready, choose Send to Colby on them in People, or send them your link. Colby calls them.
Who to ask for what
| Question | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Phones, kits, the head strap, the recording app, signing in | Ask Colby support in your portal (support@getcolby.com). |
| Your fee, a rate, your agreement, a company's contract | The money and agreement contact named under Ask Colby support. Keep money questions away from support@getcolby.com. |
| An owner's or a crew's question you can't answer | They can call or text Colby at (480) 542-7526. |
Questions
How much time does this take?
About 15 minutes a day and an hour on Monday, plus the time you spend meeting new owners. With more companies the Monday review takes longer, so keep your notes short.
Why write down each company's hours?
The hours in Companies are a running total. The change since your last note is what the crews recorded over the past week.
Can I see each recorder's hours?
Not yet. Recorder-by-recorder results are coming to your portal. For now, ask the owner: the owner's own hours page at colby.ing/portal shows each recorder.
Do I need to check on weekends?
Most things can wait for Monday. A kit that Today flags is worth a text whenever you see it.