In many businesses, a piece of work collects a new number at every stage. The enquiry is Q2231, the order is SO5512 and the invoice is 10447. Ask somebody about Q2231 and nobody knows what you mean. Every handover becomes a lookup.
Why references matter
Give every enquiry a reference the moment it is logged, and make sure the quote, the order and the invoices can all be traced back to it. Then:
- anybody can find everything about a piece of work with one search;
- sales, the office and accounts use the same word for the same job;
- a customer quoting the number on the phone gets an answer straight away;
- your win rate counts enquiries, not quote revisions.
Enquiries you lose keep their references too. A gap in the sequence is not a problem. It is a record of work you quoted.
Formats that work
Keep a reference short enough to say over the phone and write on a drawing. Three formats cover most businesses:
| Format | Example | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Plain sequential | 1044 | Simple, short and never ambiguous. |
| Type, year and sequence | ENQ-2026-0424 | Telling enquiries apart from other documents, and seeing at a glance how old one is. |
| Prefix and sequence | J1044 | Telling a job reference apart from part numbers and PO numbers on a busy drawing. |
Whichever you choose, use one sequence for each type of document. Separate sequences for different kinds of work tend to collide when a job changes halfway through.
What not to build into the number
It is tempting to make the reference carry information. Most of that information changes, and the number cannot.
- Customer codes. Customers rename, merge and get bought. The reference would then be wrong for ever.
- Type of product. An enquiry for one product often becomes an order for two.
- Initials. The person who quoted it will not be the only person who ever works on it, and may leave.
Keep that information in fields against the record, where it can be searched, reported on and corrected.
Revisions hang off the quote
When a customer asks for a change, revise the quote; do not raise a new enquiry. Mark each revision with a letter, and keep every one:
Quote rev A → rev B → rev C
Do the same with drawings: record the customer's drawing number and issue against the record, so you always know which issue you priced.
Orders and invoices
Everything that comes after the quote should point back to it. Put the enquiry or job reference on the order, the delivery note and every invoice, next to the customer's purchase order number.
Your accounts package may insist on its own invoice sequence. That is fine: carry the job reference on the invoice as well.
Rules worth keeping
- A reference is given when the enquiry is logged, not when the work is won.
- A reference is never reused, even for a lost enquiry.
- A reference means nothing except "this piece of work".
- The reference is on every document that goes to the customer.
- The customer's PO number is recorded alongside it, never instead of it.
Switching from an old system
If you are moving to a new system, make sure new references cannot be confused with old ones, and record any old reference in a field on the record, so a customer quoting last year's number can still be found.
In ManufactIQ
In ManufactIQ CRM every enquiry has its own reference, such as ENQ-2026-0424, and its quotes, every revision, the order and the invoices sit on the same customer record. Fields such as a drawing number or job code can be added to any tab on Premium and Pro. See how enquiries work.