Three finished Stacks, written out in full, for the three jobs businesses automate first. Read the one closest to your work, swap your own material into the Source layer, and you have a working version. Figures in the quote example are fictional.
Key takeaways
- The same five layers carry every job. Only Source and Rules change materially.
- The quote Stack is the highest value in trades and services.
- The enquiry Stack is the fastest to build because the answers already exist.
- The report Stack saves the most time per run because the format never changes.
- Each one takes about an hour to build and minutes to run afterwards.
Stack one: quote from site notes
Context. Residential roof repairs and re-roofs on the Sunshine Coast. The reader is a homeowner who has just had us on site. They know there is a problem, not what the fix costs.
Task. Produce a quote draft from the site notes supplied.
Source. Current price list. Standard inclusions and exclusions. Two past quotes I was happy with. This job's site notes and measurements.
Rules. Flag any missing measurement at the top and never estimate one. Use only supplied prices. No start dates. GST as its own line. No repair method recommendations. Keep the scope to our listed services.
Output. Scope, itemised table, subtotal, GST, total, exclusions, then questions for the estimator. Every line item priced separately. One line per scope item. No introduction and no closing pleasantries.
What the estimator checks. Measurements against the notes, prices against the list, and the arithmetic. See the full worked quoting example with figures.
Stack two: enquiry reply
Context. A small practice or service business. The reader is enquiring for the first time and has asked one or two specific questions.
Task. Classify the enquiry and draft a reply that answers the questions asked.
Source. The ten most common questions with approved answers. Services, fees, hours, location, what to bring. Two replies I was happy with, for tone.
Rules. Answer only from the approved material. Flag anything not covered and do not improvise it. No advice outside the approved answers. No commitments on dates or availability. Escalate anything clinical, legal or financial to a named person.
Output. A short reply of no more than four paragraphs, a next step, and a note listing which questions were answered and which were escalated.
What the human checks. That the escalation note is empty, or that the escalated items get handled. How enquiry workflows run.
Stack three: weekly report
Context. An operations manager reporting to an owner who wants the same six numbers every Monday and a short read on what moved.
Task. Turn the figures supplied into the Monday report using last week's structure.
Source. Last week's report. This week's figures. The definition of each number so nothing gets renamed mid-year.
Rules. Use only supplied figures. Never estimate a missing number, list it as unavailable. No causal claims that the data does not support. Flag any figure that moved more than twenty per cent for human comment rather than explaining it.
Output. The same six headings in the same order as last week. One table of figures with the prior week alongside. Three bullet points on movement. A section listing unavailable data. No summary paragraph.
What the human checks. The figures against the source, and the movement comments. Reporting workflows.
What the three have in common
Every one names the document, attaches real material, states what to flag, and fixes the shape. The differences are entirely in Source and Rules, which is why the second Stack you build takes minutes and the first takes an hour.
Build yours from one of these
Bring the job closest to your work and its paperwork, with confidential detail left out, and we adapt one of these in the room: a full day at Avani Mooloolaba Beach Hotel, A$495 excluding GST, capped at 15 people. See the workshop, or enquire about onsite team training.
Read the full Context Stack, or start from the blank template.
Frequently asked questions
Which of these three should you build first?
The one that repeats most often in your week and already has written inputs. In trades that is the quote. In practices and clinics it is the enquiry reply.
Can you use these Stacks as written?
Use the structure as written and replace the Source layer with your own material. The Rules will need one or two additions specific to your trade.
Why are the quote figures fictional?
Because a published example using real customer pricing would expose a client's commercial terms. The structure is what matters, and the arithmetic in the worked example reconciles. See it here.
How long does each one take to build?
About an hour for the first, including gathering standing material. Fifteen minutes or so for the next, since Context and most Rules carry across.
What if your job is not one of these three?
The pattern holds for any repeated document: name it, attach the material, set the limits, fix the shape. Use the task selection guide.
Do these work for a team?
Yes, once one person owns each Stack and keeps the Source layer current. One Stack per job.