Worked setups · Driving instructors
Blocks sold in hours and spent by the lesson's length, a progress ladder in the DVSA's own words on the pupil's record with the test-day car gated on 'Test ready', the theory certificate's expiry answered from the record, a lesson cancelled from the pupil's own email under the 48-hour rule, and a Saturday waiting list joined from the portal.
Worked example: Hartley Driving School. A fictional DVSA-approved driving instructor in Ledbury, Herefordshire: one instructor, one dual-control manual car, pupils collected from home within ten miles, lessons of one or two hours, a two-hour assessment lesson first, a ten-hour block at a discount, an intensive twenty-hour course, a mock test, and the car for the driving test itself — with the hour before. Monday to Saturday; Saturday mornings fill first and have a waiting list. The pupil is the customer: there is no child or animal or vehicle in between.
Proven in a full run on the live system on 5 September 2026. The businesses on these pages are fictional — worked configurations we built to run BLAM8 end to end on the live system, not customers. Every step described happened in the run it cites.
1 · The diary
Every booking is one of a menu of fixed-length services on a 60-minute grid with one car, so the diary is services with a capacity of one: Monday to Friday 8 to 7, Saturday 8 to 2, 48 hours' notice, a 15-minute gap between lessons for the pick-ups, a standing weekly slot held as one recurring booking, the Saturday waiting list on, and the business's own words — 'lesson' and 'pupil'. The cancellation rule is the diary's own: 48 hours, and a lesson missed or cancelled late spends its hours; a lesson moved inside the 48 hours counts as a late cancel and a fresh booking — the school's own setting, it could be free. The setup assistant proposed all of it from one message.
exact time
£34; spends one hour of a block.
exact time
£66; spends two hours of a block.
exact time
£66; every new pupil's first lesson — eyesight check, controls, a drive against the DVSA driver's record.
exact time
£50; not part of a block.
exact time
£110; the car for the test with the hour before — only for a pupil marked 'Test ready'.
Timing is what the customer is offered: an exact time for an appointment they come to; morning or afternoon for work at their address where you manage the hour; a whole day for a day-long job. The diary reserves the real length either way, so it can never double-book.
2 · Before a booking is made
Five details in the instructor's words. Facts about the pupil — the licence number, the glasses — live on the pupil's record and are asked once; a booking asks only what changes each time: where to collect you, and whether the licence is with you.
| Detail | Needed | How it's gathered | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick-up address | Required | Asked in the reply, or reused if already known | Where we collect you — home, work or college; asked once, then filled from the record. |
| Provisional licence with you | Required | Asked in the reply, or reused if already known | A legal requirement — no licence, no lesson. Lessons, the assessment and the mock test. |
| Glasses or contact lenses for driving | Optional | Asked in the reply, or reused if already known | The eyesight rule: a number plate from 20 metres, with glasses or lenses if needed. |
| What you want to work on | Optional | Asked in the reply, or reused if already known | Roundabouts, the dual carriageway, manoeuvres, the test route. Lessons only. |
| Test date and centre | Optional | Asked in the reply, or reused if already known | Hereford or Worcester. Mock tests and the test-day car only. |
Nothing to attach: the provisional licence is shown at every lesson, never sent, so the checklist confirms it each time instead of asking for a copy.
The agent asks only for what is genuinely missing, never re-asks something already in the thread or on the customer's record, and refuses to book until every required detail is present. Documents are requested as attachments and their contents are never claimed as checked — a human reviews them.
3 · The CRM that fills itself
Plus Won and Lost. A contact quiet for 21 days is flagged for a nudge.
DVSA driver's record
The progress ladder on the pupil's record — Introduced, Helped, Prompted, Independent, Reflection, Test ready. The instructor moves it from the pupil's card; a move drafts a message to the pupil for approval; on the portal it reads 'Level on the DVSA driver's record: Prompted — 3 of 6, next Independent'; the test-day car is refused, by email and on the portal, until 'Test ready'.
Theory test pass date
The date on the certificate, valid for two years from it and recalled 60 days before it lapses — the pupil asks when it runs out and the portal answers from the record.
Test date
The booked practical test, recalled 30 days before so the car can be planned. '14 December' in an email lands on the next 14 December.
Test centre
Hereford or Worcester, filled from the pupil's first mention.
Provisional licence number
Asked once, on file for the DVSA paperwork.
Glasses or contact lenses needed
The eyesight rule, asked once.
Pick-up address
So a returning pupil is never asked again.
Extracted from the emails as they arrive, plus the contact's phone number. A returning customer is never asked for any of it again — by email or on the portal.
4 · What the agent knows
Eight notes, one per kind of fact, written by the setup assistant from the owner's own answers in one message. In the run the agent put the assessment lesson first, quoted every price, stated the 48-hour rule and the eyesight rule before the first booking, and held a two-hour assessment and then a ten-week Saturday series from one line each.
£34 an hour or £66 for two hours; a block of ten hours £320, valid six months; an intensive twenty-hour course £620 within three months; a mock test (90 minutes) £50; the car for the driving test with the hour before, £110. Pay per lesson by bank transfer or card, or a block in advance.
Bring your provisional licence to every lesson — without it we cannot drive. You must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres, with glasses or lenses if you need them (the DVSA standard). Moving the driving test itself needs 10 working days' notice with the DVSA or the fee is lost.
A lesson cancelled with less than 48 hours' notice, or missed, is charged in full or spends an hour of the block — worked out against the lesson's real date. Lessons run in all weather except ice and fog. The car is not available for a test unless the instructor has seen the pupil drive to test standard.
Every pupil starts with a two-hour assessment lesson: eyesight check, controls, and a drive to place them on the DVSA driver's record (27 skills, from introduced to independent); then the hours to the test are planned. Beginners usually need 40–45 hours with an instructor plus private practice; a pupil who has had lessons before, fewer.
Most pupils have one or two lessons a week, the same day and time, held as a standing weekly booking; Saturday mornings fill first and carry a waiting list.
A ten-hour block is spent by the lesson's length — a two-hour lesson is two hours off the block; blocks are not refunded once started; unused hours can be transferred to another pupil by arrangement; late cancellations and no-shows spend an hour, an excused miss with notice gives it back.
A DVSA-approved driving instructor (green badge, grade A), fully insured, a dual-control car serviced every 6,000 miles, a DBS check on file; pupils collected and returned to the agreed address.
Ledbury and within about ten miles — Colwall, Bromyard, Newent, Much Marcle, Dymock; test centres Hereford and Worcester. Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm, Saturday 8am to 2pm, no Sundays; two weeks off at Christmas.
5 · The journey we proved
The run on the live system, 5–6 September 2026, in order.
Customer
Emails: six lessons with an instructor who moved away, theory passed in March, roundabouts and the dual carriageway scare me; Saturday mornings if you have them — what does it cost, is there a block deal?
BLAM8
Puts the two-hour assessment lesson first, quotes every price, states the 48-hour rule, the licence and the eyesight rule, says Saturday mornings have space and asks for the pick-up address before anything is held.
Customer
The address, the licence, no glasses, the theory pass date, Saturday 10:00 for two hours please — and yes to the ten-hour block.
BLAM8
Holds the assessment at Saturday 10:00 with the details keyed exactly, puts the theory pass date on the pupil's record with the date it runs out, and confirms with the reference and the block's terms. Approved: on the calendar, in the pupil's inbox.
Owner
Asks the assistant to invoice the block, sends it, marks it paid: the wallet holds ten hours, Money shows £320 collected.
BLAM8
'Every Saturday at 10 for the next ten weeks?' — one hold with a weekly repeat of ten, each Saturday checked, all ten dates in the reply. The morning after each lesson its hours come off the block without a register tap.
Customer
On the portal: anything you still need from me (everything is on file); how many hours do I have left (nine of ten, valid until 4 March 2027); a note on the lesson; when does my theory certificate run out — answered from the record.
Owner
Moves the pupil to 'Prompted' on the DVSA driver's record from the pupil's card; a message to the pupil — 'you've moved up to Prompted' — lands in the approval queue and goes out.
BLAM8
The car for the test on 14 December, asked by email and on the portal — refused both times: 'It requires you to be at Test ready on your DVSA driver's record, and you're currently at Prompted.' A test date months ahead is 'not open to book yet — opens on…', never 'fully booked'.
BLAM8
'Can't make Monday's lesson — work', sent inside 48 hours: the lesson is cancelled from the email, the hour spent under the rule, and the reply states the rule and the outcome. An excused miss told three days ahead gives its hour back and mints a make-up.
Owner
Cancels the standing series by hand; a short note to the pupil lands in the approval queue and every freed Saturday goes to the waiting list. A second pupil who had joined it from the portal is offered the Saturday and books it.
Owner
With two hours left on the block and its expiry ten days out, the 'nearly used up' and 'running out soon' notes are composed once each for approval; with the theory certificate 45 days from lapsing and nothing booked, a recall card appears on Today.
What this run showed us we still owe this trade
Built since · 5 September 2026 — All of it works on the pupil's own record: register, balance and notes on the lesson page; hours spent the morning after; the level moved from the pupil's card with a message written to the pupil; the test-day car refused by email and on the portal until 'Test ready'.
Built since · 6 September 2026 — The agent cancels the pupil's own booking from their email, spends or refunds the hour by the 48-hour rule with the email's time as the notice, frees the place for the waiting list, and the reply states the outcome. A move from the pupil's email works the same way: in time the lesson moves in place and keeps its reference; inside the 48 hours it counts as a late cancel plus a fresh booking, or moves free — the school's own setting.
Built since · 6 September 2026 — An expiring field carries how long the thing is valid — a theory certificate 24 months from its date — and the record, the recall and the portal answer with the date it runs out.
Built since · 6 September 2026 — A hand cancel composes a short note to the pupil for approval; a cancelled series frees every date it held.
Built since · 6 September 2026 — Beyond the booking horizon the answer is 'not open to book yet — opens on…', and the setup proposes a longer horizon for a trade that books test days ahead.
Built since · 6 September 2026 — The diary card claims the cancellation rule; a fact about the pupil goes to the record, not the booking; a reminder past a year is read as a validity; a dropdown carries its options — and the page says what landed and what was refused.
Connect your mailbox and tell the setup assistant what you do. It proposes the diary, the services, the checklist and the pipeline for you to confirm — nothing is saved until you press Save. Free 14-day pilot, no card.
BLAM8 assistant