“Please handle the inquiries” sounds like delegation. Without context, it can mean the new person must interrupt you for every decision or make promises you did not intend.
Start with a repeatable task and explain the outcome, the information needed, the normal steps and the limits of authority. Give the person examples of acceptable work and a way to ask about exceptions.
Define who can decide what
An administrator may acknowledge inquiries, request missing information and schedule approved appointments. An estimator may prepare a proposal using agreed assumptions. The owner may retain approval for unusual scope, price exceptions and commitments that exceed capacity.
Those are examples, not a required organization chart. A small team may combine roles. The important point is that responsibility and decision authority match.
Write down when to escalate: an unclear safety issue, a significant scope change, an unhappy customer, an unusual payment request or a schedule conflict. Use limits appropriate to the work. Avoid forcing every minor detail through the owner.
Teach from a real case
Walk through a recent inquiry together. Explain what you noticed and why you chose the next step. Then let the other person handle a similar case while you review the result. Ask them to explain their decision; it reveals where the instructions are unclear.
Update the procedure from the questions they ask. A one-page instruction that answers actual uncertainties is usually more useful than a long manual written before anyone has tried the task.
Delegate access safely
Provide the access needed for the role, with individual accounts where possible. Avoid sharing the owner's password as the default. Keep recovery and offboarding arrangements so records remain available when someone leaves or is absent.
Give the team a reliable source for current prices, approved messages and quote versions. Otherwise, responsibility increases while their information stays incomplete.
Review the result without taking the task back
Check a small sample for accuracy, customer clarity and missed next actions. Discuss exceptions. Resist redoing competent work merely because it is phrased differently from your version.
A sign delegation is working: routine work advances without you, and genuine exceptions reach you with the facts and a proposed next step. Fewer questions is helpful only when it means better decisions, not when someone has become afraid to ask.