From enquiry to invoice: an automated sales process

An enquiry comes in through the website. Someone reads it in their email, copies the details into a spreadsheet, writes a quote in a document, sends it, chases it a week later and then creates an invoice in the accounting system. Six steps, all manual, every one of them easy to forget.

This is not a technology problem. It is an organisational problem that technology can solve.

Draw the process first

Before you buy any system, write down every single step exactly as it happens today, with the name of the person who does it and how long it takes. Most people are surprised by how long the list is.

Then mark every step that is pure copying from one system into another. That is where the gain sits.

The process that works

1. A form on the site that asks the right questions, not just name and message. Scope, timing and budget save you a whole conversation.
2. An automatic confirmation to the customer immediately, telling them when they will hear from you.
3. The enquiry records itself in one place where its status is visible.
4. A quote built from a template using information you already have.
5. An automatic reminder if no answer comes back within a set time.
6. An accepted quote becomes an invoice without anyone typing anything again.

Start with response time

If you only do one thing, do this: an automatic confirmation that goes out the moment an enquiry arrives and says when the person will get a real answer. Someone who hears nothing for two days is already talking to somebody else.

What it costs and what it returns

These are cautious numbers for a business handling ten to thirty enquiries a month. The gain grows fast with volume.

The mistake everyone makes

Trying to automate everything at once. Take one step, let it run for a month, measure it and then take the next one. A process nobody trusts is worse than no process at all, because then people do both.

Frequently asked questions