Name The Stages
An enquiry, a qualified opportunity, a proposal, and a completed sale are different events. Agree on the definition of each and how it is recorded. Otherwise, departments may discuss conversion while measuring different things.
Review Contact And Qualification
Check whether each enquiry reaches a responsible person, how quickly a response is attempted, and whether the person is contacted successfully. Then examine fit: service area, need, timing, and other relevant criteria.
A low booking rate may reflect unsuitable demand rather than poor follow-up. Keep disqualification reasons separate from unanswered enquiries.
Examine The Offer And Next Step
Review what the customer is told, the questions left unanswered, and how easy it is to proceed. Look at proposal turnaround, scheduling availability, and any commitments required before the customer has enough information.
Interview staff and examine representative records. Avoid treating a single anecdote as a reliable explanation for every lost opportunity.
Use A Simple Funnel
Illustrative example: 100 enquiries produce 60 successful contacts, 30 suitable opportunities, and 12 bookings. Those are contact, qualification, and booking stages—not a single explanation for the 88 enquiries that did not book.
First verify the records. Then investigate where the largest avoidable loss occurs. Improving suitability may matter more than increasing response volume; limited availability may explain the final stage. These numbers are invented for explanation, not benchmarks.
Match The Change To The Finding
- Unassigned enquiries: clarify ownership and routing.
- Repeated missing information: improve intake.
- Unclear suitability: improve positioning and qualification.
- Slow proposals: examine scoping and approval steps.
- Limited availability: address capacity before increasing demand.