Service pillar · Commercial Flow
Quotes stall where authority is unclear
From enquiry to delivered work, without the leaks.
At a glance
- The problem
- Quotes wait on one person’s inbox and another’s memory.
- What we do
- We map the real path, set margin bands and agree response times.
- What you leave with
- A quoting process, a discount authority matrix and an SLA your team runs without us.
Illustrative before: 90 minutes working, 96 hours waiting. After: the same 90 minutes working, six hours waiting. The approval wait falls from 72 to two hours.
Targetquotes out within 24 hours
Targetreduce founder-dependent deals by 60%
Targetacknowledge enquiries within four hours
What the work looks like
Waiting, not writing, stretches the quote cycle
Quotes move through inboxes without a visible owner or elapsed-time record. We map the handoffs and build reusable structures for common work.
- Request-to-quote map
- Reusable quote structure
- Rate card and scope language
Reusable quote structure: request and scope, rate card and assumptions, approval decision and reason, final quote and accountable owner.
Clear margin bands keep routine decisions local
Informal discount authority turns routine deals into founder decisions. We agree thresholds, exception routes and response targets against value and risk.
- Discount authority matrix
- Approval routing rules
- Scope-change and re-quote rules
Illustrative thresholds. Agree actual bands against your margin and risk.
Illustrative margin thresholds: Standard at 30% or more, commercial owner within two hours; Review from 20% to below 30%, delivery lead within four hours; Escalate below 20%, founder within one working day. Current margin 35%.
An SLA works only when someone owns it
An enquiry can sit unanswered even when everyone sees it. We classify requests, name an owner and agree acknowledgement and quote targets with the team.
- Enquiry triage rules
- Owner and SLA table
- Escalation path
| Enquiry type | Owner | Acknowledge within | Quote within |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard enquiry | Commercial owner | 2 hours | 24 hours |
| Scope change | Delivery lead | 4 hours | 2 working days |
| Non-standard work | Founder | 4 hours | Agreed after triage |
Illustrative response targets, agreed with the people who run the process.
Illustrative SLA matrix: standard enquiry, commercial owner, acknowledge within two hours, quote within 24 hours; scope change, delivery lead, four hours, two working days; non-standard work, founder, four hours, agreed after triage.
Illustrative scenario
Margin rules shorten the approval wait
Situation
A services team takes five days to send a quote, mostly waiting for a founder to approve discounts.
Approach
Agree margin bands, let standard deals pass and route exceptions to a named approver with a response target.
Outcome
5 days → 1 day
Illustrative: enquiry-to-quote time falls from five days to one day. Founder review is reserved for exceptions.
A composite of patterns in growing teams, not a named client
How we would start
Agree the constraint before committing to the work
Start with an Operational Diagnostic, or frame the challenge with your free Vision Board.
Diagnose Prioritise Build Hand over