Pipeline Management for Retail: Stop Losing Walk-Ins Between the Quotation and the Advance

Most floors run on a visitor register, a quotation book and whatever each salesperson remembers. The register records that somebody came in; it does not record that they wanted a three-seater in fabric and would decide by Sunday.

The cost is measured in quotations. A showroom issuing forty quotes a month and converting on the fourth follow-up loses most of the rest to silence, not to price. Nobody notices, because the lost ones simply never come back.

Retail deals are short but not instant. Seven stages hold the shape: enquiry captured, requirement understood, quotation issued, follow-up in progress, advance received, order placed, delivered and installed.

The last two are not administrative. In retail, delivery is where satisfaction and referrals are decided, so keeping them on the same board means the customer hears from you before they have to ask.

Enquiry captured requires a contact number and a written requirement. Requirement understood requires measurements, sizes or quantities on the record. Quotation issued requires a numbered quote with a value attached, so any colleague can answer a call about it.

Advance received is the honest turning point, because money changes behaviour in a way that interest does not. Treat it as a stage, not a note, and the forecast stops being a list of people who seemed keen on Saturday.

The rhythm below suits furniture, modular kitchens, tiles and appliances. A jewellery or eyewear counter will move faster and should shorten the times rather than the stages.

Fifteen minutes, board on screen. Quotations past their follow-up date first, each with a named caller for today. Then advances awaiting delivery. Then enquiries captured this week that nobody has contacted.

Close with last week's losses and their reasons read aloud. A floor that hears bought elsewhere on price four times in a row will fix the pricing question faster than any monthly report ever manages.

Enquiry to quote to advance conversion by salesperson, which shows who needs coaching. Quote ageing, which is the fastest recoverable revenue in the shop. And conversion by source, so spending follows advances rather than footfall.

A board cannot create discipline; it only makes its absence visible. If the floor will not capture a number at the counter, no software can follow up on an anonymous visitor. Start with enquiry capture alone, prove it for a month, then add stages.

This is also not billing, GST invoicing or inventory management inside your retail system. It manages the enquiries, quotations and follow-ups before an invoice exists and the delivery conversations after the advance is paid.

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