A good conversation, then nothing
An operations manager at a logistics firm fills in the form on your website: they want to talk about apprenticeships for three warehouse team leaders. Another employer phones reception after a recommendation. A third talks to your stand at a local business event and takes a leaflet. A fourth emails a coach directly because their niece did an apprenticeship with you.
Some of these reach your business development team. Some sit in a shared inbox. The one from the event is on a card in someone's jacket pocket. The one who emailed a coach gets a friendly reply and nothing else. Two months later, the logistics firm signs with another provider, who simply called back first.
Why enquiries leak
- Enquiries arrive through too many routes, and only some reach the right person.
- Early conversations are long, often over months, and follow-up depends on memory.
- Employers ask questions your business development team must check with delivery, such as which standard fits a role, and the answer takes days.
- Nothing records what was discussed, so a colleague picking up the enquiry starts again.
- When an employer says yes, their details are retyped into the start pack, and mistakes creep in.
Selling apprenticeships to employers is slow and consultative. A pipeline built for quick sales, or no pipeline at all, loses the long ones.
The cost of a cold enquiry
Every employer that enquires and never starts is a lost set of learners, often several, and sometimes a relationship that would have lasted years. The cost is invisible because nobody records the enquiries that were lost, only the ones that were won.
Your team also loses time. Business development staff work from their own notes, so when one is off or leaves, their conversations stall. Managers cannot see how many employers are in discussion, what standards they want, or when they are likely to start, so delivery planning is guesswork.
The enquiry pipeline we build
- Every route feeds one place: your website form directly, emails to your enquiries address read and logged, phone and event enquiries added through a short form on a phone.
- Each enquiry records the employer, contact, roles, possible standards, number of learners and the timescale they mention.
- The enquiry is assigned to a business development manager with a first follow-up date, and the employer gets a prompt acknowledgement from a real named person.
- Stages match how you actually sell: first conversation, standards agreed, numbers confirmed, agreement sent, learners identified.
- Follow-up reminders are set at each stage, and enquiries with no activity for a period you set are raised to a manager.
- When learners are identified, their details and the employer's pass straight into your start pack tracker, and the pipeline feeds your cohort planning view.
| Stage | What is recorded | Typical follow-up |
|---|---|---|
| New enquiry | Source, contact, roles | Acknowledge and book a first call |
| In discussion | Possible standards and numbers | Answer questions, share information |
| Standards agreed | Standard per role, expected start | Send agreement and outline plan |
| Learners identified | Names and start dates | Hand over to start pack |
| Paused or lost | Reason | Check back at a date you choose |
If you already use HubSpot or Salesforce, we build this inside it. If you do not use a CRM, we can set one up or build a lighter tool to fit how you work.
What your business development team sees
Each morning, business development managers see their follow-ups due today, with notes from the last conversation. A new enquiry from the website appeared overnight and has already been acknowledged. A paused employer who said to call back in the new financial year is on today's list because that date has arrived.
Managers see every employer in discussion by stage and standard, which means delivery can see demand coming months before the start packs arrive.
Are enquiries going cold?
- Enquiries arrive in several inboxes and phones.
- Follow-up depends on individual memory.
- You cannot say how many employers are in discussion right now.
- Employers who enquired have started with another provider.
- Details are retyped when an employer finally signs up.