'We need some occupational health, how much is it?'
A small manufacturer emails. They have fifty staff, an insurer who mentioned health surveillance, and a manager with a long-term absence they do not know how to handle. They want a price. Your business development person rings them, spends a long call working out what they actually need, then builds a proposal in Word from last month's, with prices from a spreadsheet.
By the time the proposal goes out, a competitor with a simple online price has already sent theirs. Or the employer goes quiet, and nobody follows up because the next enquiry has arrived.
Some enquiries are not a fit at all, such as an employer wanting a service you do not offer, and those still take the same long call before anyone realises.
Why small enquiries take so long
Small employers rarely know the vocabulary. They do not know whether they need surveillance, which kind, or what a management referral is. Your team has to translate their situation into services, and that translation happens in a phone call every time.
- Enquiries arrive with little detail about workforce, hazards or needs.
- Pricing lives in a spreadsheet that only some people use correctly.
- Proposals are built by editing an old one, sometimes with the old client's name left in.
- There is no follow-up process, so warm enquiries go cold.
- Once a small employer says yes, set-up information is gathered in another round of emails.
What that costs
Senior time goes on small contracts that cannot bear it. Quotes are inconsistent between staff. Enquiries are lost to competitors who respond faster, or simply to silence. And small employers, who could become a steady part of your book, get the impression that you are built for larger clients.
| Enquiry step | Now | With a guided enquiry |
|---|---|---|
| First contact | Email or call with little detail | Guided questions about workforce, work activities and needs |
| Working out services | Long phone call | Suggested services from your rules, checked by your team |
| Pricing | Spreadsheet | Quote builder from your service menu |
| Proposal | Edited Word document | Generated from a template with the right name |
| Follow-up | Remembered, or not | Scheduled reminders and a pipeline view |
| Sign-up | More emails | Online acceptance collecting set-up details |
How we build the enquiry and quote route
- A guided enquiry on your website asks, in plain terms, about headcount, types of work, shift patterns, and what prompted the enquiry.
- Rules your team writes suggest services from the answers, such as pre-placement questionnaires, management referrals, or a conversation about surveillance. Your team checks the suggestion before anything is sent.
- A quote builder uses your own service menu and prices, with any bundles or minimums you set.
- A proposal is generated from your template, with the employer's details and chosen services.
- Follow-ups are scheduled, and your business development person sees every open quote in one pipeline, in your CRM such as HubSpot if you use one.
- When the employer accepts, they complete an online sign-up with HR contacts, sites and an employee list, which feeds your contract set-up.
Suggestions from the guided enquiry are a starting point for your team, not advice to the employer. Your staff check and adjust every quote before it goes out.
A different kind of enquiry
Enquiries arrive with the information your team needs. Quotes are consistent and go out while the employer is still interested. Follow-ups happen. And a small employer who says yes is set up without another round of emails, so the first referral can come in straight away.
Over time the enquiry answers also tell you something about your market: which sectors enquire, what prompts them, and which services small employers ask about most, which is useful when deciding what to package and promote.
Your senior staff are freed for the larger opportunities that genuinely need a long conversation.
Is your enquiry process like this?
- Every small enquiry starts with a long phone call.
- Proposals are edited from previous ones.
- Pricing depends on who picks up the enquiry.
- Warm enquiries go cold without follow-up.
- Sign-up information is gathered in a second round of emails.