"Did the samples go out?"
A sales rep promised a prospective customer some plain samples of a new e-commerce mailer by Friday. They emailed the design studio on Monday. The structural designer, who has twelve other requests, some urgent and some not, drew it up on Wednesday, cut it on the sample table on Thursday, and put it on the shelf. Nobody posted it. On Monday the prospect asks where it is.
Meanwhile another customer's second round of prototype changes is sitting in an email to someone who is on holiday.
Sample work has no queue
Sample and prototype work is essential for winning new business and developing products, but it is often run informally. Requests come in by email, phone and conversations in the corridor, with incomplete briefs. The designer prioritises by who asks loudest. What was sent, when, and what the customer said is not recorded anywhere shared.
- Requests arrive in many ways with incomplete briefs.
- There is no visible queue or priority.
- Versions and customer feedback are in email threads.
- Despatch of samples depends on someone remembering.
- Approved prototypes are retyped into a specification for quoting.
Sample tables and plotting cutters are fast. The delays sit in the handovers either side of them.
The cost of lost samples
Late or forgotten samples lose prospects and delay product launches for existing customers. Structural designers spend time chasing information and answering status questions. Rework happens when feedback on version two is applied to version one. And the gap between an approved prototype and a quote adds more delay at the moment a customer is ready to commit.
The structural designer's day fragments as well. Every status question interrupts CAD work, and every unclear brief means a phone call to a sales rep who is on the road. Design work that should take an hour of focus is spread across a day of interruptions.
A sample request flow we build
- A request form for sales and customer service that captures the brief: product to be packed, dimensions, style, board or substrate preferences, print, quantity of samples, the deadline and the delivery address.
- Requests enter a queue visible to the studio, with due dates and priorities agreed by a named person rather than by who shouts.
- Each version of the design is recorded with its CAD file reference and photos of the cut sample.
- Samples are marked as sent with the courier tracking, and the sales rep is notified automatically.
- Customer feedback is recorded against the version it refers to, and a new version starts from it.
- When a sample is approved, its details become a draft product specification for the estimator, so quoting starts immediately.
| Stage | Now | With the flow |
|---|---|---|
| Request | Email or chat | Structured brief |
| Priority | Loudest first | Due dates and an agreed owner |
| Versions | Email attachments | Recorded with files and photos |
| Sending | Remembered | Tracked and notified |
| Approval to quote | Retyped | Draft specification created |
A studio that can see its work
The design studio works from a queue with clear briefs and priorities. Sales can see where each request is without asking. Samples go out on time and are followed up. Approved designs move into quoting without re-entry. And you can see how much sample work leads to orders, which helps decide where to invest studio time.
Is sample work organised by email?
- Sample requests arrive by email and in conversation.
- Samples have missed promised dates.
- Sales reps regularly ask the studio for status.
- Customer feedback has been applied to the wrong version.
- Approved samples are retyped before they can be quoted.