ADAURA · PRACTICAL GROWTH GUIDE
A simple follow-up process for website enquiries.
Every enquiry needs an owner, a useful reply and a clear next action. A spreadsheet can work if those basics are maintained.
Start here: A useful tracker makes the next decision obvious. Start with the fields below and add detail only when someone uses it. Restrict access to contact information and follow your retention policy.
Keep every enquiry in one place.
Record when the enquiry arrived, its original source, contact details, the service requested and the challenge described. Assign one named owner. An automated acknowledgement can confirm receipt, but it does not replace a useful reply from someone who understands the request. Set a response target your team can meet during its stated working hours, then measure whether it is met.
Use a small number of clear stages.
A practical starting point is New, Contact attempted, Connected, Qualified, Diagnostic or meeting, Proposal, Won and Lost. Define what must happen before an enquiry moves to each stage. Someone who opens a message is not necessarily connected; someone who asks a price is not automatically qualified. Adapt these stages to how your business actually sells.
Make the next action visible.
After a conversation, record what the person needs, the agreed next step, who owns it and the follow-up date. If someone is not ready, agree whether and when another conversation would help. Respect a request to stop contact. Keep relevant context with the record so another team member can continue without asking the same questions again.
Review the process, not just the lead count.
Look at unanswered enquiries, overdue follow-ups, time to first useful reply, contact rate, qualification rate and sales progression. Review the reasons for lost enquiries with marketing and sales together. Keep test submissions separate from customer demand. Before adding a CRM or automation, decide who will maintain these records and what decision each report should support.
The minimum enquiry record
- Received date and original source, including unknown when unavailable.
- Named owner, suitability and current stage.
- Last useful contact, agreed next action and due date.
- Outcome and a specific reason when the opportunity is lost.
Illustrative example, not a client result: a clinic enquiry asks about availability. A useful reply answers the question and offers the booking step. Sending a generic brochure without a next action leaves the enquiry unresolved.