Measure distinct operational stages
Define inquiry received, commercial fit reviewed, proposal issued, survey ready and installation released. Keep abandoned drafts and duplicate requests outside submitted-inquiry totals. The definitions should match how staff actually move the project, including the information required to complete each stage.
Retain owners and configuration context
A stage count is useful only when the team can identify the projects requiring action. Each report entry needs a project reference and a link to the relevant product specification. Define which system records salesperson ownership, configuration revision and commercial outcome, and how any integration updates that information.
Review delays using comparable records
For each stage, review the projects that have waited longest and the reason for the delay: customer response, missing measurement, estimating capacity or release approval. Compare time from submitted inquiry to first response separately from time to issue a quote. Assign each overdue action to a person, and use stage timestamps with consistent definitions so the team can distinguish a sales bottleneck from a survey bottleneck.
Implementation checklist
- Operational stage definitions
- Actionable project records
- Owners retained
- Comparable periods and test exclusions