SOP example: Turn a new lead into a proposal
One of ten examples from our library of 150+ pre-made SOPs. Copy it, change it to how your company works, and give it an owner.
Scope
This SOP covers how Marketing & Sales handles a new lead for a project or monthly retainer, from the moment the lead arrives to the moment an approved proposal is sent and followed up. It ends when the lead says yes, says no, or is closed after the follow-up steps are done. It does not cover onboarding after a yes.
Roles
- The Leads & follow-up agent: Logs each new lead, drafts the first reply, books the discovery call, drafts the proposal and follow-ups, and tracks each lead to a yes or a no.
- Sales lead: Holds the discovery call, decides whether the lead is a fit, sets the scope and price, and approves the exact text of every reply and proposal before it is sent, unless the delegation rules name someone else.
- Owner: Approves proposals above the limit set in the delegation rules and decides on any exception to company pricing rules.
- The Delegation agent: Keeps the record of who approves what, up to which limit, so the approver for each proposal is clear.
The steps
- A new lead arrives by email, web form, phone or referral. Log it in one place with the date, source and contact details.
- Draft a first reply that thanks the lead and offers times for a discovery call. The approver named in the delegation rules approves the exact text before it is sent.
- Book the discovery call once the lead picks a time.
- Hold the discovery call. Write down the lead's need, timing, budget range, and who decides.
- Decide if the lead is a fit. If not, draft a polite decline for approval of the exact text, send it, and close the lead with the reason.
- Set the scope, timeline and price for a project or monthly retainer. Check your state for any rules on contract terms or taxes that apply.
- Draft the proposal from the approved template. Check that every figure comes from the scope and price sheet, not from memory.
- The approver named in the delegation rules approves the exact text of the proposal. If the price is above their limit, send it to the owner.
- Send the approved proposal and log the date sent.
- Follow up on the schedule in the follow-up plan. Each follow-up message is approved as exact text before it is sent. Stop when the lead says yes or no, then log the result and the reason.
KPIs
- Time to first reply: Measure the time from when a lead is logged to when the approved first reply is sent. Source: the lead log. Target: set per business.
- Time from call to proposal: Measure the days from the discovery call to the proposal being sent. Source: the lead log. Target: set per business.
- Proposal win rate: Divide proposals that ended in a yes by proposals that ended in a yes or a no. Source: the lead log. Target: set per business.
- Leads lost without a reply: Count leads closed with no yes or no recorded, by reason. Source: the lead log. Target: set per business.
The AI-first version
- The Leads & follow-up agent logs every new lead at once, fills in the source and contact details, and flags duplicates (machine)
- The Leads & follow-up agent drafts the first reply with call times. The approver named in the delegation rules approves the exact text before it is sent (assisted)
- The Leads & follow-up agent books the call and sends a reminder to the lead and the sales lead once the lead picks a time (assisted)
- The sales lead holds the discovery call and decides if the lead is a fit (judgment)
- The Leads & follow-up agent turns the call notes into a draft proposal from the approved template, using only figures from the scope and price sheet (assisted)
- The sales lead sets the final scope and price, and checks your state for any contract or tax rules (judgment)
- The approver named in the delegation rules approves the exact proposal text. The owner approves it if the price is above the limit (judgment)
- The Leads & follow-up agent sends the approved proposal and logs the date (machine)
- The Leads & follow-up agent drafts each follow-up. The approver approves the exact text before it is sent (assisted)
- The lead reads the proposal and says yes or no. The Leads & follow-up agent logs the result and the reason (external)
How to use this SOP
Run it for a month as written, then fix what didn't match reality. In the AI-first version, machine steps go to an agent, assisted steps are drafted by an agent and checked by a person, and judgment steps stay with a person.