A busy quotation desk and a healthy order book can look encouraging. But they do not always tell you whether the business is winning the right work, making enough margin or building reliable future sales.
For manufacturing and engineering SMEs, deciding where to focus can be difficult when the same people are managing customers, preparing quotations and dealing with day-to-day problems.
These five practical checks can help you identify where commercial improvement might begin.
1. Look at what happens after a quotation leaves the building
Choose ten recent quotations. Does each have a clear owner, an agreed next step and an expected decision date?
If the only follow-up is “Have you had a chance to look at our quote?”, there may be more to learn. Is the project still going ahead? What matters most to the buyer? Is there a technical concern holding up the decision?
Recording why work is won, lost or delayed can help you improve both your quotations and where you spend your time.
2. Look beyond your biggest customers
Your largest account by turnover may also require frequent small deliveries, urgent changes, additional technical support or lengthy payment terms.
Review a handful of customers alongside the work involved in serving them. Where is that extra effort reflected in your pricing?
This can open useful conversations about order quantities, delivery arrangements and service expectations.
3. Revisit customers who have gone quiet
New enquiries are valuable, but so are relationships you have already built.
Look at customers who previously ordered regularly and have since reduced or stopped buying. Has their demand changed? Has a contact moved on? Did a service issue go unresolved?
A conversation aimed at understanding what changed gives you a better starting point than sending a generic “just checking in” email.
4. Check whether your sales priorities match your capabilities
If you have invested in machinery, recruited specialist people or added capacity, can your sales team explain what that means for the customer?
“New equipment” is an announcement. Shorter lead times, a wider range of components or the ability to handle more complex work give buyers a reason to talk.
Identify which customers could benefit and give someone responsibility for those conversations.
5. Turn one finding into a clear action
A review only becomes useful when something changes.
Choose one issue, assign an owner and agree when you will review progress. That might mean following up outstanding quotations, contacting five lapsed customers or reviewing the delivery arrangements on a demanding account.
Keep the action small enough to complete and specific enough to judge whether it helped.
About Fox Healey & Co
Fox Healey & Co is a new Knowsley Chamber member helping manufacturing and engineering SMEs improve growth, margins and commercial performance. Founder Matthew Fitzpatrick brings more than 17 years’ experience in technical B2B sales and commercial leadership.
A starting point for local businesses
Fox Healey & Co is offering a free Strategic Sales Assessment for manufacturing and engineering SMEs in Knowsley and the surrounding area.
Combining a review of publicly available business information with a 30-minute one-to-one discussion, the assessment explores potential growth opportunities and areas worth investigating further. There is no obligation to purchase additional services.
To express an interest, email hello@foxhealey.co.uk, mentioning “Chamber assessment”.