CRM guide
A practical CRM workflow for manufacturing RFQs
A manufacturing CRM should give every RFQ an owner, a status and a next action. Capture enough information to estimate the job, then pass approved details to operations without losing the customer conversation.
Capture the minimum useful record
Start with the company, contact, email, requested quantity and target delivery date. Record the part or project name and the drawing revision. Note which material, finishing or inspection requirements are still unclear. Store documents in an approved location rather than scattering uncontrolled copies through personal inboxes.
Use stages that describe real work
A useful starting point is new enquiry, awaiting information, estimating, quote sent, follow-up and won or lost. Adapt these stages to how your team works. Each stage should tell the next person what has happened and what is needed; moving a card without recording a next action does not make the request progress.
Make follow-up specific
Assign one owner and a due date. Record the customer’s actual question: price, lead time, material availability or a drawing change. A relevant follow-up is more useful than repeatedly asking whether a quote was received. Keep marketing subscriptions separate from messages needed to handle a requested quotation.
Define the handoff to ERP
When a quotation becomes an order, agree which revision, quantity, commercial terms and delivery commitment operations will use. CRM manages the customer relationship; ERP manages the operational work. Integration is useful only when the receiving team knows which fields are authoritative and how changes are approved.
A checklist to take back to your team
- One responsible owner for each open RFQ
- A documented next action and due date
- A clear location for the current drawing revision
- A reason recorded when an opportunity is lost
- An agreed sales-to-production handoff