The assumed starting point
Imagine a skilled trades business with 18 employees: each month, 40 proposals are assembled from emails, site-visit notes and approved service components. In this scenario, each proposal currently takes 45 minutes through approval for sending.
How the workflow could work
A possible workflow combines the enquiry, matches approved service components and prepares a proposal draft. Missing details remain visible as questions. Prices and totals come from approved calculation rules; the accountable person checks scope, assumptions and terms before sending.
The intended result
Assume preparation and human review together take 20 rather than 45 minutes per proposal. After a further two hours of monthly template and rule maintenance, the example calculation yields about 14.7 hours of available working time per month. A pilot using actual enquiries must establish whether the business can achieve this.
The example calculation
40 × (45 − 20) / 60 − 2 ≈ 14.7 h/month
- 40 items per month; previously 45 minutes per item.
- 100% of items: 20 minutes including human review and correction.
- 2 hours of ongoing monthly maintenance already deducted.
- Assumed values to verify in a pilot. Assess setup and software costs separately; available working time is not guaranteed cash savings.
What the pilot must verify
The pilot must include incomplete enquiries, non-standard services and missing pricing inputs. Sending is never automatic. Measure total handling time including review and corrections; assess initial setup and software costs separately.
