Lost enquiries
Sample asked on Monday. Forgotten by Thursday.
Packaging enquiries usually begin with a sample, and samples are where plants lose the thread: dispatched, then never followed up. Track the sample as a step in the enquiry, with a feedback date, and the conversation continues instead of ending at the courier.
In short
Packaging enquiries usually begin with a sample, and samples are where plants lose the thread: dispatched, then never followed up. Track the sample as a step in the enquiry, with a feedback date, and the conversation continues instead of ending at the courier.
The cost
What the gap takes every month.
60 to 70%
Samples with no recorded feedback
The plant paid for material, tooling time and freight, then stopped.
2 weeks
Typical gap before anyone asks the buyer
By then the buyer has tested three suppliers and moved on.
One ordinary week
How it actually happens.
A buyer asks for a sample carton with their print. Your team makes it, couriers it, and marks the enquiry as done because the sample went out.
The buyer's quality team tested it and had one objection about the ply. Nobody called, so the objection was never answered, and the order went to whoever called on day three.
When the sample is a tracked step with a feedback date, that call happens on day three and the objection becomes a revision instead of a lost order.
The fix
Three steps, in this order.
01
Capture every enquiry in one list
Web forms, calls, trade portals and WhatsApp messages land in a single enquiry list instead of individual phones.
02
Give each enquiry an owner and a next date
Nothing sits unassigned. The owner sees it on their day list until it is acted on or closed with a reason.
03
Surface what is overdue before anything else
Managers see untouched enquiries at the top of the day, not at the end of the month.
Straight answers
What owners ask us here.
How do we know which samples are worth chasing?
Chase all of them. A sample already cost you material and tooling; the follow-up call is the cheapest part of the whole exercise.
Can we track sample cost against the account?
Yes, samples sit on the customer record, so you can see which buyers consume samples and never order.
Does this handle print and artwork approvals?
Artwork versions attach to the enquiry and carry into the order, so the plant prints the approved version rather than the latest email.
Questions people ask
Straight answers, no sales talk.
System of Marketing & Sales
Put enquiry to dispatch on one governed line.
Tell us how your plant sells today. We'll show you where the line breaks and what it takes to close it.