Take referrals and inbound leads through qualification, discovery and proposal follow-up without losing the decisions made along the way.
An example business and workflow, informed by industry research. Not a customer testimonial or a claim of measured results.
A creative agency selling campaigns, websites and ongoing retainers.
A founder, a new-business lead and account managers.
Give each sales lead an owner, useful context and an agreed next action.
The starting point
The founder remembers the prospect’s ambition. The strategist has the discovery notes. The proposal sits in an email thread. When those pieces never meet, the agency can spend days proposing work before confirming the budget, decision-maker or timing.
Lead sources
Capture who introduced the prospect and why they approached the agency.
Bring form leads through configured capture or import, and add relevant email enquiries to the sales process.
Record a new project or retainer discussion as its own opportunity while retaining the client relationship.
The workflow
A referred retailer wants help launching a new range. The new-business lead captures the introduction, business context and desired launch date, then takes ownership.
Before preparing creative ideas, the team establishes objectives, budget range, decision-makers and timing. If the work is unsuitable, they record that outcome and respond clearly.
The discovery call goes into the calendar. The lead saves the agreed objectives, dependencies and unanswered questions, then assigns any follow-up research.
The team prepares the scope and shares the proposal document. A deal records the expected value and current stage, while a task sets the next discussion date.
The prospect requests a scope change. The lead records the revision, updates the deal and keeps the next action visible. A delayed decision gets a new agreed date rather than repeated unplanned chasing.
Once the engagement is confirmed, the account manager receives the agreed brief, proposal and customer context. Project delivery stays in the agency’s delivery tools; a later review becomes a CRM follow-up task.
Inside ThriveBase
Keep the commercial brief with the lead. A colleague should be able to see what the prospect wants and what still needs an answer.
01
Track the deal while the proposal is being considered. Keep the next call and outstanding questions explicit so the opportunity does not disappear into an inbox.
02
Use the recorded brief and conversation history for the handover. When configured, AI can help draft a follow-up for human review; commercial promises stay with the team.
Team handover
Qualifies the prospect and maintains the opportunity.
Confirms scope and commercial fit.
Takes over the agreed relationship and review schedule.
What to measure
Review proposals issued with a recorded budget, timing and decision-maker.
Compare proposals with won, lost and still-open outcomes.
Check whether new accounts have an agreed brief and named owner.
Suggested review measures, not claimed results or a promise of built-in dashboards. Establish a baseline and compare consistent periods using CRM records, exports and your operational systems.
This example covers new business and account relationships. Keep resource planning, production schedules and delivery tracking in your project-management tools.
No autonomous proposal or commitment is assumed. AI assistance depends on configuration and availability; your team prepares and approves the commercial details.
Industry sources informed the business context. The example workflow is our application of that context to ThriveBase, not an endorsement by these publishers.
The intake guidance emphasises establishing whether a prospect fits before investing in a proposal. That decision shapes this example.
