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The follow‑up scorecard

Fifteen questions on how your firm handles enquiries, follow-up and proposals. A score out of 45 and one fix for each part.

Last updated .

Start the scorecard
Who it's for
Founders and partners of firms that win work through referrals and written proposals
What you'll have
A score out of 45, a score for each of the three parts, and one fix for each, chosen from your own answers
Time
5 minutes
Difficulty
Beginner

How does your firm handle enquiries, follow‑up and proposals?

Fifteen questions, about five minutes. You'll see your score and three fixes straight away. You don't need to give me your email.

If you're unsure between two answers, choose the lower one.

Start the scorecard

InspiredWorkx keeps your answers, without your name. They join the anonymous average only if you say so at the end. How your data is handled

Part 1 of 3: Enquiries

First, what happens when someone new asks about working with you.

1. Think of your last five new enquiries. How soon did a person usually reply, not just an automatic message?
2. Where does each new enquiry end up, so someone can see whether it has been answered?
3. In the last three months, did any enquiry get no reply at all?
4. Could you say today where each of last month's enquiries came from, such as a referral, a talk or your website?
5. Before a first call, how do you decide whether it is worth having?

Part 2 of 3: Follow-up

Next, what happens after a call, and after you send a proposal.

6. After a call where you agreed next steps, how soon does the client get a written note of what was agreed?
7. When you send a proposal, is the next step already agreed, such as a call to go through it?
8. If a client goes quiet after a proposal, what happens next?
9. Could you, or anyone in the firm, see today which follow-ups are due?
10. When a proposal is lost or goes nowhere, do you write down why, even in one line?

Part 3 of 3: Proposals

Last, how you write and send proposals.

11. Once you agree to send a proposal, how many working days usually pass before it goes out?
12. When you start a new proposal, where do you start?
13. When a client opens your proposal, how much of it have you already discussed with them, including the price?
14. Roughly how many hours of the founder's or partners' time does a typical proposal take? Your best guess is fine.
15. Before you agree to write a proposal, do you check whether it is worth writing?

One more question, if you like

How many people work in your firm? (optional, not scored)

What it asks

Five questions on each of three parts of winning work: how you answer enquiries, how you follow up, and how you write and send proposals. Each question has four answers. If you're unsure between two, choose the lower one.

What you get

A total out of 45, one of three bands (Run on memory, Partly in place, Mostly in place), a score for each part, and one fix for each part, chosen from the answer that lost the most points. The result is on screen straight away. You don't need to give an email address to see it.

What happens to your answers

InspiredWorkx scores your answers and keeps them with a random link, so you can come back to the result, change an answer or delete it. Nothing that names you or your firm is stored. Your answers join an anonymous benchmark only if you tick the box for it, and it starts unticked.

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What to do next

Start with the part that scored lowest. Where a fix names a free template, it links to it; most need no new tool.

See the templates