Proposal Milestones

The proposal stage of DrillPath tracks projects from initial creation through customer approval and permitting. These early milestones ensure nothing falls through the cracks during the critical sales and preparation phases that set up project success.

Quick Start: Track Proposal Progress

1. Create a new proposal (milestone auto-completes)
2. Send proposal to customer via email or portal
3. Record customer approval when received
4. Track permit applications and approvals
5. Project becomes eligible for scheduling

Proposal Stage Milestones

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Create a new proposal (milestone auto-completes)
2. Send proposal to customer via email or portal
3. Record customer approval when received
4. Track permit applications and approvals
5. Project becomes eligible for scheduling

Proposal Created

The first milestone marks when a proposal enters the system. This milestone automatically completes when you create a new proposal record in DrillerDB. The timestamp records exactly when the sales process began for reporting and performance analysis.

Tracking proposal creation provides visibility into sales pipeline activity. Understanding how many proposals are created each week or month helps with capacity planning and sales forecasting. This data also enables analysis of conversion rates from proposal to approved project.

Proposal Sent

The proposal sent milestone completes when you deliver the proposal to the customer, whether via email, customer portal, or printed copy. This milestone distinguishes between prepared proposals and proposals actively under customer consideration.

Tracking proposal delivery helps measure sales cycle duration. The time between proposal creation and delivery indicates sales team efficiency. Long delays between creation and sending may indicate bottlenecks in proposal preparation, pricing approvals, or resource allocation.

Approval Received

Customer approval completes this milestone, transitioning the project from potential work to committed work. The approval timestamp records exactly when the customer committed, supporting revenue recognition processes and project scheduling.

Time from proposal sent to approval received measures sales closing speed and indicates proposal quality. Short approval times suggest well-targeted proposals and effective customer communication. Lengthy approval periods may indicate pricing concerns, competition, or proposal clarity issues.

Permits Obtained

Many drilling projects require permits before work can begin. The permits obtained milestone tracks regulatory approval processes, ensuring projects do not proceed before proper authorizations are secured. This milestone may have a complex completion process involving multiple permit types and jurisdictions.

Tracking permit acquisition provides visibility into regulatory bottlenecks. Understanding typical permit processing times helps with customer communication about project start dates. Historical permit data reveals seasonal patterns in regulatory processing and identifies jurisdictions with particularly fast or slow approval processes.

Milestone Dependencies

Proposal milestones follow logical dependencies. You cannot receive approval before sending the proposal. You cannot begin permit applications before customer approval. These dependencies enforce proper workflows and prevent data entry errors.

The milestone system allows flexibility where appropriate. For example, permit applications might begin in parallel with customer review for time-sensitive projects, but work cannot start until both approval and permits are complete.

Blocking Issues

DrillPath identifies when proposal milestones are blocked. If a proposal has been sent but months have passed without approval, the system highlights this stalled proposal. If permits are taking unusually long to obtain, the delay becomes visible in project tracking.

Blocked milestone visibility enables proactive problem solving. Sales teams can follow up on stalled proposals before opportunities are lost. Project managers can escalate permit delays before they impact scheduled start dates.

Proposal Stage Reporting

Generate reports showing all proposals at each milestone stage. See how many proposals are awaiting customer review, how many are approved pending permits, and how many are fully ready to schedule. This pipeline visibility supports resource planning and revenue forecasting.

Analyze conversion rates between proposal milestones. What percentage of sent proposals receive approval? What percentage of approved projects successfully obtain permits? Understanding these conversion rates helps refine sales strategies and improve proposal quality.

Integration with Scheduling

Once all proposal milestones complete, projects become eligible for scheduling. The scheduling system only considers projects that have cleared customer approval and permit requirements, ensuring crews are dispatched only to fully authorized work.

This integration between DrillPath milestones and scheduling prevents wasted dispatches and customer confusion. Field crews receive assignments only for properly approved and permitted projects, avoiding situations where crews arrive at job sites that are not ready for work.

Troubleshooting

Proposal sent but milestone not updating?

• Check if email was sent successfully (view email log)
• Printed/manual delivery requires manual milestone completion
• Verify recipient email address was valid

Approval milestone not completing from portal?

• Customer must complete the digital signature
• Check customer portal for partial signatures
• Contact customer to complete approval process

Project not appearing in scheduling?

• Verify all proposal milestones are completed
• Check that permit milestone is marked complete
• Review project status (must be "Open Job" status)

Related Topics

• Milestone Tracking - Visual timeline overview
• Open Job Milestones - Field operations milestones
• Proposals - Creating and sending proposals
• Customer Portal - Customer approval process