Prepared by The Business Workshop
Sample Business MOT Action Plan
This example has been created to demonstrate the type of findings and recommendations you may receive following a Business MOT. The business details are fictional.
Business reviewed
- Company
- Example Home Improvements Ltd
- Sector
- Home improvements
- Employees
- 8
- Annual turnover
- Not shown
- Review date
- Sample
Business snapshot
The business has a strong level of customer enquiries and a good local reputation.
The main opportunity identified during the review is not generating more enquiries. It is improving what happens to those enquiries once they enter the business.
Several processes currently rely on individuals remembering to complete the next action. This creates a risk of opportunities being missed when workloads increase.
Overall priorities
| Priority | Impact | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Quote follow-up | High | High |
| 2. CRM consistency | High | Medium |
| 3. Customer updates | Medium | Medium |
| 4. Owner dependency | High | Medium |
Priority 1
Quote follow-up
Current position
Quotes are issued to customers but there is no consistent follow-up process.
Follow-up currently depends largely on individual team members remembering to contact the customer.
Risk
Potential customers may choose a competitor simply because they received more consistent communication.
The business also has limited visibility over:
- how many quotes remain open
- which quotes have been followed up
- why quotes are lost
- average conversion rate
Recommended action
Introduce a standard quote follow-up process:
- Day 0: Quote issued
- Day 3: First follow-up
- Day 7: Second follow-up
- Day 14: Final follow-up, outcome recorded
Every quote should have a next action and follow-up date recorded within the CRM.
Expected benefit
Better visibility of the sales pipeline and fewer opportunities being forgotten.
Priority 2
CRM consistency
Current position
Customer information is being stored across the CRM, individual email inboxes and personal notes.
Not all team members use the CRM in the same way.
Risk
Information can be difficult to locate when someone is unavailable.
This also makes reporting and customer follow-up harder.
Recommended action
Create a simple minimum CRM standard. Every active customer record should include:
- current status
- latest conversation
- next action
- next-action date
- quote value where relevant
- responsible team member
Create a short written CRM process for staff.
Expected benefit
Improved visibility, easier handovers and less reliance on individual memory.
Priority 3
Customer updates
Current position
Customers sometimes contact the office requesting updates because communication during the period between order and installation is inconsistent.
Recommended action
Create standard communication points throughout the customer journey. For example:
- Order confirmed
- Confirmation email
- Installation date agreed
- Appointment confirmation
- Three days before installation
- Reminder
- Installation complete
- Completion email
- Seven days later
- Review request
Templates can be created for each stage.
Expected benefit
Reduced inbound chasing and a more consistent customer experience.
Priority 4
Owner dependency
Current position
A number of operational questions and decisions are regularly escalated to the business owner.
Some are decisions that could potentially be made by members of the existing team.
Recommended action
For one week, record every question or decision escalated to the owner. Categorise them into:
- information unavailable
- process unclear
- authority unclear
- genuine owner decision
Create processes or decision rules for the most frequently occurring issues.
Expected benefit
Fewer interruptions and more management time available for higher-value work.
Quick wins
These actions could be implemented immediately:
- Every outstanding quote receives a next-action date.
- Introduce one standard quote follow-up template.
- Add mandatory CRM fields for status and next action.
- Create a standard customer installation reminder.
- Record owner interruptions for one working week.
30-day priorities
- Week 1Clean existing open opportunities within the CRM.
- Week 2Implement the quote follow-up process.
- Week 3Create customer communication templates.
- Week 4Review owner-dependency findings and document the first three recurring processes.
Longer-term opportunities
Once the initial priorities have been addressed, the business could consider:
- automated CRM reminders
- automated customer communications
- dashboard reporting
- supplier process review
- staff responsibility matrix
- further process documentation