Sales cycle guide

These are the four CRM stages of the Charter Sales team. Anything not won is closed with a lost reason (see step 2).

The cycle, step by step

1. 01

   Request arrives

   Most enquiries come in through the website forms. Each one creates a CRM record in the Charter Sales pipeline, stage New Request, with the unit or service already filled in.

   • /request-equipment: a customer asks for a specific barge, tug or crane (the fleet pages pass the unit name).
   • /service-enquiry: heavy lifting, hopper barge transport, deck cargo, towage and site support.
   • /contactus: general questions.
   • Phone or email: create it yourself in CRM › Pipeline › New.

   An automation gives the request to the team member with the fewest open requests. It also schedules a to-do, Reply to website request, due the next day.

   Who

   Automatic, then the assigned salesperson

   Where

   CRM › Pipeline

   Output

   Lead with owner and a 1-day reply task

2. 02

   Qualify within one working day

   Call or email the customer and confirm what they need:

   • Unit or capability (lift capacity, deck area, hopper volume, bollard pull).
   • Location, mobilisation port and dates.
   • Charter basis: monthly, daily, or lump sum for a defined job.
   • Customer company and the contact who will sign.

   Check the unit's availability with fleet operations before you quote. Log the call on the record and mark the to-do as done.

   Can't proceed? Click Lost and choose a reason: Unit not available, Dates do not match, Too expensive or We don't have people/skills. Lost reasons feed the monthly review.

   Who

   Salesperson

   Where

   Opportunity form, chatter, activities

   Output

   Qualified opportunity with expected revenue

3. 03

   Build the quotation

   Click New Quotation on the opportunity. The customer is copied over and the opportunity moves to Quotation. Pick the template that matches the charter basis:

   Template	Product	Quantity means
   Time charter – monthly rate	Vessel charter - monthly rate	Months
   Time charter – day rate	Vessel charter - day rate	Days
   Project subcontract – lump sum	Vessel charter - lump sum	1 job
   (no template)	Marine works subcontract (milestones)	Contract value, billed by milestone

   • Replace [vessel] and [period] in the line description, for example Time charter – DIAS crane barge – November 2026 (30 days).
   • Enter the agreed rate. Products have no list price on purpose, because every charter is priced for the job.
   • Set the analytic distribution to the vessel (Vessels plan) so revenue lands on the right unit's profit and loss.
   • Add Insurance (EGP 500) where needed and choose a payment term, for example 30% now, 70% in 30 days.
   • Keep the company as EGM so the customer can see the quotation in the portal.

   Who

   Salesperson; rate below standard needs the sales manager

   Where

   Sales › Quotations

   Output

   Draft quotation linked to the opportunity

4. 04

   Send and negotiate

   Click Send by Email. The customer gets a link to the quotation in the customer portal, where they can read it, ask questions in the chat and sign online. All three charter templates require an online signature.

   If the customer pushes back on price, dates or terms, move the opportunity to Negotiation. Edit the same quotation and send it again. Don't create a new one, so the history stays in one place.

   Discounts: Mostafa Rehan, as sales manager, approves any rate below the standard rate for the unit before it is sent.

   Who

   Salesperson, sales manager for approvals

   Where

   Quotation › Send by Email; customer portal

   Output

   Quotation sent, customer feedback in chatter

5. 05

   Contract: sign and confirm

   When the customer signs in the portal, Odoo confirms the quotation as a sales order. If they sign on paper, attach the scan and click Confirm yourself. Then move the opportunity to Contracted, which marks it as won.

   For a marine works subcontract, confirming the order creates a project from the Marine works subcontract template. It has 5 stages, 6 work packages and 4 billing milestones: 20%, 30%, 40% and 10%. The customer contact is added as a collaborator so they can follow progress in the portal.

   Who

   Customer signs; salesperson confirms

   Where

   Sales order; Project

   Output

   Sales order; opportunity Won

6. 06

   Deliver and invoice

   • Time charter: at month end, open the sales order and click Create Invoice for the period worked. Invoice one month per invoice.
   • Lump sum: invoice according to the payment term agreed in the quotation.
   • Subcontract: when operations marks a milestone as reached in the project, the order line becomes invoiceable for that percentage. Then click Create Invoice.

   Finance reviews and posts the invoice, then sends it. The customer sees it in the portal under Invoices.

   Who

   Salesperson drafts; finance posts

   Where

   Sales order › Create Invoice; Accounting

   Output

   Posted customer invoice

7. 07

   Collect payment and follow up

   Finance records the payment. The invoice shows In payment, then Paid once it is reconciled with the bank. The salesperson chases overdue invoices with the customer.

   After the job, ask the customer to use the /feedback form. Feedback goes to the Customer Care team (New feedback › Reviewing › Followed up), which Mostafa Rehan also leads. Repeat business starts again at step 1.

   Who

   Finance; salesperson; Customer Care

   Where

   Accounting › Customers; CRM (Customer Care)

   Output

   Paid invoice and logged feedback

Worked example: S00020

A real order in the database, billed from EGM to Gharably Integrated Engineering for one month of the DIAS crane barge.

Who does what

Where to look