Operate · part of the Revenue module
Stop losing revenue between "quote sent" and "order received".
Operate tracks every open quote, makes sure the right person follows up at the right time, escalates the ones going quiet, and shows managers exactly where revenue is getting stuck.
Works with the quotes already in your CRM or ERP, or with a spreadsheet export.
Example workspace, not customer data
First screen: every quote that needs attention
A sample look at what Operate shows a sales manager on day one: total open value, and the quotes where nothing is happening.
$617,200
Open quote value · 54 quotes
21
No activity in 5+ days
8
No next step set
11
Follow-up overdue
4
Unclear owner
$184,000 of open quote value sits behind those gaps. That is value needing attention, not lost revenue.
| Quote | Customer | Value | Owner | Age | Last activity | Next step | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q-10382 | ABC Transit | $42,500 | Sarah Kim | 4 days | Yesterday | First follow-up | healthy |
| Q-10391 | Metro School Transportation | $68,000 | David Chen | 11 days | 8 days ago | None | critical |
| Q-10402 | Blue River Coaches | $31,500 | Sarah Kim | 6 days | 3 days ago | Call the customer | warning |
Step 1 · The plan
Write down how follow-up should happen
Describe it in your own words: "follow up the next day, again after three days, call after a week, and get the manager involved after ten." North turns that into a written plan with an owner and a due time on every step.
- Every step has one owner and one deadline
- Different rules for large or strategic quotes
- A named backup when the owner is unavailable
- A clear point where Operations takes over
- Trigger
1. Quote sent
System
- Within 1 day
2. First follow-up
Account executive
- +3 days
3. Second follow-up
Account executive
- +7 days
4. Call the customer
Account executive
- +10 days
5. Manager steps in
Sales manager
- Outcome
6. Won, lost, or stale
Sales manager
Step 2 · The reality
Then see whether it actually happens
North reads quote activity from your systems and compares it against the plan, step by step. No opinions, just the gap.
| Step | Plan | Reality | On-time rate | Affected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First follow-up | Within 1 day | 3.8 days average | 61% | 23 quotes |
| Second follow-up | +3 days | 6.2 days average | 72% | 9 quotes |
| Manager steps in | +10 days | Not started on 4 quotes | 48% | 4 quotes |
Plan vs reality
One screen showing where the process breaks and how much value sits behind it.
My work
Each person sees what is due today, what is overdue, and what to say.
Control room
One manager view: what needs attention, who is stuck, what changed this week.
Step 3 · Ownership
Real people, not generic roles
Add your team once. Every step gets an owner, someone accountable, and a backup. North then flags the ownership problems that quietly stall revenue.
- Step
- First quote follow-up
- Owner
- Sarah Kim · Account executive
- Accountable
- John Miles · Sales manager
- Backup
- David Chen
- Starts when
- Quote is marked sent
- Due
- Within 24 hours
- Counts as done
- Email sent, call logged, or CRM activity
No owner
A step nobody is responsible for.
Two owners
Two teams both think someone else has it.
No backup
One person is the only route forward.
Overloaded person
One rep holds most of the open work.
Handoff gap
Operations gets the order before it has what it needs.
Approval bottleneck
Everything waits on one manager.
Step 4 · Improvement
North proposes the change. You decide.
Nothing about how your team works changes on its own. Each suggestion comes with the evidence behind it, what would change, and who it affects.
Create the first follow-up automatically
- Why
- 34% of quotes had no activity in the first 48 hours.
- Change
- When a quote is marked sent, create a follow-up due the next business day, owned by the quote owner.
- Affects
- 23 open quotes would be affected today.
Accept · Reject · Change it · Ask why
Escalate after 72 hours of silence
- Why
- Quotes with no activity for three days rarely recover without a manager.
- Change
- Notify the sales manager when a sent quote has no activity for 72 hours.
- Affects
- 4 quotes are already past this line.
Accept · Reject · Change it · Ask why
Rebalance David's open quotes
- Why
- One rep owns 11 of the delayed quotes.
- Change
- Route new quotes above $50K to the rep with the lowest overdue count.
- Affects
- Reduces one person's overdue queue without adding headcount.
Accept · Reject · Change it · Ask why
And it does not stop at quotes
The same plan-and-reality check across the revenue lifecycle
Operate starts with quote follow-up because that is where money sits still the longest. Handoffs, onboarding, and renewals use the same engine when you are ready.
See pricing