Automated Proposal System with CRM Integration

The client's existing proposal workflow was entirely manual. When a new enquiry arrived through the website, someone had to copy the contact details into a spreadsheet, open a Word document template, manually populate the client's information, select relevant line items, calculate pricing, format the document, and send it via email.

Each proposal took approximately 20 minutes to create. For a business generating multiple enquiries per day, this quickly added up to hours of unproductive administrative work every week — time that should have been spent on revenue-generating activities.

There was also the risk of human error: incorrect pricing, missed line items, inconsistent formatting, and delayed responses to potential clients while proposals sat in the queue waiting to be manually assembled.

Black Lantern designed and built a fully integrated proposal automation system. The solution connects the client's website enquiry form directly to a custom CRM, eliminating manual data entry entirely.

When a prospect submits an enquiry, their details are automatically captured, validated, and stored as a new contact in the system. From there, the business owner simply selects the new contact, chooses from pre-built proposal templates tailored to their services, selects the relevant line items and pricing, and hits send. The system generates a professionally formatted proposal and delivers it directly to the prospect's inbox — all within minutes.

The templates are fully customisable, allowing the business to update pricing, descriptions, terms, and branding at any time without developer involvement. The CRM also tracks proposal status, follow-ups, and conversion rates, giving the business owner complete visibility over their sales pipeline.