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Architecture firms · Sales process

Write down the steps from the first call to the signed agreement.

A sales process for an architecture practice is the written order of steps from a first call to a signed agreement: qualifying the site and the budget, the studio meeting, the fee proposal set against the drawing stages, and the advance. GullySales writes those steps with your principals and keeps the record of where each enquiry stopped.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Realistic editorial illustration of architecture firms at work in India

What sales process means

A sales process is the fixed sequence of steps, such as enquiry, site visit, quote and order, that every deal is expected to pass through in the same order. GullySales writes this sequence down for your business and checks that every salesperson actually follows it.

Also for architecture firms

Sales and marketing for architecture firms, the overview.

Last updated 8 Nov 2026. Rules for this trade differ by state and professional body, and they change. We describe restrictions in general terms, so check the current position with your own council or adviser before you publish anything.

For architecture firms

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Three questions on the first call decide everything after it”

    Is the plot bought, has a budget been set, and who else signs. An enquiry that answers all three earns a studio meeting; the rest can be handled by email until they do.

  • “A fee quoted against drawing stages is argued over less”

    Concept, design development, good for construction drawings and site visits, each with what is paid when, reads as a programme of work. A single percentage of project cost invites an argument about the percentage.

  • “Free layouts are where practices lose their studio days”

    The client who wants a rough plan before signing takes real drawing time and then goes quiet. The process says what is shown before an agreement, and what is not.

What we do

What we deliver for architecture firms.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A qualifying question set for the first call

    The plot, the budget stage and the other decision makers, asked in one call and written into the enquiry record before any meeting is booked.

    Result: Studio meetings happen where there is a real site.

  2. A fee proposal set out by drawing stage

    Concept, design development, construction drawings and site supervision priced separately, with each payment tied to the drawings issued at that stage.

    Result: The client reads a programme of work instead of one number.

  3. A written rule on what is shown before signature

    What a prospective client sees in the studio meeting and what waits for the agreement, agreed so nobody gives away a layout to be helpful.

    Result: No one loses drawing days on an enquiry that never signs.

  4. A named owner for every stage

    Who calls back, who runs the studio meeting and who writes the fee proposal, so an enquiry does not wait for the one principal who is on site.

    Result: An enquiry keeps moving while the principal is travelling.

  5. A record of the stage where enquiries stop

    Every lost enquiry marked at the step it ended, reviewed with the principals against the baseline taken before the work started.

    Result: You can see whether you lose people at the fee or at the first call.

How the result is measured

  • Deals following the process
  • Time spent at each step
  • Drop-off rate by step

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full sales process design and implementation page

Steps of a sale

Walk every plot owner from the first call to a signed agreement in the same order.

Name each step the way your studio already says it, and keep one line per enquiry showing the step it reached.

First call and site details
Ask for the survey number or the sale deed sketch, the road width and the local authority. Record whether bylaws or setbacks will shape the brief before anyone opens a drawing.
Site visit before the studio meeting
Walk the plot with a tape and a phone compass, and note the orientation, the neighbouring buildings and any trees. Write it on the enquiry so the meeting starts from the real site.
The studio meeting
Show finished projects on similar plots and the drawing set a client receives at each stage. Write down the rooms, the family's must-haves and who attended, so the brief is not rebuilt later.
Fee proposal and scope letter
Send the proposal with the drawing stages, the site visits included and what counts as a redesign. Record the date it went out and who has to approve it on the client's side.
Agreement and advance
Close with the signed agreement and the advance against the concept stage. If the client pushes back on the fee, note which stage they questioned, as it shows where the proposal reads as unclear.
Handover to the design team
Pass the brief, the site notes and the signed scope to the project architect in one sitting. Record the concept presentation date agreed with the client so nobody promises a different one.

Who it is for

This is written for these architecture firms.

  • Residential and villa architecture practices
  • Commercial and corporate campus architecture firms
  • Hospitality architecture practices
  • Institutional architecture firms, schools and hospitals
  • Interior-architecture hybrid practices
  • Sustainable and green building specialists
  • Practices working on government and public sector tenders
  • Boutique single-principal practices

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • The principal takes every call personally and will not delegate any step, so a written process would sit unused
  • You have not decided what the first free meeting covers, and a process that leaves this open will still lose studio days
  • You take only a few projects a year from people you already know, and a written process would add forms to a trusted introduction

How it works

How the sales process work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Study current deal flow

    We trace how deals actually move today, comparing across reps and outcomes.

  2. 2

    Define the stages

    Clear stages and criteria are designed to match how deals genuinely progress and close.

  3. 3

    Configure the CRM

    The process is built into your CRM so it is enforced structurally, not just documented.

  4. 4

    Train the team

    Reps are trained on the new process and why each stage exists.

  5. 5

    Review adoption

    We check after rollout whether the process is being followed and adjust where it is not.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
A client wants a rough plan before they will sign anything. What do we do?
Show a completed project on a similar plot and offer a paid concept stage. A free layout costs drawing days and rarely wins work that the comparable project would not have won anyway.
Can a two-person practice run a formal process?
Yes. This is a page of steps and an enquiry record, not software. The principal still takes the call, but the call now asks the same three questions every time.
A client asks for our fee as a percentage on the first call. Should we give one?
Give a range only once you know the built-up area and the scope, and say it depends on the stages they need. A percentage given before the site and brief are known becomes the number they compare, and every later change looks like a price rise. Book the site visit first.
Should the principal attend every studio meeting, or can an associate take some?
An associate can run the meeting for smaller residential work, with the principal joining for the fee discussion. Clients want to meet whoever will lead the design, so say plainly who that is. Write the attendee and the lead architect into the enquiry record so the client hears the same name at signing.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

From the blog

Further reading for architecture firms.

All articles

More for architecture firms

Everything else we would do for you.

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for architecture firms.

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