IIPTA: from a shared sheet to a sales desk with a five-minute clock

The Indian Institute of Patent and Trademark Attorney (IIPTA) trains people for careers in patent and trademark work. Like most institutes, it gets enquiries from many places: its own job postings and applicants on Naukri, campaigns, WhatsApp, webinars, website forms and social media messages.

The problem

Before, leads were collected in a shared sheet and the sales team picked leads for themselves. That made it hard to guarantee a quick first call, and hard to prove what people had done. Junk was judged by the person who stood to gain by calling it junk. People who could never qualify, for example someone without the degree a course asks for, still reached salespeople.

What changed

• One place for every source. Names from files and leads from forms, messages and campaigns land in the CRM with their source. A name is not a lead until the person acts or a manager says so.
• Rules before people. Each course has eligibility rules, such as degree stream or citizenship. An ineligible person is never assigned.
• Hand-over in turn. The next available person on the rota gets the lead. The rota is locked while it assigns, so two leads never go to one person.
• A first-call clock. The salesperson sees a timer, five minutes by default in working hours. Logging the first call or email stops it, and the manager is told if it runs out.
• The same numbers for everyone. A sales report shows hours, calls, emails, follow-ups and speed to lead. The salesperson sees the same page the manager does, and every stage change goes to an audit log that cannot be edited.

Beyond sales

IIPTA is also a test for the rest of YuktiBOS: SEO for its website, content in its own voice, and, because students graduate and leave, thinking about what brings them back, such as alumni, advanced courses and mentoring.

What is still open

Telephone call logging waits for a phone provider. The wider plan includes call recording and coaching, which is not built yet.