New Customer Development

Scope

Scope: Every new customer, from the first lead to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) decision. The steps apply to referred leads and targeted prospects alike.

Purpose: New Customer Development turns a lead into a qualified customer that the SLT has checked. The Account Manager (AM) owns the lead, holds the first meeting, and runs the due diligence checks. No significant design or sampling resource is committed until those checks are complete.

Owner: AM.

Applies to: The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the SLT, account managers, the Business Analyst (BA), the PDS risk team, and any team member who receives a referral.

Process

1. Team member — Flag every referral to the CEO. A referral can reach anyone in the business: the CEO, a director, an account manager, or any team member through their own industry network.

   • Referred leads come from recommendations, industry relationships, past contacts, or PDS group introductions.
   • Flag the referral to the CEO before you take any further action.
   • Stay available to give context. Where it helps, make a warm introduction to the AM or to the customer.

2. CEO — Assign the lead to an account manager. The assigned AM becomes the CRM owner for the lead.

   • Log every new customer in the CRM with its assigned AM. See CRM & Customer Management.

3. AM — Respond to a referred lead within 24 hours. The 24 hours start when the enquiry arrives.

   • The AM owns all follow-up activity from this point.

4. AM — Prepare an outreach plan for each targeted prospect. Targeted prospects are brands and businesses we choose to approach as part of our sales strategy.

   • Include brand research and a tailored introduction in the plan.
   • Get SLT approval for the plan before first contact.

5. AM — Prepare and hold the first meeting. The meeting can take place at the customer's office or ours.

   • Before the meeting, prepare a credentials deck and relevant samples or lookbooks.
   • Establish what the customer makes, their volumes, and their calendar.
   • Establish whether they need design support, or only sourcing and production.
   • Agree next steps with a clear timeline.
   • Log the meeting notes in the CRM within 24 hours.

6. AM — Qualify the customer. Before you commit design or sampling resources, confirm each point below.

   • Order volumes meet our minimums.
   • The product category fits our capabilities.
   • The timelines are achievable.
   • The due diligence checks show no financial or credit concerns.
   • The customer is a good strategic fit for our long-term objectives.
   • When a customer fails any point, flag it to the SLT before you go further.

7. AM — Start the three due diligence checks. Run the business analysis, the financial check, and the insurance and risk check in parallel.

   • The checks apply to every new customer, however the customer was sourced.
   • All three checks must be complete, with results submitted, within one week of starting.

8. BA — Complete the business analysis. The AM requests a commercial assessment of the customer.

   • Cover sales performance and revenue trajectory.
   • Cover profitability indicators.
   • Cover the number of stores or trading locations.
   • Cover growth plans and investment activity.

9. BA — Complete the financial check. Review the customer's financial health from the best available source.

   • For UK customers, review the filings on Companies House. Check financial health and directorship, and look for concerns such as outstanding charges or declining net assets.
   • For customers outside the UK, find and review local sources of financial information or published financial reports.
   • When no formal source exists, record that fact. The SLT factors it into the decision.

10. AM — Request the credit insurance check from the PDS risk team. Complete the Customer Credit Insurance Check Form and submit it to the PDS risk team.

    • The form sits in SharePoint under Templates & Forms, and is listed under Forms to be used.
    • Receive and review the outcome before the customer is formally onboarded.

11. SLT — Review the due diligence results. The results go to the SLT and the AM.

    • When the checks show a significant concern, inform the AM. Place the customer on hold, or tag it Watch / At Risk in the CRM.
    • Passing due diligence is not onboarding. Onboarding starts only after the SLT approves. See New Customer Onboarding.

12. AM — Start the development path agreed at the first meeting. Commit design or sampling resources only once the customer is qualified.

    • Path A, design-led customers: assign a designer and develop a range from the customer's direction and seasonal calendar. See Design Process.
    • Path B, sourcing and production customers: move straight to costing and sampling from the customer's tech packs or reference samples.

Workflow

Team member — Flag every referral to the CEO

CEO — Assign the lead to an account manager

AM — Respond to a referred lead within 24 hours

AM — Prepare an outreach plan for each targeted prospect

AM — Prepare and hold the first meeting

Forms to be used

• Customer Credit Insurance Check Form

Tutorial

This training video supports the New Customer Development process. It does not replace the numbered steps.

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Exam

Pass mark	Expected duration	Attempts
80%	About 10 minutes	1 (one attempt per person)

Pass mark 80%. 10 single-choice questions, one point each.

Your name and score are recorded and count towards the leaderboard. You have one attempt, so finish the article and the tutorial before you start.

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Watch the tutorial video above to 100% to unlock the exam. The questions appear here once your progress is complete.

Changelog

Changelog

Date	Changed by	What changed
2026-10-01	Sales Team	Training video added and exam published.
2026-09-22	Sales Team	Article added from SOP 2.0 Sales & Customer Development, section 2.1.