Duration: 24:17
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
In this 24-minute Odoo Experience-style demo, Lucas Paskki, a business analyst at Odoo, shows how to weave Projects into the pre‑sales flow so post‑sales execution “just works.” The scenario centers on “Sofa So Good,” an interior design firm handling luxury residential/commercial jobs where site data, documentation, and cross‑team coordination are critical. The talk addresses three persistent challenges in such businesses: lack of integration between Sales/CRM and Projects, heavy admin overhead, and poor visibility on efforts and costs. The goal: turn pre‑sales into a structured, documented, and measurable process that seamlessly hands off to delivery.
Core Ideas & Innovations ⚙️
The demo begins in CRM: create an opportunity, qualify it with tags (e.g., “Luxury”) and expected revenue, then jump to Projects to refine a project template. Lucas configures a “Pre‑sales” task with a tag, high priority, estimated hours, and—new in this version—an assigned default role (e.g., Interior Designer). He then spins up a live project from the template, assigns people by role during creation, and links the project back to the CRM opportunity so sales can access delivery context in one click.
On the pre‑sales task, the designer captures site details via checklists, uploads measurements, adds on‑site photos, and logs timesheets against allocated hours. A small but impactful improvement: logging a note to a user group (e.g., Sales Managers) from the task’s chatter to trigger the next step. Sales then schedules a client meeting from the opportunity’s chatter, sends a quotation using the right quotation template, adjusts lines (e.g., design services), and adds requested products (e.g., granite tiles, floor heating) informed by the captured measurements. The client signs via the Portal, converting the quote to a Sales Order.
Back in the project, Lucas enables top‑bar smart buttons for Timesheets, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Expenses, and Dashboard. He attaches a meal expense receipt (digitized in Documents/Expenses), categorizes it, submits, and posts it. He also creates a Purchase Order for tiles and confirms it. The Project Dashboard now shows a real‑time profitability view: revenue from the sale order and costs from purchases, expenses, and the employee timesheets—everything tied together.
Impact & Takeaways 🧠💬
This flow demonstrates how CRM, Projects, Sales, Purchases, Expenses, and Documents work as one system. Pre‑sales moves from ad‑hoc emails and spreadsheets to structured tasks with roles, priorities, and time tracking. Admin work drops dramatically thanks to project templates, inline role assignment, portal e‑signature, and smart‑button access to all related records. Most importantly, financial visibility appears early: even if a quote is rejected, pre‑sales time and costs remain analyzable. For nuanced tracking (e.g., pre‑sales vs. delivery costs within one project), teams can use Analytic Accounting dimensions and budgets from Accounting.
In Q&A, Lucas clarifies several practical points: - Service products can be configured to automatically create a project/task on quote confirmation, and if the sale order references a project, tasks are created in the right place. - Linking a project from an opportunity is currently a quick manual action; creating a sale order from within the project auto‑links it back. - Timesheets and costs remain available for analysis even when a sale is canceled. - Analytic Accounting remains fully available for budgeting and cost breakdowns across phases or entities.
The takeaway: pre‑sales done “the Odoo way” lays a clean, documented foundation so post‑sales execution is faster, more accurate, and measurable—turning handovers into a non‑event. 💡
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
Pre‑sales is just another project phase. When teams capture knowledge once—tasks, files, time, and decisions—everyone benefits: sales stay in context, delivery begins with clarity, and finance sees reality early. That is why we obsess over templates, roles, chatter, and documents working together without friction.
Our vision remains the same: simplify complexity by integrating apps so that processes become invisible. When community feedback surfaces small gaps—like linking behaviors or task automation—we fold them into a cleaner flow. The goal isn’t more features; it’s fewer clicks and fewer surprises for teams who need to move as one.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
The integration story is strong: connecting CRM, projects, sales, purchasing, and expenses inside one UI is compelling for SMBs and mid‑market firms. The UX lowers adoption barriers, and pre‑sales timesheet capture improving early profitability insights is a smart move. Where Odoo shines is speed from configuration to execution.
At larger scale, customers will still evaluate governance: automated linkages across objects, budget controls, auditability, and standardized project financials across entities. Robustness in areas like multi‑company compliance, change control, and advanced resource planning remains the differentiator. That said, the simplicity of Odoo’s end‑to‑end experience is a real UX advantage—one that incumbents must continue to match without sacrificing enterprise depth.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.