Your First Odoo Consultation: What We Ask, What You Get, and How to Prepare

The first conversation with an ERP partner is easy to treat as a sales call. In practice, it shapes everything that follows. What gets discussed in that first meeting decides the scope of the project, which in turn decides the cost and the timeline.

A well-prepared first meeting saves weeks of back and forth later. Here is what we ask in a first Odoo consultation, what you get back, and how to prepare so you get the most out of it.

What we ask about

We don't start with a demo. We start by understanding how your business runs today.

Your processes. How does an order become a delivery and then an invoice? How do you buy, receive and pay? How do you produce, if you manufacture? We want the real version, including the workarounds.

Your current systems and data. Which accounting package, spreadsheets and other tools do you use, and how many records are in them? Where does information get typed in twice?

Your branches and companies. How many legal entities, branches and warehouses do you run? Do they trade with each other?

Who decides. Who will sponsor the project, who owns each department's requirements, and who signs off?

Your timing. Is there a date that matters, such as a financial year-end, an audit or a new branch opening?

What you get back

After the consultation, you should come away with something useful, whether or not you go ahead with us:

• A summary of your needs, in plain language, so your team can check we understood.
• A recommended set of Odoo apps, covering what you need now and what can wait.
• A phased approach, showing what goes live first and what follows.
• Clear next steps, including what we need from you to give a firm proposal.

What decides how long each phase takes is covered in How Long Does an Odoo Implementation Take?

How to prepare: a one-page checklist

You don't need a formal requirements document. Gathering these before the meeting makes it much more productive:

1. Your organisation chart, with the people who would use the system in each department.
2. A list of current tools, including spreadsheets that people rely on.
3. Rough monthly volumes: sales invoices, purchase orders, products, customers and suppliers.
4. Your top five pain points, ranked. What costs you the most time or money today?
5. The reports you can't live without, such as daily sales, stock by branch or debtors' ageing.
6. Any fixed dates, such as year-end, an audit or an expansion.

Bring the people who feel the problems most, usually finance and operations, not only IT. The best consultations happen when the people who do the work are in the room.

Questions to ask us

A consultation works both ways. Use it to test whether we are the right partner. Our article on how to choose an Odoo partner in Nigeria lists ten questions worth asking any partner, including us.

Book your consultation

The consultation is free, and there is no obligation. Book your consultation and bring the checklist. We'll give you an honest view of what your Odoo project would involve.