In a small team a quote is often sent on a Tuesday and forgotten by Friday. Nobody decided to drop it. It just fell behind the next urgent job. The customer, meanwhile, may be waiting for a nudge or may have chosen someone else weeks ago.
A routine solves both problems. It makes sure that every quote is followed up, and it gives you permission to stop when following up no longer helps.
Step 1: give every quote a validity date and an owner
When the quote leaves, two things are written down in the CRM or in a shared sheet:
- Valid until: usually 30 days. Prices, availability and your own capacity change, and an open-ended quote is a promise you cannot keep.
- Owner: one person who chases it. "The team" does not follow up.
Put the validity date in the quote itself. It gives you an honest reason to get in touch later: the quote is about to expire.
Step 2: three follow-up dates
Set the dates when you send the quote, so nobody has to remember them:
- Day 2–3: confirm receipt. A short message asking whether the quote arrived and whether anything is unclear. Many quotes sit in a spam folder.
- Day 10: ask about the decision. Ask where the customer is in the process and who else is involved.
- Day 25: validity reminder. The quote expires in five days. Offer a short call or an extension if there is a real reason.
Three contacts are enough. A fourth rarely brings an answer; it more often brings annoyance.
Step 3: write a reminder that is worth reading
A good reminder is three lines long:
- one useful fact, for example a delivery slot that is filling up or an answer to a question the customer asked earlier;
- one clear question, such as "Is this still planned for this quarter?";
- an easy way out: "If priorities have changed, tell me and I will close this on our side."
Avoid "just checking in". It gives the reader nothing to answer. See also handing leads from marketing to sales for how to keep the earlier steps clean.
Step 4: decide when to let go
Close the quote as lost when one of these is true:
- the customer says no, or chooses another supplier;
- the validity date has passed and there was no reply to any of the three contacts;
- the customer asks for something you cannot or will not deliver at this price.
Write the reason in one word or short phrase: price, timing, competitor, no reply, scope. Closing a quote is not giving up on the customer. It only tells the truth about the pipeline. If the customer replies later, you can reopen it with a new date.
A quote that is neither won nor lost for three months is a number that makes your forecast look better than it is.
Step 5: a monthly look at lost quotes
Once a month, spend fifteen minutes on a short list:
- how many quotes were sent, won, lost and left without a reply;
- the most common loss reasons;
- the quotes with the highest value that went silent.
If many quotes end in "no reply", the first contact is probably too late or the quote is unclear. If many end in "price", check the way you present value before you change prices. For a related habit, see reading a software quote from the buyer's side.
Where the routine usually breaks
- No owner, so everyone assumes someone else is chasing.
- Follow-up dates kept in memory instead of in the CRM or calendar.
- Chasing every quote the same way, although a small repeat order and a large new project need different attention.
- Never closing quotes, so the pipeline fills with old items. A CRM that is only a spreadsheet tends to hide this.
Summary
Give each quote a validity date and an owner, follow up on days 2–3, 10 and 25, write short reminders with one question, and close quotes by a clear rule. Review the lost ones once a month. The routine takes minutes per quote and saves the larger cost of not knowing where your sales stand.
Sources
- Common practice for small teams, offered as a practical guide. No client results or market figures are claimed in this article.
