Keep track of quotes without missing a thing

Pending quotations rarely disappear simply because you don’t consider them important. They disappear because a customer who calls right now, a job due tomorrow and a full inbox always take priority. Following up on quotations should therefore not be something you put off until Monday, but a regular part of your working day.

A client who doesn’t respond isn’t automatically saying no. Perhaps they haven’t seen the quote yet, want to discuss it, or your message has simply been buried in their inbox. If you know what’s outstanding and when a quote was viewed, you can get in touch at the right time and with a valid reason.

Why do outstanding quotations get left unaddressed?

There’s usually no strict deadline for following up. An installation needs doing, an invoice needs sending out, and you want to respond quickly to a new enquiry. A quotation sent last week feels less urgent, even though it could lead to a good contract.

On top of that, quotes are often scattered about. Some are in your sent emails, some in an Excel spreadsheet, and some you just keep in mind. That works until things get busy, someone goes on holiday, or several colleagues are talking to clients at the same time.

You often only realise the consequences too late:

You only get round to calling a client weeks later, by which time they’ve long since made a decision.
You can’t remember exactly what was in the quotation or what was discussed previously.
A colleague thinks you’ll be making the call, whilst you think they’ll take care of it.
You spend time following up on a whim, whilst other quotations actually require immediate attention.

That’s not a lack of commitment. It’s a process that places too much strain on your memory. Anyone handling several quotations at once needs an overview that shows which opportunities require attention.

How do you keep track of every quote?

Start by having a single place for your outstanding quotations. Not just a list of figures, but an overview where you can also see the stage each project is at. After all, a quotation isn’t always the whole story. Perhaps a site survey has already been scheduled, the client is still waiting for planning permission, or you still need to check something yourself.

In Klantly, a quotation becomes a card on your pipeline board. You can see which projects are new, which quotations have been sent or viewed, and which cards have been stuck in the same stage for too long. This means you no longer have to search through your inbox to find out what’s still pending.

The quote itself also has a clear status: draft, sent, viewed, accepted or expired. Whilst this quote status doesn’t guarantee that a customer will buy, it does prevent you from having to guess where you stand. By creating quotations and having them accepted online, you can send them as web pages as well as PDFs. The customer can then easily open the quotation on their mobile or laptop.

In addition, for every quotation, specify who is responsible for the next step. This could be a task for yourself or a colleague, linked to the customer and the quotation. The customer file, containing all communication and documents, will then immediately show what has already been done and what still needs to be done.

Why is the moment a quotation is viewed so important?

Following up on a quotation works better if you have a reason to do so. If you call immediately after sending it, the customer often hasn’t looked at it yet. If you wait much longer to call, the conversation can quickly feel like a last resort.

The ‘quotation viewed’ status gives you a better time to call. This status is set as soon as the customer opens the personalised quotation link for the first time. You won’t know whether they’ve read every line, but you do know that the quotation has appeared on their screen.

This makes your conversation more focused. You don’t need to ask whether the quote has perhaps arrived. You could say, for example: “I saw that you’ve had a chance to look at the quote. Do you have any questions about the details or the options?” That’s helpful, without putting unnecessary pressure on them.

If the quote hasn’t been viewed after a few days, don’t write the customer off straight away. A link might have ended up in their spam folder, or the customer might have missed the message. That’s precisely when a quick phone call comes in handy: you can check that everything has been received correctly and give the customer the chance to ask any questions.

How does a quote reminder prevent you from being too late?

A single reminder isn’t enough if nobody follows it up with a phone call. The best follow-up therefore combines a friendly message to the customer with a clear task for the staff member familiar with the process.

Suppose you send a quotation for a patio canopy on a Thursday. The customer opens it that same evening, but neither accepts it nor asks any questions. Without a set procedure, you might not notice this until the following week, amidst new enquiries and ongoing jobs.

With automation, you can determine in advance what happens. For example: after a number of days of your choosing without acceptance, the customer receives a friendly quote reminder. At the same time, the sales representative is assigned a task to make a phone call. The sales representative can immediately see the quote, the chosen specification and any previous correspondence. This means they don’t have to spend time first finding out what the enquiry was about.

A practical follow-up routine might look like this:

Send the quotation with a personalised link and check that all the terms are clear.
Check the status: ‘not yet viewed’ requires a different action to ‘viewed’.
If there’s still no response, send a friendly reminder after a suitable period.
Create a task for personal contact for quotations where a conversation can really make a difference.
Update the stage after every point of contact, even if a client wishes to wait or decides not to proceed with the order.

Klantly You can trigger automations when a quotation has been sent, viewed or has not been accepted after a set number of days. You set the conditions, the delay and the action yourself. This could be an email, or simply a task. For a large or sensitive quotation, personal contact is often the better first step.

What should you say when following up on a quotation?

A follow-up call isn’t a ploy to put pressure on a customer. The aim is to gain clarity and remove any potential barriers. So keep the conversation brief and tailor it to where the customer is in their decision-making process.

For example, ask whether everything is clear, if there are any questions about the chosen options, or when they expect to make a decision. Has the customer not yet had time to look at it? Resend the link and agree on a suitable time to call back.

If you receive a ‘no’, mark the lead as lost, stating the reason you know. This might feel like clearing things up, but it makes your overview more reliable. It then frees up time for the quotes that still require attention.

Following up on quotations isn’t about chasing customers more often. It’s about knowing, at the right moment, which customer needs a message, a phone call or simply a little more time. Would you like to find out how Klantly can help you with this? Get started for free