Automate quote follow-up: 3 steps to take today

Sending a quote is not the same as following it up. Once the quote has been sent, it can easily get buried under jobs, phone calls and new enquiries. When you automate quote follow-up, you make sure something happens at the right time, without having to check every open quote yourself.

The basis is simple: choose an event that starts the automation, set conditions and then decide what action follows. This way, you are not just sending messages at random. You stay in control of what happens with every quote.

How do you build an automation for quote follow-up?

A good automation has four parts. Only when they work together does the customer receive a suitable message and does your team know what to do.

• Trigger: the event that starts the automation. For example: a quote has not been accepted after a number of days you choose.
• Condition: an extra filter. For example, you can respond only when the quote still has the status sent or viewed, or when the customer has not replied yet.
• Delay: when an action follows. This can be immediately, or after a number of hours or days.
• Action: what actually happens. Think of an email or WhatsApp message, a task for a colleague, an internal notification or moving a card in the pipeline.

In Klantly, you save these rules as automations. Each execution is recorded in a log. That means you can always see what happened and for which customer.

Do not start with ten rules at once. Choose one common situation: a quote that has not yet been accepted. That is often exactly the work that gets left behind in busy weeks.

Which 3 follow-up steps can you set up today?

This sequence works well for businesses that prepare quotes for bespoke work, installation or fitting. You choose the timing and the wording yourself. The order matters most: first help, then flag it, then follow up personally.

1. Send a friendly quote reminder

Choose this trigger: the quote has not been accepted after a number of days you choose. Add the condition that the quote has not yet been accepted. Then send a short message asking whether the customer received the quote properly and whether they have any questions.

Keep the tone calm. A reminder is not a demand for payment. The customer may not have looked at it yet, may want to discuss it, or may simply have lost your email. A link to the online quote makes it easy to look back on a phone or laptop.

2. Create a task after the quote

If the customer does not respond to the first reminder, create a task for the salesperson after an additional delay. Give the task a clear title, such as: “Call customer about open quote”. Link the task to the quote and the customer, so the salesperson can immediately see the full history.

This is the difference between sending a message and actually following up. An automated email can remind someone. A team member can listen to concerns, explain options and find out what is needed to move forward.

3. Prioritise viewed quotes

Create a separate automation for quotes the customer has opened. The status changes to viewed when the customer opens the quote link for the first time. That is a logical moment to give the salesperson a task or notification.

You do not have to call immediately about every viewed quote. But a quote that has been opened often deserves attention sooner than one that may still be in a spam filter. Through viewing and following up quotes, you can track the status: draft, sent, viewed, accepted or expired.

When is an automated message enough, and when should you call yourself?

Not every quote needs the same follow-up. For a simple enquiry or a smaller amount, a polite reminder may be enough. For a large, complex or important enquiry, a standard message can feel too distant.

That is why conditions matter. You can use automations to check the quote amount, pipeline phase, lead source, quote status and whether the customer has already replied. For example, you can set regular quotes to receive a reminder first, while a larger enquiry immediately creates a task for personal follow-up.

Personal follow-up is especially suitable when:

• the customer has viewed the quote but is still unsure;
• the quote contains many choices, bespoke work or unusual circumstances;
• the quote is for a higher amount and you do not want it to be left untouched;
• the customer previously asked a question or requested an explanation;
• a colleague already knows the process and can make a focused call.

Automation does not replace that conversation. Above all, it makes sure you do not discover weeks later that a quote is still open.

What does this look like for a veranda quote?

Imagine a customer requests a quote for a veranda with a glass roof, side walls and lighting. You send the quote on Monday. The customer opens it on Wednesday but does not accept it yet.

You can set it up so the salesperson receives a task as soon as the quote is viewed. They do not call to ask: “Did you receive the quote?” They can ask more directly whether the customer is still unsure about the roof, colour or installation.

If there is still no response, a friendly quote reminder follows after a number of days you choose. If nothing comes back after that, a second task appears. The quote also remains visible as a card on your pipeline board. In the article about following up quotes without separate lists, you can read how to use that overview alongside your automations.

How do you keep your automation from feeling impersonal?

Write your reminder as if you were sending it yourself. Keep it short, clear and pressure-free. Give the customer an easy way to ask a question or accept the quote, but do not pretend that every situation is the same.

Also check your conditions before enabling an automation. A customer who has just called does not need a general reminder on the same day. And you may not want to chase a large enquiry automatically, but assign it directly to a regular salesperson.

With automations in Klantly, you can build follow-up around the events already in your system. This keeps the routine moving on its own, while you and your team have time for the conversations that move a job forward.

Want to see what a fixed follow-up route can mean for your quotes? Get started and discover what Klantly can mean for your business.