Never send a quote without booking a follow up

You’ve had a good meeting, the quote has gone out and the customer has said they’re keen. Then nothing. A few days pass, then weeks. Sound familiar?

Most sales aren’t closed in the quote. They’re closed in the follow up. A quote that nobody follows up is an order left on the table.

Book it before you hit send

Don’t send your quote and hope they’ll call you back. Book the follow up before it goes:

“I’ll send the quote across later today. Can we put 15 minutes in the diary to run through it on Wednesday?”

This keeps the momentum going. It gives you the chance to explain your thinking, answer questions and spot objections before they become roadblocks. Then block it out in your diary and treat it like a first meeting.

Why it matters: a real example

I was supporting a client who had sent a quote that was clearly better, technically and commercially. On paper, they should have been the obvious choice.

But it wasn’t the quote that tipped the balance. It was the follow up.

We picked up the phone at just the right moment and found out internal meetings were taking place. The buyer was reviewing all the quotes and planned to decide before going on holiday. That call gave us a window. The very same day, we revised the quote and sent it back, putting ourselves in a much stronger position.

The best offer doesn’t always win. The best managed sales process often does.

If you didn’t book a date

Call two working days after the quote went out. Check it arrived and reached the right person, ask if they have any questions, and agree a date and time to go through it.

When you go through it

• Check nothing has changed in their requirements or timescales.
• Go through price, lead time and commercial terms, and bring in your engineers if needed.
• Ask: “What would need to happen for you to place the order with us?”
• Agree the next step and date before you finish the call.

After that

Follow up on the dates agreed, then regularly until it’s decided. Never “just checking in”. Every follow up should add something, such as an answer to a query, a datasheet or a useful article.

How long should you keep going?

I don’t set a fixed number of follow ups. I keep following up a quote until the customer either places the order or tells me they’ve gone elsewhere.

That way nothing is left to drift, and if we do lose, at least I know why.

Good salespeople don’t wait for things to happen. They make them happen.