Why follow-up matters
Many quotes are sent and never mentioned again. Some are lost on price, but many are lost to silence — a question nobody answered, a lead time nobody updated, a competitor who simply called back first. Consistent follow-up recovers some of those orders, and tracking the results tells you why you lose the rest.
Remember how contractors buy
On project work, your quote usually supports the contractor’s own bid. That means two things have to happen before you get the order:
- The contractor wins the job.
- The contractor buys from you.
Knowing where each quote sits in that sequence — bid pending, job awarded, ready to buy — tells you when to follow up and what to say.
Step 1: Log every quote
For each quote, record:
- Contractor and contact
- Job name and, for project work, the bid date
- Quote value
- Date sent and validity date
- Who owns it on your team
Step 2: Set a follow-up date when the quote goes out
- Quick stock quotes: a short follow-up window.
- Project quotes: follow up around the bid date and again when the job is likely to be awarded.
- Before expiry: a follow-up before the quote’s validity runs out.
Step 3: Follow up with something useful
Give the contractor a reason to talk to you:
- Answer an open question or confirm a substitution
- Update lead times or availability
- Offer an alternative that saves money or time
- Ask whether they won the job, and when they plan to buy
- Remind them when the quote expires
Use the channel each contact prefers — a call, an email or a text — and don’t overdo it.
Step 4: Record every outcome
When a quote closes, record:
- Won — and the order value
- Lost — and to whom, if you know
- Why — price, lead time, availability, relationship, or the contractor didn’t win the job
- No decision — the project was cancelled or put on hold
Keep “the contractor didn’t win the job” separate from “we lost the order.” They mean very different things.
Step 5: Review wins and losses regularly
Each month, look at results by:
- Loss reason — are you losing mostly on price, lead time or availability?
- Product line — where are you strong, and where are you weak?
- Contractor — which accounts buy from your quotes, and which don’t?
- Salesperson — who needs support?
Step 6: Act on what you find
- Losing on price in one product line? Review your pricing or special pricing agreements for it.
- Losing on lead time or availability? Look at stocking and supplier options.
- Losing on silence? Tighten follow-up.
Common mistakes
- Sending quotes with no follow-up date
- Following up with “just checking in” and nothing useful
- Not knowing the contractor’s bid date
- Recording outcomes without reasons
- Treating a lost job and a lost order as the same thing
- Never reviewing the results