Quotation and proposal follow-up · Sales
The quotation went out three weeks ago and nobody has called them since.
Our proposal development page covers writing the document, and lead response and follow-up covers the first reply to a new enquiry. This page starts the moment the quotation leaves your office.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Quotation and proposal follow-up is the routine that runs after a quote is sent: who calls, on which day, what they ask, and when a quotation is declared dead. GullySales builds the register, the follow-up ladder and the closing question, then reports what value of quotations is sitting open.
Most small businesses can tell you what they quoted last month. Very few can tell you what value of quotations is open right now, how old the oldest one is, or who is supposed to call it today.
So the quote sits in a WhatsApp thread with a blue tick and no reply. Sir will check and revert. Six weeks later somebody says the market is slow.
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“We do not know what is pending”
Quotations live in sent items, in a WhatsApp thread and in a rep's notebook. Nobody can total the open value on a Monday morning, so nobody manages it.
“The customer said he will revert and never did”
Nobody asked when he would decide. Without a date from the buyer, your follow-up has no reason to happen today rather than next week, so it happens never.
“We chase twice and then give up”
Two unanswered calls feel like a no. The buyer is usually waiting on somebody inside his own company, and the order goes to whoever was still present when that person finally moved.
“We revise the price before finding out what the objection is”
A discount is offered on the second follow-up to restart the conversation. The customer was actually waiting on a delivery date, so you have given away margin and answered the wrong question.
What we do
Everything that is included.
Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.
A quotation register
Every quotation numbered, with value, date sent, buyer, the decision date they gave, the current stage and the next action date. It lives in your CRM if you have one and in a shared sheet if you do not.
The decision date asked for at send
One question added to the covering message: when do you expect to decide? An answer gives you a legitimate reason to call on a named day. A refusal to answer tells you something too.
A follow-up ladder by value
A two lakh quotation and a fifteen thousand rupee quotation do not get the same treatment. The ladder sets how many contacts, on which channel, over how many days, for each band.
What to say on each rung
The first call confirms the document was received and understood, and asks nothing about the order. Later contacts carry a reason: a validity date, a revised delivery slot, a question about their drawing.
The revision rule
Versions numbered, what changed noted, and a limit agreed. By the third revision the price is rarely the problem, and the conversation moves to whoever has not yet been spoken to.
Close-out in three buckets
Won, lost, or no decision, with the reason captured in the buyer's own words. No decision is usually the largest bucket and the one nobody measures.
Owner escalation for the top quotations
A short list where a call from you, not the rep, is worth making, and the point in the ladder where that call happens.
The read
Open quotation value, ageing, contacts made per quotation, and win rate by value band, in the report against the baseline taken before the work started.
How the result is measured
- Value of quotations open, and the age of the oldest
- Quotations with a decision date recorded
- Contacts made per quotation against the ladder
- Win rate by value band
- Share closed as no decision rather than lost
- Reasons recorded in the buyer's words
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- Manufacturers and fabricators sending a dozen or more quotations a month against a drawing or a tender
- Interior, modular kitchen and turnkey firms whose quote is revised three times before anyone decides
- Service firms selling annual contracts, where the renewal quote and a new quote look identical in the file
- Owners who personally chase the big quotations and have no idea what is happening to the rest
- Teams where the rep says following up looks desperate and the quotations quietly age out
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- A counter or retail business with no quotation stage, where the price is on the board and the sale happens once
- Firms sending four or five quotations a month, where a diary and a disciplined owner already do this
- Anyone hoping automated reminder messages will replace the call, because a large quotation is closed by a person on the phone
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
The numbers this work is meant to move, such as enquiries, quotations, orders, visits or renewals, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is a reply, a follow-up, a page, a listing or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs
- 1
Pull six months of quotations
We count them, total them and find out what happened to each. Most owners discover here that a third were never followed up at all.
- 2
Find where they die
Usually one stage does most of the damage: no first confirmation call, or no contact after the first revision. We fix that rung before building the rest.
- 3
Design the ladder and the wording
Value bands, contact counts, channels and days, with the actual words for each step written in your team's language rather than a script they will not read aloud.
- 4
Set up the register and the reminders
In your CRM where one exists, in a sheet where it does not, with the next action date on every open quotation and an owner's name against it.
- 5
Run one cycle with the team
We sit through real follow-ups, listen to the calls and correct the questions. This is where a good ladder survives contact with a busy rep.
- 6
Report and tune
Win rate and no-decision share are read against the baseline, and the ladder changes where the numbers say it should.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix that matters most, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How many times should we follow up before stopping?
Does following up this much annoy customers?
Should this be done on WhatsApp or by phone?
Our win rate is low. Will follow-up fix it?
Do we need a CRM for this?
What does this cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
By industry
Quotation and proposal follow-up, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.