After sending
Six situations. Six different suites.
Same quote, same starting point. What happens next depends on what the customer said, or not said.
The rest preparedWhat you keep
Quotation follow-up · Customized systems
Sending a quote is not following it up.
Your quoting software, messaging and tracking remain in place. We link them so that each quote sent has a clear follow-up: who follows up, when, with what elements. And nothing leaves without your agreement.
Custom made. With your tools. Without re-entry.
Post-send · this morning
QuoteD-0412
On-site intervention
QuoteD-0409
Maintenance contract
QuoteD-0415
Installation
Your quotes this morning
- follow-up readyD-0412 · supported by Tuesday's appealTo be validated
- Answer to be decided“OK for next week”: agreement or postponement?To you
- ValidityD-0409 expires FridayTo decide
- WaitingFour quotes, nothing to do before ThursdayNothing to do
Nothing happened without you.
01 / After sending
The quote is sent. And then, nothing more.
The customer compares, thinks, calls, asks a question, goes on vacation. At home, these signals arrive by email, by telephone, sometimes in person. They disperse. In your tools, the quote remains “sent”. Until someone thinks about it again.
Twelve days after sending quote D-0412A signalYour follow-up
Telephone
D+1Question about deadline
Message
D+4“We’ll talk about it again after the holidays”
Email
D+7“Can you add the option? ”
Orally
D+10“We’re leaving there”
Your follow-up
Status: sent · unchanged for twelve days
And today, we ask ourselves:
- 01
Did he finally respond?
- 02
We sent him the version with the option ?
- 03
He had to call back after his vacation, right?
- 04
Who takes care of this quote?
- 05
Is it still valid?
- 06
Did we lose it on the price or on the deadline?
follow-up is not a writing problem. It's a memory problem.
However, each quote has already cost: a visit, an estimate, back and forths. To leave it without follow-up is to let this work lie dormant.
A quote without a response is not lost. A quote without follow-up begins to be.
Illustrative situations. Not a measure of customer results.
02 / What you have already tried
Each tool does its part. None holds the thread.
You are not without tools. You have several. What is missing is between them.
| What exists | What he does well | What escapes him |
|---|---|---|
| Someone's memory | She knows every customer. | When this person is absent, the quotes wait. |
| The reminder in the diary | It rings on time. | He does not know what has happened since the sending. |
| The tracking table | It gives an overview. | It's only fair the day someone updates it. |
| Automatic restart of the software | She leaves on the scheduled date. | She doesn't know what was said outside the tool. |
| CRM | He can centralize everything. | On the condition that everyone reports each exchange there. |
| The email model, or generative AI | It helps you write well. | He knows neither the version sent nor the last exchange. |
Sunday evening is not a tracking system.
A reminder schedule is not known that your client called yesterday.
A fixed sequence · two weeksAutomatic restartExchange with the customer
- 8Quote sent
- 9
- 10
- 11Follow-up #1
- 12
- 15
- 16Call: “we validate next week”
- 17Follow-up #2, sent anyway
- 18
- 19
We do not replace these tools. We link them, so that the rest of a quote no longer depends on a memory.
And if one of them is enough for you, we will tell you.
03 / A quote, until its response
The quote is sent. The next step is already planned.
Not a blindly programmed sequence. The same thread, which takes into account what happens, from sending to the customer's response.
Example quote · On-site intervention · Fictitious demonstration · no customer data
-
01Sent
The quote is based on your usual tool.
It is identified at the time of sending, without re-entry. He receives a follow-up: a manager, a deadline, a rule.
Your quoting software remains the starting point.
Quote
On-site intervention
- Options
- Carrycot access included
- Deadline
- Three weeks after agreement
- Validity
- Until Friday 26
The sequel attributed
- ResponsibleDesignated salesperson
- DeadlineFriday 26
- Rulefollow-up if no response on D+5
-
02Waiting
The silence is dated. Not forgotten.
The system monitors what may change next: a response in the email thread, an absence message, a new status, an approaching validity date.
Nothing is restarted before what your rule provides.
What is monitored
D+4 on D+5
- Reply in threadNone
- Absence messageNone
- Software StatusUnchanged
- ValidityIn six days
Next step on D+5: gather the context.
-
03Context
At the right time, everything is already gathered.
The version sent and its options, the last exchange, the deadline, the person who decides. Each element refers to its source. What is missing is marked as missing.
No assumptions presented as fact.
The sources behind the follow-up
- 1
Call note · Tuesday
Question about response time
- 2
Quote · version sent
Option included · three weeks after agreement
- 3
Validity date
Until Friday 26
- ?
To be confirmed
Who signs, on the client side?
- 1
-
04Prepared
Your follow-up is ready for review. It has not been sent.
An email that resumes the outstanding point, in the correct email thread. Or a call sheet, when a phone call would be more accurate.
In this example, the draft is waiting in your email.
ToCustomer contact
PurposeYour on-site intervention quote
Hello,
During our exchange on Tuesday, you are wondering about the response time. The quote provides for an intervention within three weeks after your agreement. It remains valid until Friday.
Do you want us to talk about it before then?
- 1Tuesday call note
- 2Quote, version sent
- 3Validity date
-
05Validated
You decide what goes.
Send, modify, postpone, call rather than write, or not follow up at all. What binds the company remains your decision.
The sending remains blocked as long as validation is missing.
Your decision
- Send
- Edit
- Report
- Call instead
- Do not restart
The sending awaits your validation.Validated by you · D+5, 9:14 a.m. · sent from your email
Simulation only. No email is sent.
-
06Response
The response updates the tracking.
Agreement, question, postponement or refusal: the system proposes the new status and the next action. After validation, your monitoring table or your CRM is up to date, and the reason for refusal is kept.
An ambiguous answer is submitted to you. It is not interpreted for you.
“Hello, it’s good for us. Can you schedule the intervention? ”
Proposed by the system
Agreement, to be confirmed by you · next action: plan the intervention
Your tracking table
D-0412On-site interventionWaitingAcceptedSimulation only. No tools are modified.
The operation presented is an example to be framed: related tools, access rights, reminder rules and validations are defined with your company.
What if the customer has already responded?04 / Know not to restart
An unanswered quote does not always call for the same follow-up.
A fixed sequence treats all quotes the same. Your customers, no. Depending on what they said, or not said, the correct outcome changes. Sometimes it's not a follow-up.
See more with
No response
A short reminder, which reminds you of the deadline and suggests an exchange.
AcceptableA generic reminder on D+7 may be suitable here.
You keep: timing and tone.
A question received
First respond, based on the quote. Then restart.
Out of timeThe generic follow-up leaves the question unanswered.
You keep: which involves a price or a deadline.
A requested change
No follow-up: a new version to prepare. The follow-up starts from this one.
Out of timeThe follow-up concerns an already outdated version.
You keep: the new quote.
A “yes” over the phone
No follow-up: a confirmation to prepare, then the follow-up planned by your rules.
Out of timeThe customer receives a follow-up after saying yes.
You keep: confirmation of the agreement.
“Call me back in March”
Not now: the rest is postponed to the said date. Nobody has to remember it.
Out of timeThe reminder arrives before the requested date.
You keep: advance or cancel the postponement.
A refusal
No insistence: the reason is noted (price, deadline, other service provider, abandoned project) and the quote is closed properly.
Out of timeThe client is restarted after a no.
You keep: a possible sequel, later.
Knowing when to pause is part of following up.
Revisiting all your quotes is not a goal. Just restart, yes.
Examples of situations to fit with you. Not a catalog of rules.
05 / Who does what
Agents who prepare. You make the decisions.
Behind this operation, several specialized AI agents, each on a specific task. No one has more rights than their task requires.
Six roles · choose one
- Reading
- Draft
- Alert or proposal
- Write after validation
Reading does not authorize writing. Prepare does not authorize sending.
- They don't negotiate a price.
- They don't promise a deadline.
- They do not invent missing information.
Automate sending?
This is possible for specific cases that you choose, for example a simple first reminder. It's a decision, not a default setting. It comes with you, and it can be removed.
Disabled by default: each follow-up awaits your validation.
If you decide, only for:
- a simple first follow-up;
- no response received, in any channel;
- on quotes without exchange in progress.
Decided with you · reversible · illustration
Access
Which mailboxes, which tools, which quotes?
The system only reads the necessary sources.
Traceability
Who validated what, and when?
Every submission and every update leaves a trace.
Errors
What if something fails?
An unexecuted action should not appear as done. If in doubt, refer the question to the right person.
Data
Where does your information go?
Hosting, conservation and rights are specified during scoping, according to your tools and constraints. No universal device is assumed.
An AI can make mistakes. Sources, rules, testing on known cases and your validation reduce risk. They do not replace your judgment.
Your tools stay. Your decisions too.
06 / An experience, in its rightful place
What we built. What we don't promise.
See the M&A case presentedProject presented on our site · M&A advice
For an international player in M&A consulting, we have designed an internal and client application which centralizes missions, targets, reminders, documents and reporting.
What this experience brings
A practice of reminders, status monitoring between several people, consistency with an existing CRM and validations.
What it doesn't prove
A signature rate, a quantified gain or a result already obtained on the quotes of a VSE or SME. Your first feed will be verified in your context.
Verification sheet
What we will check together.
Criteria set before building, measured on your quotes.
- 1
Does each quote sent have a person responsible and a next action?
To measure with you - 2
Do the reminders go out at the time stipulated by your rules?
To measure with you - 3
Are the answers linked to the correct quote?
To measure with you - 4
Do sensitive cases reach the right person?
To measure with you - 5
How long does it take to know the status of your quotes?
BeforeAfter
No signing rate promised. Criteria that you can check. These boxes remain empty until we have measured your case.
07 / A first perimeter
Start with your pending quotes. Keep the scope focused.
A flow that returns every week, identified tools, written rules. The scope, cost and success criteria are established before building.
Example of first perimeter
01 / BMThe starting point
Quotes sent from your usual tool.
The expected result
Each quote has a status, a next action and a reminder prepared to validate.
Responsibility retainedYou, for what leaves and what engages.
Outside this first perimeterNegotiation, invoicing, intervention planning.
It is relevant if
- you send quotes every week;
- several people are involved between cost estimate, sending and reminder;
- exchanges with your customers pass through several channels;
- a forgotten quote really costs, in amount or in relation.
Few quotes, simple, followed by just one person? A standard tool may be sufficient. This is the first thing we will check.
- 01
Based on your actual quotes.
Some recent quotes, your tools, the people who follow them.
- 02
Write your rules.
When to follow up, who, through which channel, in what tone. And when to abstain.
- 03
Replay known cases.
On old quotes for which you know the outcome: would the system have proposed the correct solution?
- 04
Put into use, then adjust.
Observe with the team the prepared reminders, validations and corrections, before expanding.
Step 03, in practice
Replay old quotes, the outcome of which is known.
The system offers a suite for everyone. We compare it to what really happened. A deviation becomes a rule to be corrected, before putting it into use.
| Quote passed | Known issue | Proposed continuation | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-0287 | Signed after a call | Call form on D+5 | Consistent |
| D-0301 | Postponed to the next quarter | follow-up on D+5 | Rule to correct |
| D-0322 | Refusal on the deadline | Fence, pattern noted | Consistent |
Illustrative example. Here, the postponement was announced by message: the rule is corrected before putting it into use.
Our MVP aims for a first value in four weeks, on an agreed scope. The costing depends on the tools to be linked and the necessary controls.
Once this thread is held, it continues: from the request to the quote, from the accepted quote to the intervention. See our VSE & SME approach
Before talking about it
Before following up, some questions.
My quoting software already does automatic follow-ups. What more do you bring?
Maybe nothing, and that's the first thing we check. An integrated reminder leaves on a fixed date. She doesn't always know that the client responded by phone, asked for another version or postponed their decision. We intervene when the continuation of a quote depends on information dispersed between several tools or several people.
Should you change your quoting software or CRM?
No, not on principle. We start from your tools: quotation software, messaging, spreadsheet or CRM. If your quotes are made in Word or Excel, the email that accompanies them can serve as a starting point. The possibilities of connection are verified in the scoping: we do not assume that an integration exists before having examined it.
Will an AI write to our customers for us?
She prepares, you decide. In the operation presented, each follow-up is a draft submitted to the right person. The automatic sending of certain reminders can then be considered, for cases that you choose, and remains reversible.
How long does it take to resubmit a quote?
There is no universal deadline. It depends on your business, the amount, the validity date and what the customer said. It's a rule that we write with you, then that the system applies without forgetting it.
How to resubmit a quote without harassing your customers?
By restarting less often, but more accurately: at the right time, with a useful element, and knowing when to stop. Your rules set the number of follow-ups, their rhythm and the situations where you abstain.
What happens if the customer has already responded?
The follow-up must reflect what has happened. Replies in the email thread are linked to the quote. A phone conversation can be recorded in one sentence to update the next step. While information is missing, the follow-up remains a draft.
Is our customer data protected?
Access, hosting and retention period are defined during scoping, according to your tools and constraints. The system only reads the sources necessary for the perimeter. No universal device is assumed.
Is it suitable for a small business?
The starting point is the volume and scope of your quotes, not the size of the company. If you send a few simple quotes, monitored by just one person, a standard tool or a well-kept ruler may be enough. In this case, we will tell you.
What budget and deadline should you plan for?
They depend on the tools to be linked, the number of people involved and the necessary controls. The first exchange serves to understand your situation. A possible mission is then the subject of a dedicated scope and proposal.
Let’s start with a real quote
Come with a quote
that remains unanswered.
In thirty minutes, we look at what has happened since it was sent, where the information has spread and what could be worth linking up. No confidential documents are necessary.
A real quote is enough to get started.
Let's talk about your quotesDo you prefer to write? contact@bm-automation-france.com