How to Follow Up On A Quote And Win The Job 

Navigating a sales deal to a successful end has a number of intrinsic steps to it. Among them is sending a professional quote to potential customers that encourages them to convert. However, sending the quote doesn’t always mean the prospect will give you the job. They’re often sourcing quotes from different providers and suppliers, and they might need a little nudge along the way to help them select yours over the others. 

Once you’ve done the hard work of sourcing a lead and sending them your professional quote it makes sense to spend a little more effort in helping them to convert. For that, you need to build into your ways of working quote follow-ups. This is one of the effective ways of improving your conversion rates. But how do you follow up to ensure that you convert your leads into customers without appearing too pushy? This article is a simple guide on how to win jobs by following up on quotes.

Step 1: Implement a quoting system 

The first step in effective follow-ups is to have an excellent quoting system in place. Think about the ways you want to communicate with your prospects. What type of follow-up communications do you want to send? Do you have a script for your phone calls? Do you have the tools you need to ensure the quoting process follows through?  

Say for example you run an HVAC business (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning). You can automate your quoting process using specialist field service industry tools such as the one provided by Jobber. Within this, consider everything that makes an excellent quoting process even as you automate. You’ll be able to implement your preferred system once you have created and specified the method you want to follow. Similarly, you’ll be able to make your follow-ups more effective and productive. A systematic system ensures you’re not losing promising customers because of admin loopholes, such as forgotten quotes. This is true in whatever industry you operate in.

Step 2: Define your follow-up goal  

After setting up your preferred system and assembling all the right tools in place, ask yourself what you want to achieve with your quotation process. What action or response are you looking for? Are you looking to get an appointment? Or maybe a commitment with a down payment? It could even be that you have a time frame that you want to see your prospect take action.  

To achieve whichever target you set, you need to have a defined goal for the follow-up. Knowing this will help you determine the action to take and how to go about it. Your goal should be something achievable. If your immediate goal is too big, don’t be afraid to break it down into smaller steps, such as offering a free trial for your services. This is particularly helpful when looking to build a solid rapport with your prospects.

Step 3: Make your subject line count 

It’s entirely possible to spend a lot of time putting suitable quoting systems and follow-up goals in place and forget to put the same effort into the subject lines of your emails. A good subject line is crucial when following up on your quotes. This alone can be the difference between customers opening your email and doing business with you, or not. 

Depending on your business, you can make it as creative as you want it to be or remain formal. The main point is to capture the attention of your prospects. Some examples of a good way to craft subject lines include:  

• Ask a question: Questions make good subject lines because they share a summary of your reason for writing and they invite the prospect to respond at the same time. 
• Give an incentive: Since you already know what you want the prospect to do, an incentive within a subject line reframes your goal from a prospect’s perspective. Understand the prospect’s needs and write what they want to hear in the subject line.

Step 4: Focus on your purpose 

Whether you’re following up a quote on a call or email, you need to have a good reason for reaching out. If you want to win the job, try and be as specific as possible. 

It’s common for most people to make assumptions about why a prospect hasn’t responded. Then, they frame their communication along those lines. Instead, focus on your purpose and not why a prospect is taking time to act. This helps make your follow-ups less pressuring and more like extending a professional gesture. 

Use encouraging and friendly language that may prompt a prospect to take action. Going with something like requesting they stop by your premises when they’re in the area rather than asking them to respond to an email might work better.  

Step 5: Include a call to action 

This is where you prompt the prospect to action with something specific. For the best chances of winning the client over, you need to make the call to action as convenient to the prospect as possible. 

For example, a follow-up email with the ‘schedule now’ button can make a prospect book an appointment quicker instead of asking them to call back for a booking. The back and forth isn’t only time-consuming but might cause you to lose a lead. 

Conclusion 

One of the worst mistakes you can make isn’t following up on your quotes. The second is failing to follow them up effectively. Hopefully, you can use the steps and tips above to ensure that you convert your leads to customers and win those jobs.