Customer enquiries and quotation requests

Make sure every serious enquiry reaches the right person

Collect the message and files, point out what is missing, assign the next action and remind the team while the customer is still waiting.

Tell us how enquiries arrive See what we can help with

What happens today

The customer’s email is in the inbox, but nobody owns the next step

A customer sends a request to the shared sales inbox: 120 cut brackets, drawings attached, delivery needed next month. The material grade is missing. One employee opens the email, sees that an estimator must review it and plans to return to it later.

Meanwhile, new messages push the request down the inbox. The estimator never sees it, nobody asks the customer for the missing material grade and the CRM still contains no opportunity. Several days later the customer follows up or sends the work to another supplier.

The first improvement is simple: every relevant request should become a visible piece of work with its files, missing information, owner and next action in one place.

How it can work

Give every enquiry an owner and a clear next action

  1. CollectWatch the agreed inboxes and forms for new customer requests.
  2. OrganisePut the company, contact, requested work, deadline and attachments into one record.
  3. CheckPoint out a missing drawing, material, quantity or contact detail.
  4. AssignSend the request to the right estimator or salesperson and show what they need to do next.
  5. ReplyPrepare a clarification or acknowledgement for the owner to review and send.
  6. RemindBring the request back to attention if no reply or follow-up is recorded by the agreed time.

Who does what

The system organises the request. A person owns the customer conversation.

What the system can prepare

  • Collect messages and attachments from agreed channels
  • Copy the contact, request and deadline into useful fields
  • Create or update the enquiry in the current CRM or register
  • Show missing details and requests that have had no response
  • Prepare a reply and a follow-up task for review

What the salesperson or estimator decides

  • Whether the requested work fits the company
  • What an unclear drawing or requirement means
  • Who should handle an unusual request
  • What to say, what to quote and what the company can promise

Cases that need a person

The system should never invent a customer requirement

  • A detail is unclear: show the original sentence beside the proposed field and ask for review.
  • Required information is missing: keep the enquiry open and prepare a clear question for the customer.
  • The customer or request may already exist: show the possible match before combining records.
  • A message is ready: let the owner edit and approve it before anything is sent.
  • Someone asks what happened: keep the original message, attachments, owner, changes and replies together.
A typical request after the first automatic check. The estimator receives the useful context without searching the inbox.

What the customer sent

“Please quote 120 cut brackets for delivery next month.” Drawing files are attached, but the material grade is not stated.

What the estimator sees

New quotation request for 120 parts. Drawings are attached. Material grade is missing. The enquiry is assigned to the estimator and a short clarification email is ready to review.

A practical way to start

Begin with one inbox and one clear transfer of responsibility

  1. One enquiry list: bring messages from a selected inbox or form into a shared queue.
  2. Use the current CRM: create the agreed fields, owners and stages in the software the team already has.
  3. Add the useful checks: find missing details, prepare replies and remind the owner when nothing happens.
  4. Choose the right location: process drawings and customer data through an agreed hosted or local setup.

Where this helps

Teams that receive technical enquiries with files and missing details

This is useful when requests arrive by email or forms, several people may handle them and the estimating work begins only after somebody organises the information. It can prepare a request for quotation, but the estimator still decides the price and delivery promise.

How many places can a new enquiry wait unnoticed?

Tell us where requests arrive, who should receive them and what is usually missing. We can suggest a useful first step without asking for customer files in the first message.

Tell us about the enquiry flow
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