A quote request comes in. Maybe it is a phone call while you are on a roof, a message on Facebook at 9pm, or an email between two jobs. You tell yourself you will get back to them. By Friday you cannot remember whether you did.
Neither can they. They called someone else on Wednesday, and that person called back within the hour.
Free: the Enquiry Leak Check. A two-minute check that shows where enquiries slip away in your business. Take the check
What it quietly costs you
Nobody sends you a notice when this happens. There is no lost-sale line on your books. The job just goes somewhere else, and you carry on believing you were too busy for it. Add up a few of those a month and it is one of the biggest bills your business pays, and it never arrives.
Why it stays invisible
This is not a selling problem, and you are not bad at following up. It is a memory problem. Enquiries arrive in five different places, and the only system holding them is your head. A short routine that does not depend on memory fixes it.
The process: five steps from enquiry to answered
1. Make one door in
Every enquiry, from any source, becomes one record: who they are, what they need and where it came from.
Example: “Facebook message at 9pm: Priya, kitchen quote, added to the list.”
Pro tip: Do it the moment the enquiry arrives, before you do anything else.
2. Reply within the hour, even briefly
A short acknowledgement beats a perfect answer tomorrow. It tells them you exist and that you are coming.
Example: “Thanks Priya, got your message. I will send a quote by Thursday.”
Pro tip: Say when they will hear from you, then keep that promise.
Free: the Enquiry Leak Check. A two-minute check that shows where enquiries slip away in your business. Take the check
3. Give every enquiry a next step and a date
A record with no date is a record that gets forgotten. Write down what happens next and when.
Example: “Quote Thursday. Follow up Monday.”
Pro tip: Look at the dates every morning. Anything past due gets done first.
4. Send the quote, then follow up
A quote with nothing after it often goes quiet. Check in at a set time. The Quote Follow-Up Pack has five ready-to-send messages for this.
Example: “Just making sure my quote reached you and opened properly.”
Pro tip: Put the follow-up date on the list before you send the quote.
5. Review the list weekly
Every Friday, look at open enquiries and close or move each one on. Note won or lost and why.
Example: “Six open, two won, one lost on price.”
Pro tip: What you learn about why you lose is worth more than the list itself.
Where this runs
All five steps work on a spreadsheet or paper. When enquiries and quotes pile up, we run the same process inside the business system we set up for clients, so enquiries land in one list and the follow-up dates remind you. The process is the point. The tool just keeps it going when you are busy.
Your next step
Try step one today: start the list and put the next enquiry on it. If you want to see where else enquiries slip away in your business, the free two-minute Enquiry Leak Check will show you, and the Quote Follow-Up Pack covers the follow-up messages.
Free: the Enquiry Leak Check. A two-minute check that shows where enquiries slip away in your business. Take the check