Increase Conversion of Quotes to Sales: Part 2

Follow-up with the customer in a timely manner after the quotation goes out to them.

Within a day or two, follow up with some basic questions. Ask the customer if they have any questions or require additional information. This will open a dialog to find out if there are any misunderstandings and is a perfect time to find out if you are competitive or not.

If your customer tells you that your price is too high, you would like to know by how much. If the customer does not want to let you know your competitor's number, then ask for a percentage. “Are we 5% too high, 10% too high”? You will usually get your answer. If for some reason you find out that you are off, like 30 % - 40 %, this usually means that you are not quoting the same materials, or your product quantities are off and there is something wrong. Have the customer check the competitor’s quotation. For instance: Aluminum versus stainless steel, laminated glass versus monolithic tempered, SGP interlayer versus PVB interlayer, and ?” glass versus 3/8“glass. There are several reasons why your pricing could have this much of a spread. Dig deep enough, and you will find out why. Afterwards, you can correct your bid, or the customer can have the competitor correct their bid. Now you are back in the game.

During the follow-up process, you will find out in some cases that you will not get the order.

Ask why. You can learn a lot from the customer explaining to you why you are losing this order. Sometimes you will not be getting the order immediately because the job has been pushed back several months. You will need to keep the quotation in a follow-up rotation for a future date. Sometimes you will lose the order because your product does not meet the performance requirements of the contract documents and specifications. Sometimes your product will not meet the warranty requirements of the contract documents.

Continuing to follow-up is an important procedure to win the order.

The National Sales Executive Association report states that:

• 2% of new sales are made on the first contact.
• 80% of new sales are made on or after the 5th contact.

Continuing to follow-up is an enormously efficient way of building strong relationships, developing trust, and is a subtle way to lead your prospects to give you the order. Spending the time to follow-up demonstrates your interest in your customer’s projects and will strengthen the customer/supplier relationship. Sending an email follow-up is a less intrusive way of finding out where you stand. An email follow-up also gives you a paper trail. The timing of a follow-up is not something you can put in stone. If you qualified the quotation properly, the information you received from the customer will guide you on the timing of each follow up.

In some cases, you will need to stop quoting and walk away.

Some accounts never or rarely buy from you, so remember how valuable your time is and avoid these traps that rob your focus.