Quotation follow-up and enquiries
Quotation replies: question, refusal or acceptance?
Treat a customer reply according to its actual meaning. “That looks interesting” is not necessarily acceptance, and asking about price does not authorise a discount. Route unclear or mixed replies to the owner with the original wording retained.
Understand the task
A simple status model helps only if it allows unknown and needs clarification. The model must not make replies more positive to improve a conversion chart. Follow-up must stop or change when customers decline, ask questions or request no contact.
Prepare these inputs
- Offer reference and original customer reply.
- Approved statuses and an owner for clarification.
- Rules for refusal, opt-out and already accepted offers.
A practical workflow
- Read the whole reply with the current offer reference. Retain questions and conditions.
- Suggest an administrative category and expose uncertainty. Let staff confirm binding status.
- Pause routine follow-up for clarification or opt-out and assign the next action to an owner.
Worked example, not a customer case
An illustrative example
Illustrative example: the customer writes “We are interested if delivery can change.” Record a conditional enquiry rather than an order. The owner assesses the change and replies. A generic scheduled message asking whether they have seen the offer should not run alongside it.
Test failures and exceptions
| Test input | Expected outcome |
|---|---|
| The reply contains both interest and a condition. | Retain the condition and require clarification. |
| The customer writes no thanks. | Stop routine follow-up. |
Evaluate whether it helps
Review false acceptance, missed refusals and follow-up during active dialogue. Use staff review as the reference. Positive-word counts are not a reliable measure of accepted offers.
Next step: Test a conditional reply, question and refusal before introducing automatic categorisation.
Sources and scope
Examples are editorial exercises using fictional information. They do not describe completed customer tests or activated integrations. The authority source below provides AI and data background rather than approval of the exercise.
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