In Freightos' 2021 mystery-shopper study, 8% of quoting forwarders followed up. A polite, well-timed chase on the same thread — day 2, then day 5, then a graceful close — costs nothing and captures wins that silence forfeits. If the industry ignores 92% of its own sent quotes, following up is a competitive strategy by itself.
A cadence that respects the customer
- Day 2: same thread — "checking this reached you; validity holds till Friday." Short, useful, zero pressure.
- Day 5: add something: a validity reminder, an alternative sailing, a small option. Give a reason to reply.
- Day 10: the graceful close — "assuming this one's parked; we're here when the next shipment comes." It converts surprisingly often.
Classify every reply
The chase's real value is intelligence: every response sorts into accepted, negotiating, lost-to-price, or gone-quiet. Lost-to-price tells you about your lanes; gone-quiet tells you about the enquiry's quality. A desk that classifies replies learns; one that doesn't just sends more emails. This is precisely the kind of unglamorous, consistent work that an automated desk never gets bored of.
From reading to seeing.
Every idea on this page runs live in a working quote desk. Bring a real RFQ and watch.
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