This page answers: you sent a quote and heard nothing back. How long to wait, what to write each time, and when to stop.
When a buyer goes quiet
Silence after a quote is normal, and it rarely means a firm no. Following up well comes down to four things: make a fair guess at why they went quiet, follow up three or four times on a widening rhythm, give them something new and easy to answer each time, then close the thread politely and note when to try again. Four sample emails are further down.
First, guess why they went quiet
Before you write anything, reread your quote and their last message. How specific were they? Did they mention a deadline, a boss, an end customer? That tells you more than any template. The likely reason changes what your first follow-up should say.
| Likely reason | Signs | How to follow up |
|---|---|---|
| Still comparing | It looked like an RFQ sent to several suppliers; they asked for price and little else | Do not cut the price yet. Make your quote easier to compare: what is included (packing, certificates), lead time, payment terms. Ask which points they are comparing on. |
| Waiting on approval | They mentioned a manager, purchasing, a tender or their own customer | Ask when, not whether: "When do you expect a decision?" Offer what an approver needs, such as a one-page comparison or a list of certificates. |
| Your quote left something out | No Incoterm, validity date or MOQ, or one item not quoted the way they asked | Check your own quote first. If something is missing, send an updated quotation and say so in the subject line. |
| It never arrived | New contact, corporate mail server, a large attachment or a link in your email | Resend differently: key prices in the email body, a smaller attachment, or a short marketplace message asking whether it came through. |
| The project slipped | They said "next month" and next month came and went; a seasonal product past its season | Ask whether the project is still on and when it moved to. Set your next follow-up just before that date. |
| They are not buying | They chose someone else or lost the budget and did not tell you | Make "no" easy to say: "If you have gone with another supplier, a one-line reply is fine." A clear no is worth having. |
You usually cannot know which one it is. That is fine. Your first two follow-ups are the test: ask a question that is easy to answer, and the reply, or the lack of one, tells you which case you are in.
A rough follow-up rhythm
Use this as a starting point and adjust it to your product and buyer. The gaps widen on purpose. A buyer who is comparing or waiting on approval gets irritated by frequent nudges. Leave it too long and they may have already chosen.
- About 2 to 3 working days after the quote: first follow-up. Confirm it arrived and add one useful detail.
- About a week later: second follow-up. Try a different angle, such as an alternative model or quantity.
- One to two weeks after that: third follow-up. Ask the easiest question you can, like whether the project is still on.
- About two weeks later: the closing email.
That is roughly four messages over five or six weeks. If the buyer replied once and then went quiet, you can be more patient than this. For a brand-new inquiry that never turned into a conversation, three may be enough.
Build these into the calendar before you start:
- Time zones. Schedule follow-ups to land an hour or two after the buyer starts work, not in the middle of their night.
- The buyer's holidays. Late December to early January is slow across Europe and North America. August is slow in much of southern Europe. Business pace changes during Ramadan and around Eid in many markets. When in doubt, an out-of-office reply tells you more than a guess.
- Your own holidays. If you or your factory close for a long holiday where you are (for example, Chinese New Year), follow up on every open quote before it, with the closing and reopening dates, so buyers do not read your silence as lost interest.
- Quote validity. A few days before your quote expires is a natural, honest reason to write. See sample three.
Bring something new every time
"Just following up" and "Any update?" leave the buyer two answers: "still reviewing", or nothing. Put at least one of these in each follow-up:
- A missing detail: something they probably care about that the quote did not say, such as carton size, units per container, a certificate number, a photo of the actual product or a short video.
- An option: a price for a different quantity, a lower-cost alternative, a different Incoterm, or a sample first.
- A real date: quote validity, a factory schedule that affects lead time, your holiday closure. Only real ones. No invented "last chance".
- An easy question: one they can answer in a line or a number, such as "Roughly when do you need the goods at the port?"
Reply in the same thread and keep the quote number in the subject so they do not have to search for the original. Keep it shorter than the quote itself; four or five sentences is plenty. For what the quote should contain in the first place, see how to write a quotation email. For asking good questions early, see how to reply to a new inquiry.
Trying another channel
- Marketplace messages. If the inquiry came through a B2B marketplace, follow up there first. Follow the platform's rules on sharing contact details; do not push buyers off-platform against them.
- Phone. For a large project or an existing customer who gave you a number, a short call by the second or third follow-up is reasonable. Check their local time, say who you are and which quote, ask one question, and keep it brief. Do not read the quote down the line.
- Messaging apps. If the buyer has already chatted with you on WhatsApp or similar, a one-line nudge pointing to the emailed quote is fine. Do not hunt down a number they never gave you.
A second channel is for making sure the message lands. Email, call and chat on the same day feels like pressure. And keep follow-ups personal: one email written to one person beats a sequence blasted to a list.
Four sample follow-ups
These are samples continuing the made-up case from the previous guide: a buyer in Poland asked about 600x600 LED panel lights, and you have sent a formal quote. Replace everything in brackets.
Sample 1 · First follow-up (about 3 working days after the quote)
Subject: Re: Quotation [Q-0000] – LED panel 600x600, 2,000 pcs
Hi [Name],
Just making sure our quotation reached you. I have put the prices in the email below as well, in case the PDF was blocked.
One detail I left out: a 20ft container holds about [x] pcs, so 2,000 pcs would ship LCL. At [y] pcs the unit price drops to USD [z].
Which driver option are you leaning towards?
Best regards,
[Your name]
Sample 2 · Second follow-up (about a week later, an option)
Subject: Re: Quotation [Q-0000] – a lower-cost option
Hi [Name],
In case price is the sticking point: we also make a [36W] version with a standard driver at USD [x.xx], same size and CE. Spec sheet attached.
Would it help if I quoted both side by side?
Best regards,
[Your name]
Sample 3 · Third follow-up (quote about to expire, a timing question)
Subject: Quotation [Q-0000] valid until [date]
Hi [Name],
A quick note that our quotation is valid until [date]. After that I would need to recheck prices with the factory.
Is the project still going ahead, and roughly when do you need the goods in Gdansk?
Best regards,
[Your name]
Sample 4 · Closing email
Subject: Closing the file on [Q-0000] for now
Hi [Name],
I haven't heard back, so I'll assume the timing isn't right and stop following up on this quotation.
If you went with another supplier, a one-line reply is welcome; it helps me quote better next time. If the project comes back, just reply here and I'll update the prices.
Best regards,
[Your name]
What they have in common: every subject line points back to the quote, each email does one job, each ends with a single question, and none of them says "any update?"
When to stop, and how to write the last one
Stop when any of these is true:
- You have followed up three or four times on the rhythm above with no reply at all.
- The buyer has said no, chosen someone else, or asked you to stop. Stop straight away and thank them.
- They replied once with "we're reviewing internally" and two more follow-ups have gone unanswered.
Keep the closing email short and even-toned. Say you are stepping back, give them an easy way to answer (one line or one number is enough), and leave the door open. Skip the guilt ("I've emailed you five times"), the fake final discount, and anything that sounds hurt.
After you stop: write it down, come back later
Closing the thread does not mean deleting the buyer. Take a minute to note what you quoted (product, price, terms), how many times you followed up and with what, and your best guess at why they went quiet. Then set a date to try again: usually one to three months out, or just before a project date they mentioned.
When you come back, bring a real reason: a new model, a new certificate, a price change, or their pre-season ordering window. "Long time no see" plus a full catalog is just "following up" with a longer gap.
This is the part RelaySolo is built for. Client pages and follow-ups give every buyer one page with what you quoted and each follow-up; the app reminds you when someone has not replied for a few days, and a daily brief each morning lists the buyers to follow up today. The translated inbox lets you read mail in any language in one place and write in your own language, while the buyer receives your reply in theirs. The figures and documents you add to a follow-up come from inquiry to quote and your files. It is a computer app for Windows and Mac; see all features.
Common mistakes
- "Just following up" every time, with nothing new in any of them.
- Chasing the next day, or three emails in one week.
- Cutting the price before the buyer said it was too high, leaving nothing to negotiate with later.
- Starting a new thread each time so the buyer has to dig out the original quote.
- Email, call and chat message all on the same day.
- Ignoring time zones and holidays, so the buyer returns from the Christmas break to a stack of your emails.
- A closing email with an edge to it, or a deadline that does not exist.
- Not writing anything down after you stop, then reaching out three months later without knowing what you quoted.