Kit Barber's company lost a £30,000 contract because nobody followed up after sending a quote. The client chose a pricier competitor instead, then admitted they would have picked Kit's firm if asked again. He now treats follow-up as mandatory customer service, not chasing.
This exact lead cost me £30,000. It was a commercial job. We sent the quote and then nothing. No follow-up call, no second email, no clear ownership. Everyone assumed someone else was flipping well dealing with it. 2 months later, I bumped into the client. I asked how the project had gone and he told me he'd gone with someone else. They charged him more, but they delivered him less and he wasn't flipping happy. The hardest part, he actually said to me, we'd have been better off going with you. He just never got the chance to say yes because we never asked twice. And that was the moment that I realized something. The biggest sales leak isn't losing to your competitors, it's disappearing before your customer has made a decision. That's why we now have a follow-up process for every single quote that leaves the business, because following up isn't chasing, it's just good customer service.
