Quotes awaiting a reply

Can you follow up on all your old unanswered quotes at once?

Yes, you can follow up on old unanswered quotes in one go, but the follow-ups are spread over several days. A Muzau agent rereads up to 180 days of your mailbox and shows you the conversations left without a reply, with the amount written in the email. You hand it up to 30 at a time, then at most 10 new people enter the follow-up each day. By default, you review each follow-up before it goes out.

Why old quotes sit in the mailbox

A quote goes out, the customer does not reply, another request comes in. After a few weeks, nobody dares follow up: you no longer know where things stood, and finding each email means digging through the mailbox. The pile grows without anyone deciding it.

Following up on everything the same evening is not a better idea. Thirty emails sent at once look alike, and the replies all come back on the same day. Your team keeps the judgment: knowing which quote is still worth a follow-up. The agent finds the quotes, sorts them and keeps the pace.

How the agent goes about it

Input

Your connected mailbox, up to 180 days back

It does

Finds the quotes left without a reply, shows the amount written in the email, follows up on the ones you tick

It delivers

Follow-ups spread over several days, which stop when the customer replies

Finding old quotes up to 180 days back

When you connect your Gmail, Outlook or Microsoft 365 mailbox, or an IMAP mailbox such as those from OVH or Ionos, the Muzau agent rereads the last 60 days, messages received and sent. For an older pile, you widen the period in steps of 15 days, up to 180. At each reread, at most 48 conversations are examined, starting with those whose attachment or subject line look the most promising. The others are counted, and you have them examined on request, with the cost in credits announced.

The amount written in the email, never an estimate

Each conversation kept shows the largest amount in euros mentioned in the subject or text of the last email, when there is one. The screen totals these amounts, without adding two versions of the same quote sent to the same person. A quote whose price is only in the attachment shows nothing. Conversations are sorted from the largest amount mentioned to the smallest: you see where to start.

Only conversations that are still open are offered

The sorting is the same as for any follow-up with a silent customer (see how to follow up with a customer who does not reply): only the conversations where the person still owes you an answer or a decision remain. For a given person, only the latest exchange counts: if you have written to each other since the quote, the old subject is not followed up. A conversation the AI is unsure about is shown to you separately, and you decide. The same list also shows the requests left unanswered on your side.

Up to 30 quotes handed over at once, 10 new people a day

You tick the quotes to follow up on and hand them to the agent, up to 30 at a time. For the others, you click “Not that one”, or “Never chase” to set a person aside. The agent applies these choices to later rereads. You review and correct each text before handing it over. After that, at most 10 new people enter the follow-up over 24 hours, and the others wait for the following days. Since these quotes are more than 3 days old, the first follow-up goes out on the agent's next run: by default Monday to Friday at 9 a.m., Paris time. Everything stops as soon as the customer replies, or when someone on the team writes to them from the connected mailbox.

The method for catching up on a pile of old quotes

With or without a tool, a catch-up is prepared before the first send.

• Start by making the list, without sending anything: customer, date, amount, last exchange.
• Set aside what was settled elsewhere: a customer who replied by phone, a quote redone since, a project you know has been dropped.
• Rank by amount and by chance of signing, not by date: start with the quotes that matter most.
• Check that your prices and lead times still hold. An old quote followed up as it stands can commit you to a rate you no longer charge.
• Follow up in small batches, a few a day, so you can answer every customer who comes back.
• Give a reason to write now: an updated version, a question left open, a lead time that has freed up.
• Set an end: after two or three follow-ups with no reply, mark the quote as lost, with the reason when you know it. See how many times to follow up with a prospect.

Example to adapt: “Hello Claire, I'm getting back to you about the quote I sent you a few weeks ago. Would you like me to send you an updated version?” For a quote sent last week, the rhythm and wording are in following up on a quote.

What it does not do

• It does not read the amount in the attachment: only an amount in euros written in the subject or text of the email is shown, with no guarantee that it is before or after tax.
• It does not go back further than 180 days, and examines only 48 conversations per reread: the others wait for you to have them examined, with the cost in credits announced.
• It sees neither a phone call nor an email exchanged in a mailbox that is not connected: if a customer has already replied that way, set their quote aside yourself.

Frequently asked questions

How long can you follow up on an old quote?

As long as your prices and lead times hold, a quote that is several months old can still be followed up, with an updated version if needed. A Muzau agent goes back up to 180 days in your mailbox to find the ones left without a reply.

How many old quotes should you follow up on per day?

A few a day, so you can answer every customer who comes back. A Muzau agent lets at most 10 new people into the follow-up over 24 hours, even if you hand it 30 at once. Follow-ups go out by default Monday to Friday at 9 a.m., Paris time.

How do you follow up with a customer who received two versions of the same quote?

Follow up on the latest version only, so the customer is not left choosing between two prices. A Muzau agent does the same: for a given person, only the most recent exchange is followed up, and two versions of the same quote are not added together in the total shown.

What happens if the customer answers a quote follow-up by phone?

A call is not seen by the Muzau agent: you cancel the follow-up yourself. A reply in the same thread stops it, even from another address, as does a text message or a message in the site chat linked to their email address. An out-of-office message does not count as a reply.

How do you sort hundreds of unanswered quotes in your mailbox?

Start with the highest amounts and the projects that are still alive. A Muzau agent examines 48 conversations at each reread, first those the subject line or attachment mark as promising, and sorts them from the largest amount mentioned to the smallest. The others are counted, and a button has them examined after first announcing an estimate of the cost in credits.