Acknowledgment

How do you acknowledge a quote request?

To acknowledge a quote request, restate the request in the customer’s own words, say what happens next and when, and ask no question. A Muzau agent can acknowledge the requests it receives: it reuses their words, announces the next step, and if its reply still asks a question, Muzau has it rewritten, once. You choose whether it sends on its own or after your approval, and the quote stays with your team.

Why acknowledging a quote request matters

A quote request often arrives while the customer is comparing options. Until they have received something, they do not know whether it got through, or whether anyone has read it. The quote itself takes time, and in between, silence breeds doubt.

The stock message “We have received your message” says neither which request nor what comes next. A good acknowledgment proves someone read the request and tells the customer when they will hear back. Your team keeps the pricing and the relationship; it is this first message, to be written for every request at any hour, that the agent takes on.

How the agent goes about it

Input

A quote request received by email or through the website form

It does

Confirms the request in the customer’s words, announces the next step, opens its follow-up line

It delivers

An acknowledgment in the customer’s words, and a dated request in its file

An acknowledgment in the customer’s words, with no question

If you ask it to acknowledge requests, a Muzau agent confirms receipt using the words of the request and says what happens next. Its instruction is to ask the customer nothing: if its draft still asks a question, Muzau has it rewrite its reply, once at most, and the second version stands as it is. The one exception is a message too vague to tell what it is about: the agent then asks a question, just one.

An acknowledgment written as soon as the request arrives

A request that reaches the agent’s address is handled on receipt, and a connected Gmail or Outlook inbox is reread every minute. The acknowledgment is written right away, day or night. You choose whether the agent sends it on its own or shows it to you first, and reply hours can push the sending to the next opening. By default, the email carries a line at the bottom saying it was prepared by your company’s AI assistant. For a request that came from a WordPress, Typeform or Tally form, see replies to the contact form.

The next step promised in the acknowledgment has someone to keep it

An acknowledgment promises a next step. In a reply in French, Muzau spots the promise to get back to the customer, and the reply then waits for you in “To approve”. It is not held if the agent also passes you the request in a “To do” card, or if it keeps a file: Muzau then tells you when it is complete. A reply that suggests a date that neither your calendar nor the message provided also waits for you. As for the lead time announced, the agent is instructed to take it from the Brain, what Muzau knows about your business. When a customer is waiting for an answer that depends on you, Muzau lets you know right away, by email or in Slack or Microsoft Teams, then reminds you if it is still waiting after four hours.

Every quote request gets its own dated line

A follow-up agent opens one line in its file for each request received by email: the date, the customer, the subject. Two requests from the same customer make two lines. The date stays that of the request, and follow-ups are counted from it. You have to give the agent permission to write in the file, which is refused by default, and the file can be copied into Google Sheets. To see what happens to each line next, see request tracking.

A template for acknowledging a quote request

An acknowledgment fits in four or five lines, in this order.

• The subject line: reply in the customer’s thread, so the rest stays in one place. Otherwise, restate the request: “Your quote request for [subject]”.
• The request, in their words: “We have received your quote request for [what they ask for, in their terms].” It is proof that it was read.
• The next step: who takes it, and when. “[First name] is preparing your proposal and will send it by [day].” A deadline you keep, not one that merely reassures.
• The open door: “If anything changes before then, just reply to this email.” It is an invitation, not a question.
• The signature: a name, and a way to reach the team.

The right moment is the same day, while the customer still has their request in mind.

Three mistakes come up again and again. The identical message for everyone, which could answer any request. Questions slipped into the acknowledgment: the customer answers them and waits for a real reply that nobody has prepared. The deadline promised then missed, which does more harm than no deadline. If you can answer the substance right away, do; if you lack information to price the job, ask for it in the reply to the quote request, not in the acknowledgment.

What it does not do

• It does not handle the request in the acknowledgment: it confirms and announces the next step, and the quote stays with your team.
• It does not guarantee a reply with no question at all: the rewrite happens only once, and a message too vague gets a question.
• It opens a follow-up line only for a request received by email, and only if you have given it permission to write in its file.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need to acknowledge every quote request?

Yes, as soon as the quote cannot go out right away: with no news, the customer does not know whether their request arrived. If you can answer the substance within the hour, a real reply beats an acknowledgment.

What lead time should you give in a quote acknowledgment?

The one your team is sure to meet, even if it is longer than hoped. A Muzau agent is instructed to announce only the lead times found in your company’s Brain, and a reply in French that suggests a date coming from neither your calendar nor the message waits for your review.

Can an automatic acknowledgment go out at night or on weekends?

Yes. A Muzau agent writes its reply on receipt, day or night, and sends it on its own if you have allowed it and nothing holds it back, such as a promised next step with nobody to keep it. With reply hours, an acknowledgment ready at night goes out at the next opening, and until then you can correct it or send it right away.

Can you set up an automatic quote acknowledgment in Gmail or Outlook?

The auto-reply in Gmail or Outlook sends the same text whatever the request. A Muzau agent connected to your Gmail or Outlook inbox rereads it every minute and writes to the requests it receives an acknowledgment that reuses their words. It does not reply to automatic messages, such as out-of-office replies, newsletters or no-reply addresses.

How do you keep track of every quote request received?

Note each request on its own line, with its date, the customer and the subject. A Muzau follow-up agent does this for every request received by email, if it has permission to write in its file, and that file can be copied into a Google Sheets spreadsheet.