Following up on marine quotes without being a pest

Purchasers in ship management are juggling dozens of vessels. An open quote might be waiting on a budget approval, a changed ETA, or simply sitting under fifty newer emails. Suppliers who follow up well get more orders from the same RFQs. Suppliers who follow up badly get filtered to a folder nobody reads. The difference is mostly timing and usefulness.

When to follow up

• Urgent or short-notice RFQs: a quick check the same day, ideally by phone or message, if you have not heard back within a few hours.
• Normal port calls: a single follow-up two or three working days before the latest sensible order date for the vessel’s ETA.
• Large or planned orders such as dry dock or a full provisions load: one follow-up after a week, then a final note before your prices expire.

Tie the timing to the vessel, not to your sales target. Purchasers respond to suppliers who clearly understand their schedule.

What to say

A follow-up should add something, not just ask “any news?”. Useful additions include a confirmed price that was pending, an alternative for an item you could not supply, an updated delivery option if the ETA moved, or a reminder of when prices expire. For example:

Short, specific, and it gives the purchaser a reason to act now.

After a loss

If the order went elsewhere, send one polite note. Thank them, and ask a single question: was it price, timing, or something about the quote? Many buyers will answer in a line. Log the answers. After a few months, they tell you more about your pricing and turnaround than any market report.

Keep track without a heavy CRM

You do not need an elaborate system. A shared list of open quotes with vessel, ETA, value and next follow-up date is enough to stop things slipping. If you want something built for chandlers, see ship chandler CRM options. Either way, the follow-up only works if the quote went out quickly in the first place, which is where Tidal helps.