A Quote Follow-Up Sequence for Air, LCL and FCL

Follow up an air quote on day 1 and day 3, an LCL quote on day 2, 5 and 10, and an FCL quote on day 3, 7, 14 and 30, because each mode keeps its rate valid for a different length of time.

Air, LCL and FCL quotes do not go stale at the same speed, so following all three up on the same rhythm wastes the fast ones and annoys the slow ones. The sequence below is built around how long the rate stays worth anything.

Most forwarders run one follow-up habit, if they run one at all: chase when you remember, usually on a Friday, usually too late. The fix is not more discipline. It is a different cadence per mode.

Why the mode sets the clock

An air rate can move within a day. A shipper sitting on an air quote is usually under time pressure themselves, which means the first forwarder to come back with a clean answer often wins before the others have opened the enquiry.

LCL sits in the middle. Consolidation schedules give the customer a few days of breathing room, and they are frequently comparing three offers on a spreadsheet.

FCL moves slowest. The decision may involve a procurement department, a budget cycle or a customer of the customer. Chasing an FCL quote daily reads as desperate.

The sequence

Air: first touch on day 1

Send the quote. If nothing comes back by the next working morning, follow up the same day, and do it on a channel the person actually reads. For many air customers that is not email. A short message asking whether the rate still fits the timing will get an answer where a formal reminder will not.

Second touch on day 3, framed around validity: the rate holds until this date, after that we requote. Then stop. An air enquiry that has gone quiet for a week has usually been booked elsewhere.

LCL: first touch on day 2

Give the customer one full working day. Follow up on day 2 with something useful attached rather than a bare reminder. The next sailing, the cut off, a note on the consolidation. The message has a reason to exist.

Second touch on day 5, third on day 10. If the ready date has passed and nothing moved, close it as lost and keep the lane on file.

FCL: first touch on day 3

Wait three working days, then check in once. Second touch on day 7, third on day 14, framed around the rate expiry rather than around your pipeline. A fourth touch at day 30 works surprisingly often, because procurement cycles slip.

What every touch needs

• A reason that belongs to the customer, not to you. Rate expiry, schedule change, space situation. Never just checking in.

• One clear question that can be answered in a word.

• A stop rule. A reply, any reply, ends the sequence. Nothing damages a relationship faster than an automated chase arriving after the customer already answered.

Wording for each of these is in our seven RFQ follow-up email templates.

Why this fails when it is manual

None of the above is difficult. It is simply impossible to hold in your head across forty open quotes while operations is running. The cadence collapses the first week something goes wrong, and it never comes back. What happens to those quotes is covered in why forwarders lose quotes they already priced.

That is the argument for automating it rather than writing it on a whiteboard. A system that knows the mode, the rate validity and whether a reply arrived can run this without anyone remembering. As an example configuration, RYNR triggers the sequence from the mode on the quote record and stops it the moment a reply lands. You can see the mechanics on our features page.

Measure one number first

Before changing anything, count how many quotes you sent last month and how many you never heard back on. That second number is the size of the problem. Everything else is opinion until you have it.

For the wider question of which system should own this at all, see our piece on what a freight forwarding CRM is and is not.

Frequently asked questions

How many times should I follow up on a freight quote?

Two touches for air, three for LCL, three or four for FCL. Beyond that the return drops sharply and the relationship cost rises.

Should follow-up be email or message?

Match the channel the enquiry arrived on. Air enquiries that came by WhatsApp are answered by WhatsApp. Formal tenders stay on email.

Does automated follow-up feel impersonal?

Only when it ignores the reply. An automated sequence that stops on any response and carries real detail about the shipment reads as organised, not robotic.

What if the rate has already expired?

Say so and requote. An expiry is the strongest reason to make contact you will ever get, because it is about their cost rather than your pipeline.

To see the sequence running on your own lanes, book a demo.