The reason quotes remain pending is almost never that there is no CRMThe system in which customer contact, quotes and appointments are recorded. is. The problem is that no one knows which quotes are outstanding and who is following up on them.
First, the numbers
Before you set anything up: calculate what it costs you. Most SMEs are shocked by this.
Suppose you send fifteen quotes a month with an average value of € 8.000. You win four of them, or 27 percent. The same thing repeatedly emerges in practice: a quote followed up by phone within five working days performs significantly better than one you leave untouched.
Take the conservative estimate — ten percentage points. On 180 quotes a year at € 8.000, that's € 144.000 in additional revenue. For half a day of setup work and a habit.
This is also the figure that will convince your own team. Run the numbers with your own figures before reading on.
Type over this order number. Once is doable. Forty times a day, every day, is a job.
The three things you really need
One list
Not your salesperson's inbox. Not a folder of PDFs. One list showing every quote sent, with at least: customer, amount, send date, status, follow-up date, owner. If you're currently using separate Excel lists for each salesperson, then integrating systems without duplicate data entry the fastest step from there.
The hard requirement: that list needs to be populated automatically. A list that someone has to update manually will be out of date in six weeks. If your quotes come from AFAS, Exact, or a quoting tool, have them flow into it automatically. If you already use a package like that, then Connect AFAS and Exact the easiest way to make that happen.
A follow-up date that is mandatory
Every quote gets a follow-up date when it’s sent. No date means the quote can’t go out. This is the only rule that really matters.
Default: call three working days after sending, then after seven days, then after fourteen. After three attempts, the quote is marked "no response"—that's a status too, and a more honest one than "open".
One owner per quote
Not "sales" but a name. With two names, no one does it.
Follow up on quotes without setting up CRM with Microsoft 365
For the vast majority of SMEs we work with, this is sufficient, and there are no additional licensing costs.
- Step 1 — the list. Create a SharePoint list called "Outstanding quotes" with the columns above. Use a dropdown for the status: Sent / Followed up / In negotiation / Won / Lost / No response.
- Step 2 — populate automatically. With Power Automate, you can automatically create a row for every new quote from your package. If you still work with quotes in Word or PDF, connect it to the folder where they are stored.
- Step 3 — the reminder. A workflow that checks every morning which quotes need following up that day and creates a task for the owner. Not an email—email is where tasks go to die.
- Step 4 — the weekly overview. One email to management every Monday morning: what’s open, what was won and lost last week, and what’s past its follow-up date. Five lines. This is what keeps the system alive.
- Step 5 — status discipline. Once a week, ten minutes, update the statuses. Together at first, then on your own.
The practical test: ask this afternoon how many quotes are open and what they’re worth in total. If the answer takes longer than thirty seconds, the list doesn’t exist — no matter how strongly someone insists it does.
The way it works now
- The appointment is in one colleague's mailbox
- Data is manually retyped from one system to another
- The person who knows is on vacation
- No one can see afterwards why this decision was made
As it is
- The agreement is stored with the client, findable for everyone
- Once entered, information flows through to the rest
- Work continues, even if someone is absent
- Every decision has a source, an owner, and a date
Why a CRM often doesn’t work in small businesses
The pattern of failed CRM implementations is always the same. A CRM requires data entry discipline from people who spend all day on the road or in the workshop. The system gets filled for three months, then partially, then not at all. What remains is an expensive list that no one trusts — and the mailbox becomes the leading source again.
That doesn't mean a CRM never makes sense. It makes sense when:
If you’re below that threshold, a CRM mainly buys you an adoption problem.
The pitfall: automating before you clean things up
A common mistake is that companies choose a tool first and then think about the process. Then you automate the chaos.
Do it the other way around. First answer these four questions on paper:
- When is a quote “out”? When it’s sent, or only after the estimator approves it?
- Who owns it—the estimator or the salesperson?
- When is a quote lost? After how many attempts, or only when the customer says so?
- What do we do with quotes the customer keeps “under consideration”?
Without those answers, you'll build a system that won't survive its first exception.
What you can have within a week
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Answer the four questions above with Sales and management |
| 2 | Create a list, define columns and statuses |
| 3 | Add outstanding proposals from the past three months |
| 4 | Set up automatic creation and reminders |
| 5 | Set up a weekly overview and spend thirty minutes bringing the team up to speed |
From week two onward, maintenance takes ten minutes a week. It never needs more than that.
Do your quotes come from AFASDutch ERP package for administration, HR and payroll. Many SMBs have their single source of truth in it. or Exact, then automatically populating the follow-up list is a minor intervention. You can read how that works in Connect AFAS and Exact. If the problem is broader — knowledge tied to individuals rather than the business — start with what a Bedrijfsgeheugen is.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, provided the file is in one place in SharePoint or OneDrive and no one makes copies. As soon as two versions are circulating, the list is worthless. A SharePoint list prevents that from happening.
Three business days after sending is a good standard. More important than the exact number of days is that it always happens.
Then have the follow-up list populate automatically from that package. It's a small integration that prevents duplicate data entry.
Exactly. A task on your phone works better than a system you have to sit down at a desk to use.
If you do it yourself, it only costs time. If you have it set up, including integration with your package, it usually costs between € 1.500 and € 4.000 one-off.
Prefer to have it set up for you?
We set up quote follow-up using what you already have—Microsoft 365, AFAS, or Exact—with a fixed price upfront and no new package.
From knowing to doing
This article helps you get oriented. Then view the concrete approach for connecting systems in SMEs.