A good enquiry, no replies
A facilities manager uses your marketplace to request quotes for a large order of LED fittings with specific ratings, delivered to three sites. The request goes to every supplier in the category. Two reply after a week. One asks questions the request already answered. The rest say nothing. The buyer places the order elsewhere and does not use the RFQ feature again.
Meanwhile, suppliers complain that RFQs are a waste of time, because many are vague, tiny or from buyers who never order.
Why RFQs die in inboxes
For custom quantities, specifications and delivery, B2B buying runs on quotes. A marketplace RFQ feature has to match two sides with different frustrations. Buyers send requests without the detail a supplier needs. Suppliers get requests they cannot fulfil, because routing sends everything to everyone. Notification emails go to a general address. Nobody sets or tracks a response deadline.
| Problem | Buyer side | Supplier side |
|---|---|---|
| Missing detail | Did not know what to include | Cannot quote without asking |
| Poor routing | Request goes to wrong suppliers | Flooded with irrelevant RFQs |
| No deadline | Waits indefinitely | No sense of urgency |
| No visibility | Does not know who has seen it | Does not know competition |
What unanswered RFQs cost
Large orders are often the ones that come through RFQs, so every unanswered request is a big order lost. Buyers who have a bad RFQ experience stop using the feature, and sometimes the marketplace. Suppliers who are flooded with poor RFQs start ignoring them all, including the good ones.
There is a data loss too. RFQs tell you what buyers want that is not simply in the catalogue: custom sizes, bulk quantities, delivery to awkward locations, specifications nobody lists. When requests die in inboxes, that information disappears with them, along with the chance to recruit suppliers who could serve it.
And your team usually hears about the failure from the buyer, weeks later, when there is nothing left to do but apologise.
The RFQ handling we build
- Structured requests: buyers fill a request form tailored to the category, asking for the specifications, quantities, delivery locations and dates suppliers need, with AI helping turn a free-text description or an attached spec sheet into structured fields.
- Smart routing: each RFQ is sent to suppliers whose catalogue, delivery area, capacity and past quoting record fit the request, rather than to everyone.
- Deadlines: the buyer sets a response date, and suppliers see it clearly.
- Reminders: suppliers who have not opened or responded get reminders before the deadline, through email and, where they prefer, SMS through Twilio.
- Response tracking: buyers see which suppliers have viewed and responded, and your team sees RFQs at risk of getting no response, with time to invite more suppliers.
- Supplier scores: response rate and speed are recorded per supplier and fed into routing, so reliable suppliers get more RFQs.
RFQs that get answers
Buyers send complete requests and see responses arrive, with a comparison of quotes in one place. Suppliers receive fewer, better-matched RFQs with the details they need to quote. Your team steps in on the requests that are at risk, rather than finding out afterwards that nobody replied.
Over a few months, the response records show which suppliers take RFQs seriously and which categories lack suppliers willing to quote, which is useful for both account management and recruitment.
Are your RFQs going unanswered?
- Buyers complain that quote requests get no replies.
- Suppliers say most RFQs are not worth their time.
- RFQs go to every supplier in a category.
- Nobody tracks RFQ response rates by supplier.
- Buyers cannot see whether suppliers have read their request.