A quote in someone's inbox
A buyer who has just had an offer accepted gets three conveyancing quotes: one from the estate agent's panel firm, one from a comparison site, and one from you. Yours is clear and fair. Then nothing happens. They have questions (what does 'leasehold supplement' mean, is the search fee fixed) and nobody asks them. They instruct the firm that rang them back.
Your team sent forty quotes last week. Nobody can say how many became instructions or why the rest did not.
Why quotes do not convert
Quoting is usually treated as the end of a task rather than the start of a sale. The quote goes out from a calculator on the website, a portal or a template, and then sits. Following up takes time that case handlers and quote teams do not have.
People choosing a conveyancer are often making the decision quickly, under pressure from the estate agent. Whoever answers their questions first and makes it easy to proceed tends to win.
| After the quote | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| Follow-up call or email | Rarely, or only for large quotes |
| Answering questions about the quote | Only if the client rings |
| Making it easy to instruct | Client has to ring or email to ask how |
| Recording why the quote was lost | Not done |
What unconverted quotes cost
Every quote represents an enquiry the firm has already paid for, through marketing, referral fees or staff time. When most go nowhere, the cost per instruction rises and nobody can see why. Without reasons for losing, the firm cannot tell whether it is losing on fees, speed of response, or something else.
Referrers notice too, if clients they sent never instruct.
Timing matters more in conveyancing than in most legal work. The estate agent is usually pressing the buyer to name a conveyancer within a day or two of the offer being accepted, so a follow-up sent a week later arrives after the decision has been made.
How we build quote follow-up
- Record every quote: quotes from your website calculator, quoting portals and staff are recorded in one place with the client's details, the transaction and the source.
- Timely follow-up: the client gets a follow-up email or text on a schedule you set, from a named person, with an offer to answer questions.
- Answer common questions: follow-ups include plain explanations of common quote items (leasehold work, searches, disbursements) written by your firm, so questions are answered before they are asked.
- Easy to go ahead: a single link lets the client accept the quote and start instruction: client care documents, ID check and payment request, depending on your process.
- Staff call list: quotes that have been opened but not accepted are listed for a call by your team, in priority order.
- Lost reasons: when a quote is lost, the reason is recorded (price, went with agent's panel, sale fell through, no response), so the firm can see patterns.
What the quoting team sees
Every quote has a follow-up without anyone having to remember. Clients who want to go ahead can do so in one step. Staff calls go to the people who have shown interest. Partners can see conversion by source and why quotes are being lost, which is useful when deciding on panel memberships and fees.
The quote stops being a message in a bottle.
Signs your quotes need this
- Quotes are sent and not followed up.
- You cannot say how many quotes became instructions last month.
- Clients have to ring or email to ask how to instruct.
- Nobody records why quotes are lost.
- Quotes come from several places and are not tracked together.