How much for a table?
The contact form on your website has three fields: name, email, message. Most messages say something like 'Hi, how much would a dining table be?' You reply asking about size, timber, style and timescale. Some people reply. Some take several exchanges to describe what they want. Some, once you give a ballpark, say they were thinking of something closer to a high street price.
Meanwhile, the enquiry that would have become a lovely commission sits among the others until the weekend.
Why enquiries arrive empty
People browsing a maker's website often do not know what bespoke furniture involves or costs. The contact form does nothing to help them.
- The form asks nothing about the piece.
- There is no guidance on price, so expectations vary wildly.
- Every enquiry needs a personal reply to start the conversation.
- Promising enquiries are not distinguished from casual ones.
- Photos and room sizes arrive later, by separate email, if at all.
What vague enquiries cost
Every back-and-forth takes time out of the workshop or out of your evening. Serious enquiries wait behind casual ones and sometimes go elsewhere. Budget mismatches discovered late are awkward for both sides. And without information about where enquiries come from and what they become, it is hard to know whether your marketing works.
An enquiry form that does the first conversation
- The form asks, step by step, what the piece is, rough dimensions or the space it goes in, timber preference, any inspiration images, timescale and a budget range.
- Where you choose to, it shows typical price ranges for common pieces, so people arrive with realistic expectations. We never publish figures you have not chosen yourself.
- Photos of the room and inspiration images are uploaded with the enquiry.
- Each enquiry is sorted by your rules, such as budget fit, timescale and piece type, and the promising ones are flagged for a quick reply.
- Enquiries that are a poor fit get a polite, honest reply you have written, perhaps suggesting a smaller piece or your made-to-order range.
- All enquiries are listed with where they came from and what happened, so you can see which channels bring work you want.
| Detail | Plain contact form | Guided enquiry form |
|---|---|---|
| What the piece is | Sometimes | Asked |
| Size or space | Rarely | Asked, with photo upload |
| Budget range | Almost never | Asked, with guidance |
| Timescale | Rarely | Asked |
| Which to reply to first | Order received | Sorted by your rules |
Replying to the right people first
Your first reply to a promising enquiry can be a real response, because you already know the piece, the space and the budget. Casual enquiries get a courteous answer without taking your evening. Clients arrive with a better sense of what bespoke work involves. And you can see where your good enquiries come from, which is useful when you decide where to spend on marketing.
The form also gives you a better first meeting. When you arrive for a design visit already knowing the space, the timber preference and the budget range, the conversation can go straight to design. Clients notice the difference between a maker who asks the same questions again and one who has clearly read what they sent.
Are enquiries eating your time?
- Most enquiries need several emails before you know what they want.
- Budget mismatches come to light late.
- Good enquiries wait behind casual ones.
- Photos and sizes arrive separately or not at all.
- You do not know which marketing brings commissions.