1. Read the enquiry and list what is missing.
Enquiries rarely arrive complete. Read the message once for what it says and once for what it leaves out. The usual gaps are the exact pickup address, the time, whether there is a return, the passenger count, the amount of luggage and a contact number for the day. For airport jobs, the flight number matters more than the terminal.
Ask for everything missing in one reply, not one question at a time. A single short message with a numbered list gets a faster answer and makes you look organised. If the customer has already given a detail, do not ask again, because that is the quickest way to look as if nobody read the enquiry.
- Check pickup, dropoff, date, time and passenger count.
- Ask about luggage, a return journey and a flight number.
- Send one reply that lists every missing detail.
2. Choose the vehicle from the group and the luggage.
Passenger count alone does not pick the vehicle. Six adults with six large cases need more space than six adults with hand luggage, and a saloon that seats four on paper may seat three with their bags. Check the capacity of the vehicle class you intend to offer against both numbers.
Think about the occasion too. A wedding, a business meeting and an airport run can call for different cars even when the numbers match. If your first choice is not available, say what you can offer instead and what the difference is, so the customer decides with the facts.
- Match passengers and large cases to real vehicle capacity.
- Confirm the vehicle class suits the occasion.
- Prepare a fallback class before you reply.
3. Pick the pricing basis before you pick the number.
Decide whether the job is a point-to-point transfer, a booking by the hour or a day with several stops, because each is priced on a different basis. Pricing a long, stop-heavy day as a transfer is a classic way to lose money, and pricing a simple airport run by the hour confuses the customer.
Build the price from your rate card, then add what applies: waiting time, extra stops, tolls, parking, out-of-hours work and extras such as a child seat. In 4fleet, the quote is calculated from your own vehicle-class rates and extras, and you can still adjust the lines by hand before it goes out.
- Name the pricing basis for the job before calculating.
- List waiting, stops, parking and extras separately.
- Check the total against your own minimum.
4. Write a quote that answers the next question.
Put the essentials at the top: the date and time, the pickup and dropoff, the vehicle, the price and the currency. Below that, state what the price includes and how you treat waiting time, extra stops and changes. A customer who knows the terms in advance is less likely to dispute them later.
If it helps, offer two options, for example a standard and a premium vehicle, and make the difference obvious. Add a validity date so the offer does not hang open for ever. In 4fleet, the quote goes out by email with a link to an accept page, and the number of days it stays valid is a setting.
- State the vehicle, total and currency at the top.
- Write down what is included and what costs extra.
- Give the quote a clear expiry date.
5. Follow up on a schedule, then stop.
Most quotes are not accepted straight away. People compare, check dates with colleagues and forget. A short follow-up a day or two later, and another before the quote expires, recovers a share of them. Keep each message brief and ask a simple question, such as whether the time is still right.
Stop when the customer replies or says no. Chasing someone who has answered is worse than not chasing at all. In 4fleet, follow-up sequences can be attached to a quote, and a reply from the customer cancels the steps still waiting, so nobody sends a reminder to a person who has already answered.
- Set a follow-up before the quote goes out.
- Send a final reminder before the expiry date.
- Remove the customer from the sequence once they reply.
6. Make acceptance a single step, then confirm.
The easier it is to say yes, the more often it happens. Give the customer one clear way to accept, and confirm straight away that you have the job. Acceptance is not the same as a confirmed booking, so tell them the next step: a driver, a confirmation message or a payment.
Then do the paperwork once. In 4fleet, a customer can accept on the public quote page and the accepted quote converts into a booking, and an expired link offers a way to contact you instead of a dead end. Whatever you use, make sure the booking carries the price from the quote and not a number retyped from memory.
- Offer one clear way to accept.
- Tell the customer what happens after they accept.
- Check the booking price matches the accepted quote.