Construction Quote Requests: How Small Contractors Handle Enquiries, Site Visits and Tender Invitations

BOTrento Team13 October 20268 min read

Three kinds of construction enquiry and what each one lacks

Each type needs a different first reply.

• Direct quote requests come from homeowners, facilities managers and small businesses. They often leave out the site address, access, the condition of the existing structure, drawings, the budget and the deadline. Most of them can't be priced until someone visits the site.
• Subcontract packages from main contractors usually include a scope and drawings. What's missing is the commercial side: payment terms, retention, the programme, who supplies what, and whether your price is a budget figure or a contract price.
• Formal tenders have a fixed deadline, a set format and usually a clarification window. Here the question is whether pricing the job is worth your time.

Log all three with the same fields: client, type, site, deadline, owner, next step and the date of that step. A shared spreadsheet is enough to start with. Pipedrive or HubSpot also work, as long as every enquiry has a named owner and a next action.

A bid/no-bid triage rule for tender invitations

Pricing a tender properly can take days of estimator time. Before you start, answer these six questions. If more than two answers are "no", decline politely and move on.

Write the decision and the reason in your log. After a few months you'll see which clients and types of job are worth pricing.

Step by step: replying to a quote request that needs a site visit

1. Reply the same working day. Confirm what you understand the job to be and explain that you need to visit to give an accurate price.
2. Ask only for what you need before the visit. That means access, a contact on site, any existing drawings or photos, the target completion date and a budget range.
3. Offer two specific visit slots. People answer faster than they do to "when suits you?"
4. Say when the estimate will arrive after the visit, then send it by that date.
5. After the visit, send a written summary of what's included, what's excluded and what you've assumed.
6. Log the promise. "Estimate by Thursday" needs an owner and a date in your log.

Subject: Your enquiry: roof replacement at [site]

Hello [Name],

Thank you for getting in touch. As I understand it, you'd like the roof covering on [building] at [address] replaced before [month].

To give you an accurate price, we'll need to see the site. Could you let me know:
– access arrangements and who will meet us there
– any drawings, surveys or photos you already have
– whether the building will be in use during the work

We can visit on [day, time] or [day, time]. Within [number] working days of the visit, you'll receive a written estimate showing what's included, what's excluded and how long the work will take.

Kind regards,
[Name], [Company], [Phone]

For general habits that speed up replies, see five steps to replying to sales enquiries faster. If the request is vague, use the qualifying approach for turning vague B2B requests into proposals. It works for building work too.

Tender invitations: deadlines, clarifications and declines

Once you've decided to bid, plan backwards from the deadline.

• Set an internal deadline before the real one. This leaves time for a final review and for any problems with the upload portal.
• Request supplier and subcontractor prices first, and give each one a firm return date.
• Ask clarification questions early and in writing through the official route. Keep the answers with your pricing.
• Price what's written and list your exclusions. Don't pad the price to cover unclear scope.
• Number your versions whenever an addendum arrives. Our guide to quote versions when the scope keeps changing has a numbering method you can use.

If you decide not to bid, say so before the deadline:

Subject: [Tender reference]: unable to submit

Hello [Name],

Thank you for inviting us to price [project]. Unfortunately, we can't submit a tender this time because [reason]. We'd be glad to be considered for future [type of work] packages.

Kind regards,
[Name]

Follow-up: chasing clients and main contractors

Estimates can go quiet while a client arranges funding or a main contractor waits for its own award. Silence doesn't mean the answer is no. Follow up on a fixed schedule:

1. A few days after sending: check that the estimate arrived and offer to explain any items.
2. About a week later: ask where the decision stands and who else is involved.
3. Before your price expires: remind them of the validity date.
4. Main contractors: ask when the main contract will be awarded, and plan your next follow-up for that date.

Each follow-up should add something new, such as a changed lead time or a phasing option. If you keep losing track of who you're chasing, read how to stop forgetting quote follow-ups.

How BOTrento runs this process for a small contractor

BOTrento Chief of Staff is a managed process for enquiries, quotes and follow-ups. It doesn't replace your CRM or your estimating. Its job is to make sure nothing gets left in the inbox.

• What you connect: your enquiries mailbox via IMAP. With Gmail, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, you use forwarding or an import for now. You can also upload your enquiry log or a CRM export as CSV/XLSX. Within 24 hours on working days, someone from our team gets in touch to help you set it up.
• What you see each working morning: a Today 1+3 overview in the app and by email. It shows the one most important task, such as a tender clarification, plus three more, such as an unanswered request for a visit or an estimate you promised for Thursday.
• What you approve: draft replies, quote emails and follow-ups in English, German, French or Czech. Nothing is sent until a person approves it. It also picks up promises in your emails, such as "estimate by Friday", and reminds you of them.
• What it doesn't do: it doesn't read attachments, so drawings and tender packs stay with your estimator. It doesn't read your calendar or confirm visit dates.

If your mailbox is connected via IMAP, the trial starts with a "Lost money" report. It looks back for enquiries and quotes that were never followed up. AI usage is included in every plan. See the pricing page or a walkthrough of the process. Alternatively, start the 14-day free trial. You don't need a card or an API key, and the 14 days start only when your first data upload succeeds.