Sales Inquiry Meaning: Inquiry vs Enquiry vs Lead vs RFQ, and What to Do With Each

BOTrento Team13 October 20268 min read

Inquiry vs enquiry: same thing, different spelling

Inquiry is the usual spelling in American English. Enquiry is the usual spelling in British English, especially for everyday requests for information. In a sales context they mean exactly the same thing, so a "sales inquiry" and a "sales enquiry" are the same.

Some British style guides keep "inquiry" for formal investigations (a public inquiry) and use "enquiry" for ordinary questions. For your business, pick one spelling and use it consistently in your website forms, email labels and CRM fields. A consistent spelling makes searching and reporting easier. If your team searches for "enquiry" while half your deals say "inquiry", the search will miss half of them.

From here on, this article uses the British enquiry.

Enquiry, lead, quote request, RFQ: what each one means

These four terms often get mixed up because they can describe the same buyer at different stages. Here is how to tell them apart.

How they relate

Every enquiry comes from a lead, but most leads never send an enquiry. A quote request is a more specific type of enquiry. An RFQ is a formal quote request with rules attached. Related terms you may also see are the RFP (request for proposal, where the buyer wants your approach as well as a price) and the RFI (request for information, which is an earlier fact-finding step).

Why the label changes what you do

A lead needs nurturing. An enquiry needs an answer and a question back. A quote request needs a price. An RFQ needs a compliant response by a deadline, and if you miss the deadline you are usually out, however good the offer.

Which ones deserve a fast reply

Speed matters most when the buyer has already done the work of writing to you. Use this order of priority:

1. RFQs with a near deadline. Confirm receipt the same day. Check whether you can meet the spec, and decide whether to bid. If you won't bid, say so politely.
2. Quote requests with a date. Events, rentals and installations depend on dates. Availability changes, and the buyer is often asking several suppliers at once.
3. Open sales enquiries. Reply quickly with an answer, one or two qualifying questions and a next step. Our guide to qualifying enquiries with five questions helps you decide in minutes whether a full quote is worth preparing.
4. Leads without a question. These can wait for a planned sequence, such as a newsletter or a check-in call.

If replying fast is the problem rather than deciding what to reply, see how to reply to sales enquiries faster in five steps. A quick reply is only useful if it moves things forward, and these first-reply mistakes are the usual reasons it doesn't.

How to label enquiries in your inbox or CRM: step by step

You don't need a new system. You need a few labels everyone uses the same way.

Step 1: Agree on four type labels

• LEAD: a contact with no question yet
• ENQ: a general sales enquiry
• QR: a quote request for a specific job
• RFQ: a formal request with a spec and a deadline

Step 2: Add a status label

Use New, Replied, Quote sent, Waiting for client and Closed. Type tells you what it is, and status tells you what to do next.

Step 3: Set it up in your tools

• Gmail: create labels such as Sales/QR and Sales/RFQ and apply them when you triage the inbox.
• Outlook: use colour categories with the same names, so a shared mailbox shows the type at a glance.
• Pipedrive or HubSpot: add a required field called "Request type" with the four values, and put the RFQ deadline in its own date field rather than in the notes.

Step 4: Record the promised next step

Every QR and RFQ gets a date: when you will send the quote, or when you will follow up. If there's no date, it isn't under control.

Step 5: Review open items daily

Each morning, filter for New and anything whose date is today or overdue. That review takes a few minutes and catches most of the enquiries that would otherwise slip through.

Template: acknowledging an RFQ

Subject: RFQ [reference] – received

Hello [Name],

Thank you for including us in your request for quotation for [project]. We have received the specification and will send our response by [date], ahead of your deadline of [deadline].

One question so we can quote accurately: [specific question about scope, quantity or delivery].

Best regards,
[Your name]

After the quote: where most deals go quiet

Labelling gets the first reply right. The next weak point is what happens after the quote is sent. Quote requests and RFQs both end in a priced offer, and a priced offer that nobody follows up usually just goes quiet.

Move every QR and RFQ to Quote sent and give it a follow-up date as soon as it goes out. For what a follow-up is and a simple routine to stop forgetting them, see how to stop forgetting quote follow-ups. For timing and wording, read when to chase a quote and what to write.

How BOTrento handles enquiries, quote requests and RFQs

BOTrento Chief of Staff is a managed process for enquiries, quotes and the sales steps that come after them. It does the sorting and reminding for you, while a person stays in charge of every decision.

• It watches your mail and data. It tracks enquiries and quotes in a connected mailbox (IMAP) or in data you upload from your CRM or a spreadsheet (CSV/XLSX). Gmail, Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 work by forwarding or import for now.
• A daily overview. Every working morning you get a "Today 1+3" overview in the app and by email, showing what to do first.
• Drafts, not sending. It prepares draft replies, quotes and follow-ups in four languages. Nothing is sent until a person approves it.
• Promises tracked. When someone writes "I'll get back to you by Friday", it records the promise and reminds you.
• Honest limits. It works from the email text and does not read attachments, so an RFQ spec in a PDF still needs your eyes. It doesn't confirm bookings and it doesn't replace your CRM or accounting.

AI usage is included in the plan, and you don't need your own API key. You can see the flow in the process walkthrough, read how it fits equipment rental or event and production companies, and compare plans on the pricing page. The simplest test is to start the 14-day free trial. You don't need a card, and the 14 days only begin once your first data is uploaded.