Following up on quotes on WhatsApp:so none of them go cold unanswered
The quote goes out, the customer sees it and does not reply. The rep has twenty others open and, by the time they remember, the customer has bought from someone else. An AI agent picks up every quote on time, answers questions, logs the status in Salesforce and alerts the rep when it is time to close. Here is the cadence, the templates WhatsApp requires and how to measure it.
How do you follow up on a quote on WhatsApp?
You follow up on a quote on WhatsApp with a short cadence defined in advance: a message to clear up questions while the conversation is still open, a reminder before the quote expires and a last touch when it does. Once 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message, every touch requires a template approved by Meta, which is billed according to its category.
What changes with an AI agent is that nobody has to remember. The agent knows what was quoted, to whom and when it expires, picks the conversation back up at the set time, handles the objections your rules let it resolve and passes the rep the quotes that are ready to close or need a commercial decision. Every touch and every reply is logged in Salesforce.
Why quotes nobody follows up on go cold
In B2B sales, the quote that has been sent is where the most deals are lost without anyone noticing. There is no no: there is silence. And silence rarely means a lack of interest; it almost always means something was left unresolved on the customer's side.
On the rep's side, follow-up competes with everything else. By their own account, reps spend 70% of their time on tasks that are not selling (Salesforce, 2024), and last week's quote is the first thing to fall off the list.
- They are comparing: they asked three suppliers for quotes and will pick the one that answers their questions first, not always the cheapest.
- It is not their call alone: the quote goes to purchasing, a partner or a committee, and nobody gives the contact arguments to defend it internally.
- An unspoken objection: the price, the lead time or the payment terms do not work for them and, instead of saying so, they go quiet.
- The price expires unnoticed: when the customer comes back, the quote is no longer valid and has to be redone, with another delay.
- Nobody knows what is open: quotes live in each rep's email and phone, and the CRM does not show which ones are still alive.
How often to follow up on a quote
There is no magic number of days, but there is a principle: few touches, each with a reason. Asking every other day whether they had a chance to look wears down the relationship and, on WhatsApp, ends in blocks that lower your number's quality rating with Meta. A touch that adds something (an answered question, an expiration date, an alternative) gets a reply.
This cadence is a starting point for B2B sales with quotes valid for one or two weeks. The days are adjusted to your sales cycle and deal size, and reviewed against the reply rate of each touch.
| When | What the agent does | Message type |
|---|---|---|
| When the quote is sent | Sends the summary, asks if anything is unclear and offers the PDF | Free-form message, within the 24-hour window |
| Before the window closes | If the customer has not replied, follows up with a specific question: quantities, lead time or payment method | Free-form message, while the window is still open |
| After 2 or 3 business days | Reminds them of the quote number and how long it is valid, and offers to answer questions | Approved template |
| One or two days before it expires | Lets them know the price expires and on what date | Approved template |
| When it expires | Offers to update the quote if the customer is still interested and closes the follow-up | Approved template |
| Whenever the customer replies | A new 24-hour window opens: the agent talks freely, adjusts quantities and quotes again | Free-form messages |
An example cadence, not a rule. Each company sets the days, the send times and how many touches it allows based on its sales cycle.
An open quote is not a dormant customer: this cadence is for quotes that are still valid. Reactivating customers who stopped buying months ago is a different job, with different rules and different messages.
Which templates you need after 24 hours, and which category they fall into
One WhatsApp rule shapes the whole follow-up. As long as the customer wrote in the last 24 hours, the agent can reply with free-form messages, which are service messages: the first 1,000 per number per month are free and, after that, they are billed at the country's utility rate. Once that window has passed, you can only message the customer with a template approved by Meta, and each template is billed according to its category.
Meta decides the category when it reviews the template, based on its content and not on what you call it. Under its template categorization guidelines, a template is utility when it refers to a specific transaction the customer requested and has no promotional intent; if it mixes information with promotion, it is classified as marketing, the most expensive category.
Two more conditions apply. To message a customer first, with any template, they must have agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from you, and the natural moment to ask is the same conversation where they requested the quote. And Meta limits how many marketing templates each person receives, so a cadence built on marketing may not get through in full.
| Template | Sample content | Likely category |
|---|---|---|
| Quote reminder | The quote #1234 you requested expires on Friday. If you have questions, reply to this message | Utility, if it only informs about the quote the customer requested |
| Expiration notice | Your quote #1234 expires tomorrow. If you want to go ahead or need changes, reply to this message | Utility, as long as it does not add discounts or sales urgency |
| Sales follow-up | Did you get a chance to review the quote? If you go ahead this week, we will hold the price and the delivery date | Marketing: it pushes the purchase |
| Reactivation | We quoted you a month ago; new stock just came in and we have a special offer for you | Marketing |
Examples for guidance. Meta reviews every template when approving it and can change its category; check the current rules in its documentation.
Run the numbers first: a cadence built on utility templates costs much less than one built on marketing, and the replies when the customer writes back are service messages. Estimate the monthly cost with the WhatsApp API cost calculator; the full model is in the WhatsApp Business API cost.
How the agent handles objections to the quote
Almost every quote that goes unanswered has an objection behind it. The agent works through them within your commercial rules: what can be solved by applying your policy, it solves in the chat; what calls for a decision, it hands to the rep with the full conversation.
| Objection | What the agent does | When it goes to the rep |
|---|---|---|
| It is expensive, I got a better price | Checks whether a volume tier or a payment-terms condition applies, within the maximum discount you set | If the customer asks for more than the authorized maximum or compares with a competitor's price |
| The lead time does not work for me | Checks stock in other warehouses or suggests an equivalent product that is available | If it needs a special delivery or dispatch priority |
| I need different payment terms | Shares the terms that apply to that account, based on its balance | If they ask for terms or credit beyond what they have been assigned |
| I need to check with purchasing or my partner | Resends the quote as a PDF, offers a summary to share and asks when to follow up | If the contact asks for someone to help them present it |
| I need to change quantities or products | Recalculates with the customer's price list and resends the updated quote | If the change includes off-catalog products |
| I already bought or I am not interested | Thanks them, asks for the reason without pushing and closes the follow-up | No need: it logs the loss reason in Salesforce |
The thresholds (maximum discount, credit, strategic accounts) are set by each company during implementation.
How it is logged in Salesforce and when the rep gets an alert
Automated follow-up only works if the team can see what is happening. That is why every touch and every reply is logged in Salesforce, on that customer's opportunity and quote, and the status updates itself: sent, in conversation, about to expire, won or lost, with the reason.
The rep stops chasing quotes and gets the ones that matter. The agent alerts them when the customer shows buying intent, when an objection needs a commercial decision or when a strategic account goes quiet.
- Status per opportunity: the stage and the date of the next touch, visible on the opportunity and in team reports.
- Loss reasons: price, lead time, competition or a postponed purchase, logged in the customer's own words.
- Rep alerts: a task or a notification in Salesforce with the conversation summary, so they step in knowing what happened.
- Quotes from any source: the ones the agent quoted and the ones a rep built, as long as they are logged in Salesforce.
When the customer says yes: the quote becomes an order in the same conversation, as we cover in WhatsApp order taking, and if needed it gets paid right there: see WhatsApp payments.
The metrics for quote follow-up
Measure before you automate: the win rate on quotes from the last few weeks is the baseline everything is compared against. These six metrics show whether follow-up is working and which touch to adjust.
| Metric | What it measures | How it is calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Quotes won | End-to-end conversion | Quotes that became orders over all quotes sent, in the same period |
| Reply rate per touch | Which message in the cadence works | Customer replies over messages sent, for each touch |
| Unanswered quotes | How many are lost in silence | Expired quotes with no reply at all from the customer |
| Time to close | How fast the sale moves | Days between sending the quote and the order |
| Loss reasons | Why deals are lost | Breakdown of the reasons logged on lost opportunities |
| Messaging cost per sale | What follow-up costs on WhatsApp | Spend on templates and service messages over quotes won |
Pull the data from Salesforce and the ERP, not from an estimate, and compare the same customer segments before and after.
How an AI agent follows up on quotes
From the quote sent to the order or the loss reason, with nobody keeping a spreadsheet of pending items.
It spots the open quote
It pulls it from Salesforce, whether the agent or a rep built it, with the customer, the products, the amount and the expiration date.
It schedules the cadence
It sets the touches according to your rules: days, send times and which template fits each moment.
It picks the conversation back up
Within the 24-hour window it writes freely; outside it, it uses the approved template that applies.
It answers questions and objections
It clarifies products, lead times and terms, and applies tiers or discounts within the maximum you set.
It updates Salesforce
It logs every touch, every reply and the status of the quote, with the reason if it is lost.
It alerts the rep or takes the order
It passes on the quotes that are ready to close or need a decision; if the customer accepts, it takes the order.
Speed, rep time and channel rules
Third-party figures with a published source, to size the problem. None of them is a Sellium result: every implementation is measured against the company's own baseline.
7x
More likely to qualify a lead when contacting it within the first hour than an hour later
70%
Of sales reps' time goes to tasks that are not selling, by their own account
24 h
From the customer's last message to write to them without a template; after that, only with an approved template
1,000
Free service messages per number per month: they cover the replies when the customer picks the conversation back up
Caveats: the Harvard Business Review figure measures web leads contacted by phone or email, not quotes on WhatsApp, and is used as a reference for the value of responding quickly when the customer resurfaces. The Salesforce figure is based on what reps report themselves. Meta updates its rules and rates several times a year: check the current ones in its documentation.
Sellium: follow-up that does not depend on anyone's memory
Sellium is delivered configured with your commercial rules, your templates and your Salesforce: it is not a platform to build on. It picks up every quote at the right moment, answers what your rules allow and leaves the rep only what needs a person. How the agent builds the quote is in automated WhatsApp quotes.
Sellium
AI sales agent for WhatsApp
Sellium is Vantegrate's AI sales agent for WhatsApp: it runs on the official API, quotes from your price lists, follows up on every quote, takes the order and logs everything in Salesforce, around the clock.
Explore SelliumSecure AI agents
Sellium runs 100% on Salesforce and Oracle Cloud infrastructure, certified SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001. Vantegrate enables, the customer operates and certifies.
See the security modelISV and Consulting PartnerRuns inside your Salesforce
Sellium reads and writes your objects, respects your profiles and permissions, and works alongside Agentforce and your existing flows.
Vantegrate and SalesforceFrequently asked questions about following up on quotes on WhatsApp
What sales teams ask before letting an agent follow up on the quotes they send.
How often should you follow up on a quote?
How often should you follow up on a quote?
With few touches, each with a reason: one while the conversation is still open, another after two or three business days, a notice before it expires and a close-out when it does. The exact days depend on your sales cycle and how long the quote is valid; what matters is that the cadence is defined and does not depend on someone remembering.
What should I send a customer who does not reply to a quote?
What should I send a customer who does not reply to a quote?
Something that clears up a question, not a generic check on whether they saw it. A specific question works better (quantities, lead time, payment method), as does the expiration date or an alternative if something did not work for them. If they still do not reply after the cadence, close the follow-up with a friendly message and log the quote as lost with no known reason.
Can I message a customer on WhatsApp after 24 hours?
Can I message a customer on WhatsApp after 24 hours?
Yes, but only with a template approved by Meta. Within 24 hours of the customer's last message you can write freely; after that, every message the business starts is a template and is billed according to its category. The customer must also have agreed to receive WhatsApp messages from you.
Are follow-up templates marketing or utility?
Are follow-up templates marketing or utility?
It depends on the content, and Meta decides the category when it approves the template. A neutral reminder about the quote the customer requested, with its number and expiration date, usually qualifies as utility; if it adds a discount, urgency or an invitation to buy, it becomes marketing, the most expensive category. You can estimate the difference with the WhatsApp API cost calculator.
Is the follow-up logged in Salesforce?
Is the follow-up logged in Salesforce?
Yes. Sellium runs inside Salesforce: every touch, every reply and the status of the quote are logged on the customer's opportunity, with the loss reason if it does not close, respecting your org's profiles and permissions. The rep gets an alert when there is something to close.
How much does it cost to automate quote follow-up with Sellium?
How much does it cost to automate quote follow-up with Sellium?
Sellium is priced in two parts: an initial implementation quoted for each company and a monthly subscription with AI credits that scale up, with no lock-in. You pay for WhatsApp messages, follow-up templates included, directly to Meta, on your own account and with no markup from us. For your number, request a quote with your quote volume.
Give every quote its follow-up
Tell us how many quotes you send a month, how long they take to close and who follows up on them. We will show you how Sellium would pick each one back up, with your rules and your templates, and how everything would be logged in Salesforce.