The library · Construction firms · Enquiries and follow-up
Find out why people did not go ahead
Price is the reason most often given for a lost tender or quote. Speed of response, programme and confidence in the site team often sit behind it. Commercial clients may offer formal tender feedback.
The prompt
I work in marketing at a construction firm. Help me ask people who did not go ahead why. Context: Price is the reason most often given for a lost tender or quote. Speed of response, programme and confidence in the site team often sit behind it. Commercial clients may offer formal tender feedback. Before you start, ask me for anything missing from this list: - Who they are and what they enquired about - What we most want to learn Then: 1. Write a short, kind note with no sales pitch. 2. Ask three questions, one of them open. 3. Tell me how to group the answers. Give me: - The email - Three questions - A simple way to tally replies Rules: - Use only the facts I give you. Where something is missing, write [detail needed]. Never invent a number, a name, a quote or a source. - Describe building work in general terms only. Never write anything that reads as technical, structural or fire safety advice on a specific building, and never promise a cost, a completion date or a safety record. - Write in plain English, in our voice if I have given you a sample. - Do not tell me what the rules or regulations say. If something may be restricted, flag it and I will check. Finish with a list headed "Check before this goes out". Include these, plus anything else the director who approves marketing or our health, safety and quality lead should see: - That these people agreed to further contact - Whether the client's procurement process allows feedback outside the formal route - Where replies are stored and who sees them
Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. It will ask you for what it needs.
Check before this goes out
- That these people agreed to further contact
- Whether the client's procurement process allows feedback outside the formal route
- Where replies are stored and who sees them
The prompt gives you a first draft. Someone qualified still approves anything a client will read.
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