Contact Buyers

Direct contact with the buyer

You are in direct contact with the buyer, without Quel intervening in any way. The buyer sends you inquiries and you are free to contact the buyer subsequently. You may use Quel's bulletin system, just send in your bid via e-mail or using Quel's quotation wizard, or you just give him a call. Buyers sometimes explicitly indicate how they want to be contacted. Next, you try to invite the buyer to visit you, you offer to pay him a visit, send your company brochure or a link to your company profile. You do everything you would normally undertake to bring your company forward to the prospected buyer. The buyer and you communicate about the inquiry directly. Quel does not play any role in this part.

Whom am I doing business with?

Before you decide to contact the buyer you would consider if there is a match between your and the buyer's company. Calculating a quote takes time and money. Therefore, a quick scan of the buyer profile allows you to make a first assessment of who you are dealing with. Every request you receive includes a link to the buyer's company profile. This Buyer Profile provides you with some background information and key figures of the company - which are the customer's products, to which end markets and which are the main buying categories relating to manufacturing?

Contact the customer directly

You are in direct contact with the buyer, without any interference by Quel. The buyer decides which subcontractors he invites and he is the immediate sender of the request you receive in your e-mail. It is up to you to contact the buyer. You may send a quotation, but also other means of communication allow you to contact the buyer (e-mail, telephone, fax). Furthermore, the Quel platform hosts a notification system which stores all communication related to the specific inquiries. You may invite the customer to visit your company, send your company brochure or try to arrange a visit at your customer's. It is up to you to get a good contact with the buyer and convince him you are the best supplier for the job. Quel does not play any part in the process once the first contact between you and the customer has been established.

Send your quotation

You receive e-mail notifications once you have been invited by the customer. These notifications provide you with the request details, including drawings if applicable. The buyer also specifies a preferred way of contact. Thus, he informs you how he would like to be contacted. If you click 'send quote', you will be directed to Quel's Quotation wizard. Here you specify your quotation to the buyer. The quotation you compose here, uses data from your company profile (logo, terms and conditions of sale). Furthermore, you can add your comments. This way you send a standardized, nevertheless customized and recognizable quotation to the customer.

Winning the job and building a relationship

Whether you get the job is the result of many variables. We recommend that you approach the customer pro-actively. When you only submit an 'anonymous' quote - without ever contacting the buyer you are less likely to make the best impression. Do not forget: you only have one chance to make a first impression!
The commercial approach and being successful there is in your hands. Quel wishes you good business!