Quick answer
A reliable enquiry system has five stages (new, contacted, proposal, confirmed, lost), a named owner and a next follow-up date on every enquiry, a fixed set of qualifying questions on the first call, and a recorded reason for every lost enquiry. Speed matters most: reply to new enquiries the same day, and never leave an open enquiry without a next step.
Key takeaways
- Every open enquiry needs an owner and a next follow-up date. No date means it's already dying.
- Qualify on the first call: date, city, functions, guest estimate, budget band and who decides.
- Send the proposal while the conversation is warm, then follow up on a fixed rhythm.
- Record why you lost each enquiry. It's the cheapest market research you will ever do.
Where enquiries actually go missing
Enquiries for a planning business arrive everywhere: Instagram DMs, calls, referrals from a venue, a form on your website, a cousin's WhatsApp forward. Most are not lost because the couple chose someone better. They are lost because nobody replied quickly, nobody followed up, or the follow-up depended on someone remembering. A simple, consistent pipeline fixes most of that.
The five stages
| Stage | Means | Moves on when |
|---|---|---|
| New | The enquiry has arrived; nobody has spoken to the couple yet. | Someone has had a real conversation with them. |
| Contacted | You have spoken and qualified the enquiry. | You have sent a proposal or quote. |
| Proposal | A proposal is with the couple or family. | They confirm, or say no. |
| Confirmed | Booked. It becomes a wedding you are running. | — |
| Lost | They chose someone else, postponed, or the fit was wrong. | Record the reason and close it. |
Resist the urge to add more stages. Every extra stage is a judgment call your team will make differently. Five is enough to see where enquiries stall.
Reply the same day
Couples often enquire with several planners at once. The first planner to have a real conversation sets the frame for everyone after. Aim to reply to every new enquiry the same day, even if it is a short message to book a call. A quick, warm, specific first reply does more for conversion than a perfect proposal sent four days later.
The qualifying questions
Use the first call to collect the same facts every time, and record them on the enquiry so anyone on your team can pick it up:
- Date or date window, and whether it depends on a muhurat.
- City and venue, or the shortlist if there isn't one yet.
- Functions they are planning, and which ones they want you to handle.
- Guest estimate, ideally for the largest function.
- Budget band, asked as a range so the conversation stays comfortable.
- Who decides: the couple, one family, or both families. This changes how you pitch and who receives the proposal.
- Where they heard about you, so you know which sources are worth investing in.
A follow-up rhythm that doesn't feel pushy
Set a next follow-up date on every enquiry that is not confirmed or lost. A practical rhythm after sending a proposal: check in after two or three days, again after a week, then every one to two weeks while they are still deciding. Each follow-up should add something: a relevant photo from a past wedding, an answer to a question they raised, a note about a venue's availability.
The proposal
A good proposal mirrors what they told you on the call. Open with their wedding (date, city, functions, the feeling they described), then your approach, then scope by function, then fees and payment schedule, then what happens next. Keep it short enough to read on a phone. If both families decide, make sure the proposal can be forwarded and still make sense without you there to explain it.
Track why you lose
When an enquiry is lost, record a reason from a short fixed list: price, date unavailable, chose another planner, postponed, went with the venue's in-house team, no response. After a season, patterns appear. If most losses are on price for one budget band, that is a pricing decision, not a sales problem. See how to price your services.
Numbers worth watching
- Enquiries per month, by source.
- Time from enquiry to first real conversation.
- Share of enquiries that reach proposal, and share of proposals that confirm.
- Lost reasons by budget band.
When an enquiry converts
The moment of conversion is where details get lost: the guest estimate, the functions and the notes from the first call live in the enquiry and have to be retyped into whatever you use to run the wedding. In Baton, converting an enquiry creates the client wedding directly, with its own dashboard for guests, invitations and RSVPs, so nothing is typed twice.
Baton brings your enquiries, client weddings, vendors, payments and team together, with per-function RSVP and WhatsApp invites for every couple. Free for 2 months.
Try Baton freeFrequently asked questions
The same day, ideally within a few hours. Couples often enquire with several planners at once, and the first meaningful conversation tends to set the frame for the rest.