Tour enquiry to booking: the follow-up messages
Follow-up messages for a travel agency, from the quote to the booking, the balance and the papers, with a free Excel sheet that keeps a date on every enquiry.
A family asks on Instagram for a Kerala trip in December. The consultant sends a good quote the same evening. The family says "we will discuss and tell you". Nobody messages them again, because three new enquiries came the next morning. In January the family posts photos from a trip booked somewhere else.
The quote was the easy part. The harder part is the follow-up after it, and later the balance and the papers before the trip. This guide gives you the messages for each step and a sheet that keeps one date on every enquiry.
The follow-up sheet: one row per enquiry
| Column | What to write | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry date | The day the enquiry came | Old open enquiries stand out |
| Client | The name the client gave | One row per enquiry, not per message |
| Source | Instagram, WhatsApp, website, reference, repeat client, walk-in | Shows where bookings come from |
| Destination | Where they want to go, and the nights | The subject of every message |
| Travellers | Adults and children | Changes the hotel, the car and the price |
| Travel month | The month or the dates in mind | Tells you how much time is left |
| Consultant | One name | The enquiry does not go on leave with a phone |
| Quote version | 1, then 2, 3 for each revised quote | Everyone knows which quote the client last saw |
| Quote sent on | The day the last version went | The follow-ups are counted from this day |
| Stage | New, quote sent, follow-up, booked, travelled, lost | Where every enquiry is, at a glance |
| Next follow-up | The day of the next message or call | Never empty for an open enquiry |
| Balance due on | For a booking, the day the balance must be paid | Money is asked for before tickets are issued, not after |
| Papers ready | Yes, no or not needed | A missing passport copy is found weeks before the trip |
| Notes | What the client said last, or why it was lost | The next message starts where the last one ended |
The quote message
Send the quote with a short message, not a file alone. Name the destination, the nights and the travellers, say what is included, and repeat the one thing the client asked for: "I have kept the houseboat night you wanted." End with a question that has a date in it: "Shall I hold these dates for you till Friday?"
Travel agency follow-up messages: three steps after the quote
- Two days after the quote: ask if they had a look, and offer to change one thing. "If anything should change, the hotel, the nights or the budget, tell me and I will send a revised one today."
- Five days after: give a reason to reply without pushing. "Shall I check whether the hotels in the plan are still open for your dates, without any commitment?"
- Ten days after: close it politely. "I will close this enquiry for now so I do not keep messaging you. If you plan this trip later, or any other trip, just reply here."
A polite close gives the client an easy way to answer. Either way, the row gets a stage: booked, follow-up with a new date, or lost with the reason.
After the booking: the balance and the papers
- The balance: write its due date in the sheet the day the advance comes. Send a reminder a week before, and promise something in return: "Once it is in, I will send the tickets and vouchers the same day."
- The papers: list what each traveller must send, passport, visa, ID, photos, and ask for clear photos on WhatsApp by a date. Keep "Papers ready" at No until every paper is in.
All the messages are on the second sheet of the Excel file, ready to copy.
How to read the sheet every morning
- Red rows first: a follow-up date that has passed, or a booking whose balance is past due.
- Then amber rows: follow-ups due today, and bookings whose papers are not all in.
- Once a week: count the enquiries marked lost, and read their reasons. A reason that repeats is a change to make in the quote, not in the follow-up.
Sheet or system?
A shared sheet is enough for one or two consultants who update it after every message. It builds the habit that turns quotes into trips: every enquiry has a stage, a consultant and a next date.
The sheet starts to fail when three or four consultants work from their own phones, when revised quotes go out in different versions, and when the owner cannot see the follow-ups without reading every chat. At that stage we set up a Travel Booking Desk on your own enquiries, in which each quote keeps its version, a follow-up date is set when the quote goes, and the balances and papers of every booking are on one list. You can try the live demo without signing up.
Take the format with you:Tour enquiry follow-up sheet (Excel, 44 KB)
Want to see this on your own data?
Share last month of your data. We come back with a working demo. No payment for the demo.
