Customer Inquiries

What is the Inquiries Module?

The Inquiries module captures and manages every product or service request that comes in from your customers. An inquiry is the starting point of the entire trading cycle -- it represents what the customer wants to buy, in what quantities, and by when. Tawridy accepts inquiries from multiple channels: manual entry by your sales team, incoming emails, WhatsApp messages, and a self-service customer portal. The platform's AI engine can parse unstructured messages (such as a customer emailing a PDF list or sending a voice note) into structured line items with product names, quantities, and specifications. This eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors from the very first step.

How It Connects

Inquiries sit at the intersection of the sales and procurement workflows. They receive input from Customers and Communication, and they output to RFQs and Quotations.

• Customers (input) -- Every inquiry is linked to an existing customer record. Customer defaults (payment terms, currency, margin %) are auto-applied.
• Communication (input) -- Inquiries can be created directly from incoming WhatsApp messages or emails.
• RFQs (output) -- Inquiry line items are converted into RFQs sent to your suppliers for pricing.
• Quotations (output) -- Once supplier quotes are received, you build the customer quotation from the inquiry with cost + margin.
• AI (assists) -- AI parses unstructured inquiry content, matches items to your catalog, and suggests suppliers.

Email / WhatsApp / Portal / Manual
            |
            v
        Inquiry
        /     \
       v       v
     RFQs    Quotation
       |        ^
       v        |
    Quotes -----+

Step-by-Step Guide

Receiving and Processing an Inquiry

Method 1: Manual Entry

1. Navigate to Sales > Inquiries.
2. Click + New Inquiry.
3. Select the Customer from the dropdown (or create a new customer inline).
4. Set the Priority (Low, Medium, High, Urgent).
5. Set the Required By date -- when the customer needs the goods.
6. Add line items:
   • Click + Add Item.
   • Search the Product Catalog or type a free-text description.
   • Enter the Quantity and Unit of Measure.
   • Add any Specifications or notes (e.g., brand preference, certifications required).
7. Repeat for each item.
8. Click Save as Draft or Submit to make it active.

Method 2: From Email

1. Tawridy monitors your connected inbox for incoming customer emails.
2. When a customer email is detected, it appears in Sales > Inquiries > Inbox.
3. Click the email to preview the parsed content.
4. Tawridy's AI extracts line items from the email body and any attached PDFs, Excel files, or images.
5. Review the parsed items -- correct any misinterpretations.
6. Link the inquiry to the correct Customer (Tawridy auto-suggests based on the sender's email domain).
7. Click Create Inquiry to convert the email into a formal inquiry record.

TIP

Train the AI parser by correcting misinterpretations. Over time, it learns your product catalog and customer terminology, improving accuracy with each inquiry.

Method 3: From WhatsApp

1. When a customer sends a product request via WhatsApp (through the integrated number), the message appears in Communication > WhatsApp and in Sales > Inquiries > Inbox.
2. Click the message to view the AI-parsed content.
3. Even voice notes are transcribed and parsed into line items.
4. Review, link to the customer, and click Create Inquiry.

Method 4: Customer Portal

1. Customers with portal access can submit inquiries directly through a self-service form.
2. These appear in Sales > Inquiries with the source marked as "Portal."
3. Review and accept or reject the inquiry.

Converting an Inquiry to an RFQ

1. Open the inquiry you want to source.
2. Click Convert to RFQ in the action bar.
3. Select which line items to include (you may not need to source everything).
4. Select the suppliers to receive the RFQ.
5. Click Send RFQ. Tawridy creates the RFQ record and sends it to the selected suppliers.
6. The inquiry status changes to In Sourcing.

Building a Quotation from an Inquiry

1. Once supplier quotes are received and reviewed, return to the inquiry.
2. Click Create Quotation.
3. The quotation is pre-populated with the inquiry line items and the best supplier prices.
4. Adjust margins, add any additional costs (freight, customs, handling), and finalize.
5. The inquiry status changes to Quoted.

Key Fields Explained

Field	Description	Required
Inquiry Number	Auto-generated unique identifier (e.g., INQ-2024-0156).	Auto
Customer	The customer who submitted the inquiry. Links to the Customers module.	Yes
Source	How the inquiry was received: Manual, Email, WhatsApp, or Portal.	Auto
Priority	Urgency level: Low, Medium, High, Urgent. Affects sort order and alerts.	Yes
Required By	The date the customer needs the goods delivered.	Recommended
Status	Current stage: Draft, Active, In Sourcing, Quoted, Won, Lost, Cancelled.	Auto
Line Items	The products or services requested, including quantity, UOM, and specs.	Yes (at least 1)
Assigned To	The sales team member responsible for this inquiry.	Recommended
Notes	Internal notes visible only to your team (not shared with the customer).	Optional
Attachments	Customer-provided files: specifications, drawings, BOQs, etc.	Optional
AI Confidence	For AI-parsed inquiries, shows the confidence score of the item extraction.	Auto

Tips & Best Practices

• Process inquiries within 24 hours. GCC markets are competitive. A delayed response often means the customer has already sourced from someone else.
• Always link inquiries to customers. Unlinked inquiries create data gaps in your customer history and margin reporting.
• Use the AI parser for bulk inquiries. When a customer sends a 200-line Excel file, let the AI parse it instead of entering items manually. Review the output for accuracy, but the time savings are significant.
• Set the "Required By" date. This date drives urgency indicators across the platform. Without it, your team cannot prioritize effectively.
• Attach the original request. Whether it is an email, PDF, or WhatsApp screenshot, attach the original customer request to the inquiry for reference. This avoids disputes later about what was requested.
• Use the duplicate detection. Before creating a manual inquiry, check if the same customer has submitted a similar request recently. Tawridy warns you if a potential duplicate is detected.

WARNING

AI-parsed line items should always be reviewed before converting to RFQ. The parser is highly accurate for common items but may misinterpret specialized or abbreviated product descriptions. A wrong quantity in an RFQ leads to a wrong quote, which leads to a wrong PO.

FAQ

Q: Can I merge two inquiries from the same customer? A: Yes. Open one inquiry, click Actions > Merge, and select the other inquiry. The line items from both are combined into a single inquiry. The merged inquiry retains the earlier inquiry's number.

Q: What happens to an inquiry if the customer cancels? A: Change the inquiry status to Cancelled and select a cancellation reason. All linked RFQs that have not been awarded are also cancelled. Awarded POs are not affected -- those must be cancelled separately.

Q: Can I reopen a closed inquiry? A: Yes. Click Reopen on any Won, Lost, or Cancelled inquiry. This creates a new revision linked to the original inquiry for audit trail purposes.

Q: How does the AI handle inquiries in Arabic? A: The AI parser fully supports Arabic text, including product names, specifications, and quantities written in Arabic numerals. It can also handle mixed Arabic/English inquiries.

Q: Can I convert one inquiry into multiple RFQs? A: Yes. If different items need to go to different supplier groups, you can create multiple RFQs from a single inquiry by selecting different line items for each RFQ.