# Track the bids you sent and follow up

> Researched. Small business · Beginner · Leads. Updated 2026-11-02.

Canonical page: https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/track-sent-bids-and-follow-up/

## What it does
Build a one-sheet bid tracker with AI that flags which bids need a follow-up today, which are still waiting, and which you won or lost.

## Who it's for
Contractors and small crews who send bids from a phone or laptop and lose track of which ones never got an answer.

## Tools
- Claude or ChatGPT to build the sheet
- Excel or Google Sheets
- Your last 10 to 20 bids

## Steps
1. List your recent bids: customer, job, amount and the date you sent each one.
2. Ask the AI to build the tracker with the prompt below. Anthropic says Claude can create Excel files with working formulas.
3. Paste in your bids and check every amount and date against what you actually sent.
4. Each morning, filter for rows marked FOLLOW UP TODAY. That is your list.
5. Draft each follow-up with the quote follow-up setup, approve it and send it yourself.
6. Update the status the moment you hear back, so won and lost bids drop off the list.

## Copy-paste prompt
Adapt bracketed fields to your situation.
```text
Build me a bid tracker spreadsheet (Excel) with one row per bid and these columns:
Customer | Job | Amount | Date sent | Next follow-up | Status (Waiting, Won, Lost) | Notes

Rules:
- Next follow-up = Date sent + 2 days for the first follow-up; I will update it after each one.
- Add a column Action that shows FOLLOW UP TODAY when Next follow-up is today or earlier and Status is Waiting, otherwise blank.
- Add a summary at the top: bids waiting, total value waiting, won this month, lost this month.
- Leave the rows empty for me to fill in. Do not invent customers or amounts.
Explain each formula in one line.
```

## Guardrails
- What it touches: Chat input you provide (Claude or ChatGPT to build the sheet; Excel or Google Sheets).
- Needs your OK: Send, pay, publish, delete, and CRM updates stay with you unless you explicitly opt in.
- Safety level: Adds sheet rows
- Formulas break when someone types text in a date column. Ask the AI to add date checks.
- Forgetting to move the follow-up date after each touch.
- Tracking bids in two places.

## Tips
- Log the bid the same day you send it, or the tracker stops being trusted.
- Keep a lost-reason note; patterns show up after a month.
- Sort by amount when you only have time for a few follow-ups.

## Estimates (labeled, not measured)
- Time saved: About 30 minutes to set up, then 5 minutes a day.
- Money saved: Not stated in sources.
- Tool cost: Free AI tiers can build the tracker; Excel or Google Sheets. Prices: Not stated in sources.

## Sources
Summaries use the public sources below, not independent verification.
- Anthropic: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12111783-create-and-edit-files-with-claude (Create and edit files with Claude: Excel spreadsheets with working formulas; upload CSV and other files for analysis (read 2026-11-02 from a search result excerpt of the page))

## Get the free starter pack
Five beginner copy-paste AI setups, free by email: https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/starter-pack/?utm_source=ai-agent&utm_medium=markdown&utm_campaign=setup-track-sent-bids-and-follow-up

Related:
- [Follow up on quotes that went cold](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/follow-up-on-quotes-gone-cold/index.md)
- [Turn messy job notes into a clean quote](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/write-a-quote-from-messy-notes/index.md)
- [Capture estimate leads and draft quote follow-ups](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/capture-leads-and-follow-up-quotes/index.md)