How to follow up with a client who picked a cheaper vendor
Following up with a former client who chose a lower-priced competitor requires balancing patience with an opening to demonstrate your long-term reliability. When those cheaper alternatives stall or fail to deliver, you risk looking petty if you say "I told you so," but staying silent misses a prime window to re-engage as the anniversary approaches.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from September 2026.
- This comes up 198.7× more often in r/restaurantowners than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Following up multiple times to ask if the project is still moving forwardDid this help you?
- 2Letting the opportunity go completelyDid this help you?
- 3Sending value-based check-in emails unrelated to the original quoteDid this help you?
- 4buying cheaper equipment online from volume suppliers like WebstaurantDid this help you?
- 5using cheap throwaway brands instead of premium equipmentDid this help you?
- 6building direct relationships with owners and managers through cold calling and trade showsDid this help you?
- 7targeting schools and government procurement contractsDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Since we are approaching the one-year anniversary, should I follow up again or just give up? Feels like an opportunity to go, "Your guy was cheaper, but looks like you aren't getting any results."”source ↗
“If you want the sales, have the lowest price. We’re all broke, all struggling against costs of literally everything. If I’m shopping for equipment, I’m going with the best price after shipping. Period.”source ↗
“Yeah honestly for about last 10 years it's Webstaurant. All the local places dried up and couldn't afford customer service. And unfortunately they can't win on price with this business having paper thin margins.”source ↗
“All the local outfits near me want the product responsibility to end immediately after purchase, which is why we went away from them to online suppliers.”source ↗
“Mom and pops are struggling. They are priced oit of American made equipment and intonthe buy and replace market.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Why do old clients expect the same discount for new projects?
- 18How to respond when a client says your rates are too high
- 8How to deal with enterprise vendors missing SLAs
- 28How to handle clients who demand refunds and bully you
- 21How do you deal with a rigid and untrustworthy service provider?
- 5Clients who refuse to fix underlying problems before repairs