Email Delivery Crisis: How Missing DNS Records Destroyed Quote Win Rates

A medium-sized security integrator actively quoting and winning projects, but experiencing alarmingly low win rates on quoted jobs despite competitive pricing and quality proposals.

The integrator was experiencing a critical business problem: their quote win ratio was extremely low, despite investing significant time and resources into site walks, proposal development, and competitive pricing. The team was generating numerous quotes but winning only a small fraction of opportunities.

The Mystery: - Quotes were being sent to prospects via their quoting tool and email system - Sales team was following up on some quotes, but time constraints prevented following up on every single quote - The only jobs they were winning were the ones where clients proactively called asking "where is my quote?" - This pattern suggested quotes weren't being received or seen by prospects

The Hidden Problem: After comprehensive review, the root cause was discovered: the integrator's quoting tool and email system were missing critical DNS records. Without proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records configured, their quote emails were being automatically filtered into spam folders by recipient email servers. Prospects never saw the quotes, so they couldn't respond or make purchasing decisions.

Business Impact: - Extremely low quote win ratio - Wasted time and resources on quotes that were never seen - Lost revenue opportunities - Inability to scale sales efforts effectively - Only winning jobs where clients were already engaged enough to follow up

Stonos Solutions conducted a comprehensive email delivery audit, identifying the missing DNS records and email authentication issues that were causing quotes to be filtered as spam.

Email Delivery Audit: - Analyzed the integrator's email infrastructure and DNS configuration - Identified missing SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records - Identified missing DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records - Identified missing or improperly configured DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) records - Tested email deliverability to identify spam filtering issues

DNS Configuration: - Configured proper SPF records to authorize email sending - Set up DKIM signing to authenticate email messages - Implemented DMARC policy to protect against email spoofing - Ensured all DNS records were properly propagated - Verified email authentication with major email providers

Email System Optimization: - Reviewed and optimized quoting tool email settings - Ensured proper email headers and formatting - Configured email sending infrastructure for maximum deliverability - Established email monitoring and tracking capabilities

Process Improvements: - Implemented email delivery tracking to confirm quote receipt - Established follow-up processes for critical quotes - Created email deliverability monitoring procedures

• Email Delivery Audit: Comprehensive analysis of email infrastructure and DNS configuration
• DNS Record Configuration: Setup of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
• Email Authentication: Implementation of proper email authentication protocols
• Quoting Tool Review: Analysis and optimization of quoting tool email settings
• Email System Optimization: Configuration of email sending infrastructure
• Deliverability Testing: Verification of email delivery to major email providers
• Process Documentation: Creation of email deliverability monitoring procedures
• Follow-up Process: Establishment of quote tracking and follow-up workflows

Email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), DNS configuration, Email deliverability tools, Quoting software integration

Once the email delivery issues were resolved, the integrator's business performance transformed dramatically:

Win Rate Improvement: - Quote win ratio jumped from very low to more than half - a massive improvement that directly impacted revenue - Quotes were now being received and seen by prospects - Prospects could respond to quotes in a timely manner - Sales team could focus on closing deals rather than wondering if quotes were received

Operational Efficiency: - Eliminated wasted time on quotes that were never seen - Reduced need for extensive follow-up calls to confirm quote receipt - Improved sales team confidence in quote delivery - Enabled scaling of quoting activities without proportional increase in follow-up overhead

Revenue Impact: - Significant increase in closed deals from quoted opportunities - Better return on investment for time spent on site walks and proposal development - Improved cash flow from higher win rates - Ability to grow business through effective quote delivery

Business Insight: The integrator learned that technical infrastructure issues can have profound business impacts. What appeared to be a sales or pricing problem was actually an email delivery problem. The solution required technical expertise to diagnose and resolve, but the business impact was immediate and measurable.

This case study demonstrates the critical importance of proper email infrastructure configuration for business operations, especially for companies that rely heavily on email communication for sales and customer engagement.