How to follow up after sending a quote

The follow-up fails when you forget it

A quote goes quiet for ordinary reasons. The homeowner is comparing two other numbers, waiting on a partner, or the week got busy on your side and nobody wrote back. The useful habit is to schedule the next email the same day you send the quote, before the truck is even back at the shop.

You don’t need a new pitch. They already have the price. The email’s job is to make one question easy to answer, and then to stop.

Say quote if the quote said quote

Contractors use quote and estimate for the same piece of paper. The customer doesn’t. If the PDF title says quote, the subject line should say quote. If it says estimate, say estimate. Switching words makes them search their inbox for a file they don’t recognize.

Put the job and the amount in the first two lines. “The furnace quote for $9,400” is enough for them to know which one you mean. A recap of every line belongs in the quote, not in the follow-up.

A schedule after the quote is sent

Three emails cover most quotes. Stretch the gaps for a remodel that needs a month. Shorten them for a repair they asked to start this week. Don’t add a fourth email because the third one was quiet.

1. 1. The day you send it

   Put the follow-up on the calendar before you leave. The quote is already in their inbox. A same-day email is optional, and only useful if you’re not sure the file arrived. The mistake is waiting until next week and then forgetting.

2. 2. 2 days

   The first real check-in. Name the job and the amount so they know which quote you mean. Ask one question. This is the first step on QuoteLasso’s default schedule.

3. 3. 5 days

   The second reminder. Assume they are comparing or busy. Don’t add a discount or a Friday deadline you will not honor. Ask if a line is unclear, or if the calendar is the holdup.

4. 4. 10 days

   The last email. Ask if you should keep the quote open, and say you’ll close it if you don’t hear back. There isn’t a fourth follow-up after this on the default schedule.

Copy-ready versions of those notes are on the quote follow-up email page. The same gaps for a price you called an estimate are on the estimate guide.

When the quote is the problem

If they went quiet because the number is high, the follow-up should change the scope or explain one line. It should not invent a discount. “I can take the heated floor out and send a new number” is a real choice. “I can do it for less if you decide by Friday” is a deadline you then have to honor, or you taught them to wait.

If they say they hired someone else, one polite close is enough. Tell them you’ll close the file, and that a reply reopens it. Then stop. Arguing with the other price doesn’t get the job back.

When to stop

• They reply, by email, phone, or in person. Answer that. Don’t send the next scheduled note on top of it.
• They use the unsubscribe link, or they ask you to stop. Stop.
• You already sent the day-10 note. Wait. If they come back next season, start a new quote rather than a fifth email about the old one.

In QuoteLasso, an email reply is forwarded to you and the remaining follow-ups stop. If they called, mark the quote replied and the same thing happens.

Email, and the text you send yourself

Email is the follow-up QuoteLasso schedules. It holds the amount, and it has an unsubscribe link. On the 14-day trial, and on Starter ($79/month) and Pro ($149/month), a due email can send on its own. On the Free plan you press Send.

QuoteLasso does not send texts. When the customer has a phone number, Text opens your phone’s Messages app with their number and the message filled in. You send it. Do that only with someone you already text. Samples are on the text template page.

What the quiet quotes are worth

There isn’t a contractor close rate on this page, because this site doesn’t have one to publish. If you know how many quotes you send, what a typical job is worth, how many you win, and how many never get a follow-up, the close-rate calculator multiplies those figures. It labels the result as your inputs. It does not fill in an industry average.

The sentence changes with the work

The gaps stay. A roof quote, a paint quote, and a remodel quote stall for different reasons.

• Roofing follow-ups
• Painting follow-ups
• Remodeling follow-ups
• Landscaping follow-ups
• All 50 trades

How QuoteLasso helps

• Add the customer, email, amount, and job. You can type it in, forward the estimate, or import a spreadsheet.
• The default schedule is 2, 5, and 10 days. Day 10 is the last email. You see the dates before you save, and you can change them.
• The first check-in, the second reminder, and the final follow-up each have their own wording. The customer sees your business name and the address followups@quotelasso.com.
• During the 14-day Starter trial, due follow-up emails send on their own. Turn that off in Settings and nothing goes out until you press Send. QuoteLasso does not send texts.
• After the trial, the Free plan is 1 new estimate a week and stays manual. Starter ($79/month) and Pro ($149/month) add more estimates and turn automatic email sending back on.
• When a customer replies, the rest of the follow-ups stop. Every email has a link to unsubscribe.