Quote follow-up: how to win the jobs you already priced

Why do so many quotes go nowhere?

Plenty of lost quotes aren't lost to a cheaper competitor. They are lost to silence. The quote went out late, landed in a spam folder, was a PDF that didn't open on a phone, or simply sat while the homeowner got busy. Then nobody called. A week later the homeowner booked whoever showed up next.

You already paid to win that customer's attention. You paid for the ad or the listing, the drive to the house, the hour on site and the time to price it. Follow-up is the cheapest part of the whole sale, and it is the part that gets skipped when it feels pushy or there's no system to remind anyone.

This guide is about the system: when to send, how to present the price, how to make it easy to say yes, and how to follow up without nagging.

How fast should you send a quote?

Same day. For simple work, before you leave the property. The homeowner is paying attention while you are standing in their yard, and some are collecting several prices. A clear quote that arrives first gives the customer something concrete to compare the others against. Thumbtack's refund policy page tells pros much the same thing, noting that many customers hire whichever pro is quickest and most helpful.

Speed needs preparation. Build a price list in your CRM with your common line items, so a quote is a few taps instead of a spreadsheet at the kitchen table that night. Take photos on site and attach them. If a job truly needs more work to price (engineering, a supplier quote, a second visit), tell the customer when they will have it and put that date on your calendar.

Sending fast starts with answering fast. If leads sit for hours before anyone calls back, read our guide on speed to lead first.

Should you offer good, better and best options?

For most residential work, yes. A single price asks "yes or no?" Three options ask "which one?", which moves the conversation from whether to hire you to how much work to do. Our guide to good, better, best quotes covers how to build the tiers.

• Good: the job done right with nothing extra. Make it a real option you are happy to do, not a straw man.
• Better: what you would recommend to your own family. Make it the option you would point to first.
• Best: the full version, with longer-lasting materials, extra services, a maintenance visit, or a longer workmanship warranty.

Keep the descriptions short and concrete. "Soft wash siding, all four sides" beats "premium exterior package". Add optional add-ons the customer can tick (gutter cleaning with the house wash, a sealer after the patio cleaning) so they can build up the order themselves.

Don't use options to hide the price. If your good option leaves out something the job really needs, the customer will feel tricked when you mention it later.

Why should customers approve quotes online?

Because every extra step between "I like this" and "booked" loses people. If approving means printing a PDF, signing it, scanning it and emailing it back, some yeses never come back.

A good online quote:

• opens as a web page on a phone, with your logo, the options and photos;
• lets the customer pick an option and tick add-ons, with the total updating as they go;
• takes a signature and, if you require one, a deposit in the same step;
• tells you the moment it is opened and the moment it is approved;
• turns the approved quote into a scheduled job without anyone retyping it.

The "opened" notice is underrated. A quote opened three times in two days is a warm customer worth a call today. A quote never opened probably didn't arrive. Check the email address and resend by text. Our guide on online payments covers taking a deposit at approval.

Should quotes have an expiry date?

Yes, for two honest reasons. Your costs change, so a price from last spring may not be a price you can honor today. And a date gives both of you a natural reason to check in.

Pick a window that matches how fast your costs move, such as 30 days, and print it on every quote. Use a shorter window when material prices are moving or your schedule is filling for the season, and say why: "Price good through May 15. After that we're booking into July." Never invent urgency you don't have. Customers notice, and it costs you the trust the quote was supposed to build.

When a quote expires, don't just let it die. Send one last note offering to refresh the price. A customer who wasn't ready in spring may be ready in fall.

What does a good follow-up sequence look like?

Here is a sequence to start from for residential quotes. Adjust the days for bigger projects, where people take longer to decide.

Rules that keep it from turning into nagging:

• Stop on a no. If the customer says they went with someone else or aren't doing it, thank them, mark the quote lost with the reason, and stop.
• Use the customer's channel. If they texted you, text back. If they only use email, don't blast them with texts.
• Keep texting legal and polite. The federal rule at 47 CFR § 64.1200 bars telephone solicitations to residential numbers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., the customer's local time. Its definition of a solicitation excludes calls made with the person's prior express invitation or permission or to someone you have an established business relationship with, which may cover a quote the customer asked for. State laws can be stricter: Florida's statute, for example, bars commercial telephone solicitation calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. Whatever the law says, don't text late at night, and honor any request to stop. This is general information, not legal advice. Our SMS rules guide covers consent in detail.
• Automate the routine, keep the call human. Your CRM can send the day 1, day 3 and day 14 messages. The day 7 call should be a person.

What should a follow-up message actually say?

Short, specific, and about the customer's job. Some examples you can adapt:

• "Hi Pat, it's Sam from Example Exteriors. Just checking the driveway quote came through OK. Happy to explain the difference between the sealing options if that helps."
• "Hi Pat, here are a few photos from a driveway we did on a similar slope last month. The middle option is what we used there."
• "Hi Pat, I've got openings the week of the 12th if you'd like to get on the schedule. Your quote is good through the 20th."

Avoid "just following up" with nothing else. Every message should give them a reason to read it: an answer, a photo, a date.

When the customer does raise price, don't jump straight to a discount. Ask which part of the scope matters most to them. Often the answer is to drop an add-on or move from the best option to the better one, which keeps your margin intact and still gets the job on the board. A discount given to the first person who hesitates teaches every customer to hesitate.

How do you measure quote follow-up?

Record an outcome for every quote: won, lost (with a reason), or expired. Then look monthly at:

• Close rate by service and by lead source. Some sources send price shoppers; you'll see it here first.
• Time to send. Hours from site visit to quote sent.
• Time to decision. Days from sent to approved.
• Option mix. Which tier people choose. If nobody picks "best", it may be priced wrong or described badly.
• Lost reasons. Price, timing, went with someone else, no response.

Those numbers tell you whether to fix your pricing, your speed or your follow-up. A CRM built around your quoting process can track them without anyone keeping a spreadsheet. If you want an outside look at where quotes are stalling, start with a free system quote.

Frequently asked questions