How to follow up on a quote, with messages to copy.

What a good follow-up does

A follow-up has one job: make it easy for the customer to answer. The ones that get replies have these things in common:

• They name the job, so the customer knows which of the three quotes they asked for you mean.
• They come from the person who visited or quoted, in the channel the customer used.
• They ask one question that is easy to answer.
• They give something useful: a change to the quote, a start date, an answer to a doubt.
• They make a no easy, so a customer who chose someone else can say so without awkwardness.

Here is the base message. Everything below is a variation on it:

"Hi Sarah, it's Tom from Northfield Kitchens. I wanted to check the quote for your kitchen arrived and made sense. Is there anything you would like changed, or any question I can answer?"

When to send it, and how many

Send the first follow-up a few working days after the quote, or just after the date the customer said they would decide. For a big job, such as an extension or a wedding, give them a week to talk it over first. One follow-up and one final message is enough for most quotes. More than that reads as pressure, and gives a customer who meant to say no a reason to stay silent.

Put a date on the quote itself, such as "Prices held until 30 November". It gives you a natural reason to get in touch before it runs out. It must be true.

This guide is about the words. If you want the follow-up to go out on time without anyone remembering, enquiry follow-up automation sends the message you wrote at the timing you choose and stops when the customer replies.

Email follow-ups to copy

Put the job and your business in the subject line, so the customer finds it later in a search: "Your bathroom quote from Ashby Plumbing".

• First follow-up: "Hi Mark, I hope the quote for the bathroom arrived safely. If anything in it is unclear, or you would like a version without the heated towel rail, reply here and I will send one. Thanks, Dan"
• With a useful detail: "Hi Mark, a quick update on your bathroom quote: a start date has come free on 14 April, if that suits you. Shall I pencil it in while you decide? Dan"
• When a partner is involved: "Hi Mark, in case it helps when you go through the quote with Jo, here is a one-page summary of what is included and what is not. I am happy to talk you both through it on a call this week."
• Final message: "Hi Mark, I have not heard back about the bathroom, so I take it the timing or the price is not right for now. Shall I close the quote? If you want it later, just reply and I will update it."

Keep each one to three or four short lines, signed by the person, from an address that takes replies.

Text follow-ups to copy

Text only customers who gave you their number for the job and expect to hear from you that way. Put your business name first, because the customer may not have your number saved, and keep it to two or three lines. What each kind of text needs is in text message consent rules.

• "Hi Sarah, Tom from Northfield Kitchens. Did the quote come through OK? Happy to answer any questions by text or on a call."
• "Hi Sarah, Tom from Northfield Kitchens. A fitting slot has come free from 3 March. Want me to hold it while you decide?"
• "Hi Sarah, Tom from Northfield Kitchens. Shall I close your quote for now? No problem either way, just reply yes or no."

Send texts in working hours, and never a text and an email with the same words on the same day.

On the phone

A call suits big jobs and customers who rang you in the first place. Have the quote in front of you and open with the job, not with "just checking in":

"Hi Sarah, it's Tom from Northfield Kitchens, about the kitchen quote I sent on Monday. Have you had a chance to look at it? Is there anything in it you would change?"

If they say they are still thinking, ask what would help them decide, then stop talking and listen. If you get voicemail, leave your name, the job and one sentence, then send the same in writing so they have your direct number:

"Hi Sarah, Tom from Northfield Kitchens about your kitchen quote. No rush at all. I have texted you my direct number in case you have questions."

Messages by trade

The base message changes with what the customer is weighing up. Each of these works as a text or a short email:

• Heating engineer: "Hi Mr Patel, Ali from Westgate Heating about the boiler quote. The price includes the system flush and registering the warranty for you. Any questions before you decide?"
• Kitchen fitter: "Hi Sarah, Tom from Northfield Kitchens. I can bring the door samples round on Thursday evening so you can see the colours in your own light. Would that help?"
• Builder: "Hi James, Kate from Hollis Build. I am happy to walk you through the quote line by line, or to price a version without the bifold doors. Which would help more?"
• Cleaning company: "Hi Anna, Priya from Brightside Cleaning. Your quote was for a clean every two weeks. Would weekly or monthly suit you better? I can price either."
• Removals: "Hi Mr Hughes, Sam from Swift Removals. We have one crew left on your moving date. Shall I hold it for you until Friday?" Only say so if it is true.
• Wedding venue: "Hi Emma and Joe, Lucy from The Old Granary. Your date is still free. Would you like a second look round, or a call to go through the numbers?"
• Garage: "Hi Mr Clarke, Rob at Station Road Garage about your car. The brake pads are the urgent part of the estimate. The rest can wait until the service if you prefer."
• Accountant: "Hi Helen, Mark from Lane Accounts. The fee proposal assumes we take over your bookkeeping. If you would rather keep doing it yourself, the fee is lower, and I can send that version."

Each one answers the doubt that trade's customers usually have, and gives them a choice to make rather than a decision to defend.

Five situations that need different words

Some quotes need a message of their own:

• The quote is about to run out: "Hi Mark, the prices in your bathroom quote are held until Friday. If you need longer, tell me and I will check whether we can keep them."
• You sent a revised quote: "Hi Mark, here is the new version without the heated towel rail. The only change is that line, so the total is lower by that amount. Does this one work for you?"
• They said yes but nothing is booked: "Great news, Mark. To book the start date, I just need you to sign the quote and pay the deposit through the link in it. Any questions on either, call me."
• Your quote was late: "Hi Sarah, sorry the kitchen quote took longer than I promised. It is attached now, and I have kept your preferred start date free until the end of next week."
• A business customer with several people deciding: "Hi Priya, would it help if I joined a short call with whoever else signs off the cleaning contract? I can answer their questions directly and save you passing them on."

When the delay was yours, say so in the first line, then make it easy to go ahead.

When they say "too expensive" or "still thinking"

Each needs a short answer that keeps the door open. Copy and adapt:

• Too expensive: "Thanks for telling me. Can I ask what you are comparing it with? If it is another quote, check both include the same things, such as taking out the old suite and making good. If it is your budget, I can price a smaller version."
• Still thinking: "Of course. Is there anything that would make the decision easier, such as seeing a job we finished nearby, or a call with me?"
• Need to talk to my partner: "Makes sense. Would a short summary help, or a call when you are both free?"
• Went with someone else: "Thanks for letting me know, and good luck with the work. If anything changes, we are here."

Do not offer a discount in your first reply to a price objection. Ask what they are comparing first. A quick discount tells the customer the first price had room in it.

The last message, then stop

If two messages got no answer, send one that offers to close the quote, like the final email and text above. It gives the customer an easy reply, and a yes or a no both tell you where you stand.

After that, stop. Mark the quote as lost in your spreadsheet or CRM, with the reason if you know it. Do not move the customer onto a newsletter or an offers list unless they agreed to it, and do not send a fourth message dressed up as news.

Ask why a quote was lost

When a customer says no, or closes the quote, ask once why. Make it one question with ready answers, so it takes seconds to reply:

"Thanks for letting me know, Sarah. So we can do better, could you tell me what decided it? Just reply with a number: 1 price, 2 timing, 3 chose another firm, 4 project on hold, 5 something else."

For a bigger job, by email:

"Thank you for considering us for the extension. We would value one line on why you decided against us: the price, the timing, what was included or something about us. We will not argue the point. It helps us quote better next time."

Read every answer, the blunt ones too. If price keeps coming up, look at what competitors include before you cut yours. If timing keeps coming up, your start dates are the problem. Never reply to the reason with an argument or a lower price nobody asked for.

Keep the reason next to each lost quote, and count the reasons every few months. Over a year they show where your quotes are really lost, which no single answer can.

Words and habits that cost replies

• "Just checking in" or "touching base" with no reason given.
• "Did you get my email?" It reads as a complaint.
• Made-up urgency: a price that ends today when it does not.
• A different person following up from the one who visited.
• Sending the whole quote again as an attachment with no message.
• Following up from a no-reply address.
• Three messages in one week.
• Long paragraphs that fill a phone screen.

Save the messages that work as templates in your email or CRM, one for each stage, and change them as the answers come in. When the same question turns up in several replies, answer it in the quote itself next time. If enquiries go cold before you even get to quote, the first automations guide covers the reply that should go out the moment an enquiry arrives.