You sent the quote. Now what?
If you’re like 42% of contractors, the answer is “nothing.” You wait for the customer to call back, and when they don’t, you assume they went with someone else.
But here’s what the data actually shows: following up within 24 hours doubles your close rate. Not “improves.” Doubles.
The follow-up gap
Most contractors fall into one of three categories:
- Never follow up (42%): Send the quote and hope for the best
- Follow up once, awkwardly (35%): Call a week later, feel pushy, give up
- Systematic follow-up (23%): Timed sequence, multiple touches, high close rate
Category 3 consistently closes 60-70% of quotes. Categories 1 and 2 close 25-35%.
The difference isn’t the quality of the work or the pricing. It’s the follow-up.
The optimal follow-up timeline
Based on data from thousands of contractor quotes:
Day 0: Send the quote
Send it within 2 hours of the site visit. Every hour you wait, close rate drops 5%.
Day 1: Check in (24 hours later)
“Hi [name], just checking if you had a chance to look over the quote I sent yesterday. Happy to answer any questions!”
This is your highest-value follow-up. Response rate: 35-40%.
Day 3: Add value
“Hi [name], wanted to mention — we have availability next week if you’d like to get started. The quote is good through [date].”
Create urgency without being pushy. Response rate: 15-20%.
Day 5: Last touch
“Hi [name], just a final check on the quote for [project]. No pressure either way — just didn’t want it to slip through the cracks. Let me know!”
This catches the customers who genuinely forgot. Response rate: 10-15%.
After day 5: Stop
If they haven’t responded to 3 follow-ups, they’re not interested right now. But they might be later — add them to your seasonal marketing list.
Why contractors don’t follow up
”I don’t want to seem pushy”
Following up isn’t pushy. It’s professional. Doctors follow up on test results. Lawyers follow up on contracts. You’re following up on a project the customer specifically asked you to quote.
The customer asked for the quote. They’re expecting to hear from you.
”If they wanted to move forward, they’d call”
No they wouldn’t. Homeowners are busy. Your quote is sitting in a text thread behind 50 other messages. They meant to respond Tuesday but forgot. Your follow-up is doing them a favor.
”I’m too busy to follow up on every quote”
This is the real reason — and it’s the easiest to solve. Automated follow-up sequences send these messages for you. Set them up once, and every quote you send gets the same professional follow-up without you thinking about it.
The math on follow-ups
Let’s say you send 20 quotes per month at an average of $3,000:
Without follow-up (30% close rate):
- 6 jobs × $3,000 = $18,000/month
With systematic follow-up (55% close rate):
- 11 jobs × $3,000 = $33,000/month
That’s $15,000/month more revenue — $180,000/year — from sending 3 automated text messages per quote.
What NOT to do
- Don’t call. Text. Homeowners under 50 strongly prefer text over calls. Your call goes to voicemail; your text gets read in 90 seconds.
- Don’t discount. Never lead with “I can take 10% off.” That signals desperation and trains customers to wait for discounts.
- Don’t follow up more than 3 times. After 3 touches, you’re being pushy. Move on.
- Don’t wait a week. The magic window is 24-48 hours. A week later, they’ve already hired someone else.
The system
The best follow-up system is one you don’t have to think about:
- Send the quote
- Automated text at 24 hours
- Automated text at 72 hours
- Automated text at 120 hours
- If the customer accepts at any point, the sequence stops automatically
- If they don’t respond, they go into your re-engagement list for seasonal marketing
This runs in the background for every single quote. No sticky notes, no reminders, no “I should really call that guy back.”
Your job is to show up, do great work, and send accurate quotes. The software handles the rest.
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