Following up on a quote is part of the job. It does not make you desperate or annoying. Give the customer a little space, then send a short, useful nudge. Three well-timed contacts over 10 days will do more than one vague email followed by weeks of wondering.
In short: Send a casual SMS on day 2, call on day 5, and close the loop by email on day 10. The Harvard Business Review found that firms responding to web leads within 1 hour were nearly 7 times more likely to qualify them than firms waiting 24 hours or more. Prompt, useful contact beats silence.
Why do customers go quiet after asking for a quote?
A quiet customer has not necessarily rejected the quote. They may be comparing three businesses, checking the budget with a partner, waiting for approval, or trying to work out which option they actually need. Your quote can also be buried under a busy week. Inbox archaeology is not a reliable sales process.
Choice can be part of the problem. In a 2000 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper found that shoppers were about 10 times more likely to buy when they saw 6 jam options rather than 24. A long quote with too many packages, extras and decisions can create the same kind of stall.
Make the decision easier. State what is included, what is not, the total price, the likely timing and the next step. The Australian Government's guidance on how to prepare quotes also draws an important line: an accepted written quote becomes a legally binding contract, while an estimate does not. Clear wording protects both sides.
For businesses sending regular job quotes, especially tradies managing enquiries between jobs, silence is usually a process problem before it is a sales problem.
How long should you wait before following up?
For most small business quotes, wait 2 days before the first follow up. That is long enough for the customer to read it and short enough to keep the job familiar. If they gave you a decision date, use that instead. A customer who said, "We'll know after Friday," does not need a Thursday morning nudge.
Speed still matters. The Harvard Business Review's 2011 study, *The Short Life of Online Sales Leads*, audited 2,241 US firms. It found that 37% responded to a web lead within an hour, 24% took at least 24 hours, and 23% never responded. Firms making contact within an hour were nearly 7 times more likely to qualify the lead than those waiting 24 hours or longer.
That research measured new web leads, not sent quotes, so do not turn the 1 hour result into a rule for chasing customers. The useful lesson is simpler. Interest cools when nobody follows up. Have the first follow up ready when you send the quote, then schedule it for 2 days later.
How many times should you follow up on a quote?
Use three follow ups as a sensible starting point:
- Day 2: Send a casual SMS to make sure the quote arrived.
- Day 5: Call once. If they do not answer, leave a short message and send the useful detail by email.
- Day 10: Send a closing message that leaves the door open.
This cadence gives the customer different ways to respond without filling their phone every morning. Stop immediately if they say no or ask not to be contacted. Pause the sequence if they reply with a date, a question or a request for changes.
One follow up is often not enough because one message can land at the wrong time. Salesforce's latest survey of 7,700 sales professionals puts the average B2B deal at around 9 touches. That number is vendor reported and not specific to Australian trade or service quotes, so treat it as context rather than a target. You do not need 9 "just checking in" messages. You need a small number of useful contacts, sent when they make sense.
If remembering those contacts is the hard part, a basic automated lead follow up process can schedule them without making the messages sound robotic.
Should you call, text or email?
Use all three for different jobs.
Text is best for the light first check. It is easy to read between appointments and does not demand an immediate conversation. Keep it to a few lines.
A call is best when the customer may need to talk through scope, timing or price. Call once on day 5. Do not keep ringing from different numbers or turn a quote into a siege.
Email is best when you need to explain something useful in writing. It also gives you a clean final record when you close the loop. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission explains that services sold in Australia come with consumer guarantees, so avoid making loose promises in any channel that your business cannot keep.
The Harvard Business Review's 2011 lead study found that 23% of the 2,241 firms audited never responded at all. The perfect channel matters less than having a reliable response process. If you regularly miss calls while working, an AI receptionist for Australian small businesses can capture the enquiry and make sure there is something to follow up.
What should your three messages say?
These templates are deliberately plain. Change the bracketed details, remove anything that does not apply, and use the same tone you used with the customer.
Day 2: Casual SMS check in
Hi [first name], just checking you received the quote for [job]. Happy to answer any questions or adjust the scope if needed. No rush, just let me know. [your name]
The goal is receipt, not a decision. Do not resend the whole sales pitch. If the customer says they are comparing quotes, thank them and ask whether they need anything clarified.
Day 5: Value add email nudge
Subject: One useful detail about your [job] quote
Hi [first name], I wanted to add one detail that may help while you look over the quote. [Explain one useful point about timing, the work included, a material choice, warranty or preparation needed.] If price, timing or scope is holding things up, reply and tell me which one. I can confirm what is flexible and what needs to stay as quoted. Thanks, [your name]
Day 10: Final door open message
Hi [first name], I will close the loop on the quote for [job] so I do not keep filling your inbox. If the timing is not right, no worries. If you want to revisit it or change the scope later, reply here and I will take a look. [your name]
Business Queensland recommends making a quote clear, specific and complete, with the terms in writing. Its guidance on preparing a business quote is a useful check before any of these messages go out. Follow up cannot rescue a quote the customer cannot understand.
What's a polite way to follow up without sounding pushy?
Be specific and useful. "Did you get the quote for the hot water system?" is better than "Just following up again." Mention one thing the customer may need to decide, then give them an easy reply.
Useful follow up can:
* confirm the quote arrived * clarify what is included * answer a likely timing question * reduce too many options to one recommendation * ask whether price, scope or timing is the sticking point
Iyengar and Lepper's 2000 jam study compared 6 options with 24 and found shoppers were about 10 times more likely to buy from the smaller range. The practical lesson is not to strip every choice from your quote. It is to avoid making the customer sort through unnecessary decisions alone. If you quoted three packages, recommend the one that fits what they told you.
Following up looks desperate only when every message asks for an answer without adding anything. A short nudge with a clear purpose reads as organised. For larger quotes, check that your customer notes are in one place. The comparison of CRM options for Australian tradies explains what to look for without turning your business into an admin project.
What should your quote follow up system automate?
Automate the remembering, not the judgement.
A simple sequence can start when a quote is marked as sent. It schedules the day 2 SMS, creates a day 5 call task, and prepares the day 10 email. When the customer replies, accepts, declines or asks for more time, the sequence stops. That last part matters. Automation that ignores a reply is not persistence. It is a very efficient way to annoy someone.
Salesforce's latest survey of 7,700 sales professionals suggests the average B2B deal now takes around 9 touches, although the figure is vendor reported and should not be treated as a rule for every quote. The point is that follow up needs a system. The Harvard Business Review audit found that 23% of 2,241 firms never responded to a web lead. A missed task should not decide whether a real customer hears from you.
LUNA Systems builds custom follow up automations that can connect quoting, messages and call tasks. The system runs in the background, while you handle the replies that need a person.
If this sounds like your week, have a chat with LUNA Systems.
Founder, LUNA Systems · Registered Nurse (AHPRA: NMW0002113429)
Former nurse and beauty therapist turned automation consultant. Justine builds custom AI systems for Australian service businesses, so they can stop chasing leads and start growing.
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