How to follow up a quote without being pushy
You spent an hour looking at the job, another hour pricing it, sent it over, and then... nothing. No yes, no no, no reply at all.
Most tradespeople do the same thing at this point, which is nothing. It feels desperate to chase, and if they wanted it they'd have rung, wouldn't they?
No. A large share of quotes that go quiet are lost to inertia, not price. The customer got busy, the quote slid down the inbox, and by the time they remembered, someone else had followed up. Following up isn't pushy — it's the job. Here's how to do it so it never feels like selling.
Why quotes go quiet
Understanding the reason changes the message. Silence usually means one of:
- They got busy. Overwhelmingly the most common. They're not deciding, they've just forgotten.
- They're waiting on someone else — a partner, a lender, another quote, a decision about the kitchen.
- They don't understand it. Something in the quote raised a question they didn't want to ask.
- The price is more than they expected, and they're embarrassed to say so.
- They've gone with someone else and don't want the awkward conversation.
Notice that only the last one is genuinely dead — and even then you want to know, because the reason is worth having.
The follow-up routine
Three touches, spread out, each with a reason to exist. That's it.
Touch 1 — confirm it arrived. Same day or next morning.
"Hi Sarah, just checking the quote landed alright — it sometimes ends up in junk. Any questions, give me a ring. Cheers, Dave."
This isn't a chase; it's a delivery check, and nobody has ever taken offence at one. It also flushes out the quotes that genuinely never arrived, which happens more than you'd think.
Touch 2 — the helpful nudge. Three to five days later.
"Hi Sarah, hope you're well. Just wondering if you'd had chance to look at the bathroom quote? Happy to talk through anything on it, or adjust the spec if you'd like a couple of options. No rush either way."
The offer to talk it through or adjust is the important part. It gives someone who's uneasy about the price a way to say so without saying so.
Touch 3 — the close-off. Ten days to two weeks.
"Hi Sarah — I'll take this one off my list for now so I'm not pestering you. If it's still something you want doing, just give me a shout and I'll pick it straight back up. The price holds until [date]."
This one converts surprisingly often, because it removes the pressure entirely. It also does you a favour: it ends the open loop so you're not carrying a mental list of maybes.
Three touches. Then stop.
Speed matters more than persistence
Before any of that: the biggest single factor in winning a quote is how fast it went out in the first place.
The customer had three trades round. The first tidy, professional quote in their inbox sets the standard everyone else is measured against, and it arrives while they still remember which one you were. The quote that comes four days later arrives into a decision that's already half made.
If you're routinely taking days to price jobs, fixing that will do more than any follow-up sequence. How to write a quote that wins the job covers the content; quoting from the van covers doing it before you've driven home.
What to say when they say the price is too high
Sometimes the follow-up gets you an honest answer. Don't panic and don't discount on the spot.
Ask what they're comparing it to. Politely. Often it's a quote for a different scope — no tanking, no disposal, cheaper materials, no certificate. If yours includes things theirs doesn't, that's not a price difference, it's a specification difference, and it's worth saying plainly: "That's a fair bit less than mine — do you know if theirs includes the tanking and taking the old suite away? Worth checking, because that's usually where the gap is."
Offer a smaller scope, not a smaller price. "I can do it for that, but it'd be without X and Y." This protects your rate and gives them a real choice. Cutting your price for the same work teaches the customer — and you — that your first number was made up.
Give them a cheaper option properly. A mid-range spec and a better one, both priced, both clearly described. Customers given a choice tend to choose; customers given one number go shopping.
Be willing to lose it. Some jobs should go to someone else. A customer who only cares about price will care about it for the whole job, then again at the invoice.
Tone rules
- Short. Two or three sentences. Long messages read as anxious.
- No pressure tactics. "This price is only available today" is for double glazing salesmen and everyone recognises it.
- Give them an out every time. "No rush", "no problem either way". Making it easy to say no is what makes people comfortable saying yes.
- Text or email, matching how you've been talking. If the whole conversation's been by text, don't send a formal email.
- Never guilt them. "I did drive out there for an hour" is true and it will lose you the job and the referral.
- Sign it with your name. Not "QuoteSnap Ltd Customer Services".
Keep a list, or you'll forget
The reason follow-up doesn't happen isn't reluctance — it's that after twelve quotes you genuinely can't remember which ones are still open.
You need one place with: customer, job, date quoted, amount, and status (sent / chased / won / lost / dead). A spreadsheet does it. A notebook does it. What doesn't do it is your memory and a phone full of texts.
Then a habit: ten minutes on a Friday going down the list. Anything sent this week gets touch 1, anything from last week gets touch 2, anything older gets closed off. Ten minutes.
Record why you lost
When someone does say no, ask one question:
"No problem at all — do you mind me asking who you went with, or what made the difference? Genuinely helps me price better."
Most people answer, and honestly. Over twenty jobs you'll learn whether you're losing on price, on speed, on spec or on something you say at the door. That's the most valuable market research you'll ever get, and it's free.
Log the reason next to the lost quote. Patterns show up fast.
The quotes worth chasing harder
Not every quote deserves three touches. Prioritise:
- Bigger jobs — worth more effort, obviously
- Jobs where you got on well — the relationship is half the sale
- Repeat customers — highest conversion rate you've got
- Referrals from other trades — pre-trusted, and worth protecting the referrer's opinion of you
And be honest about the ones that aren't worth it: the price-shopper who's already told you they've had five quotes, the job miles outside your patch, the customer who was rude on the first visit. Let those go quietly.
Six months later
The quotes that went dead aren't worthless. People's circumstances change — bonuses, house moves, the boiler finally packing in.
A single message six months on is completely reasonable:
"Hi Sarah, Dave here — did that bathroom in the end? If it's still on the list I'm booking into [month] now, happy to re-price it for you."
Low effort, no expectation, and it converts a slice of them. It costs nothing to keep a list of old quotes and dip into it when work goes quiet — which is also the best time to be doing it.
Following up is easy when every quote is in one place with its date, amount and status. QuoteSnap keeps quote, customer and conversation together, so the Friday ten minutes is genuinely ten minutes. Try it free for 14 days.