Quote follow up is the step a lot of Perth trade businesses skip. The site visit is done, the quote goes out at 9pm from the kitchen table, and then everyone waits for the phone to ring. When it does not ring, the job quietly goes to someone else and nobody finds out why.
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Your customer is not sitting still. WA Consumer Protection tells people hiring a builder, electrician or plumber to get at least 3 quotes in writing before agreeing to the work. Your price is probably sitting next to two others, and the business that answers questions and makes it easy to say yes has an edge that has nothing to do with being the cheapest.
This guide sets out a simple, respectful quote follow up system in 5 steps, with phone, SMS and email scripts you can copy, and the two numbers that show whether it is working. No pushy sales tactics and no ringing people every second day.
Why Quote Follow Up Matters More Than Another Lead
Every quote has already cost you money: the drive to site, the measure-up, the supplier prices and an hour or more of pricing. A quote that goes quiet after all that is a lead you paid for and got nothing back from.
Silence is not the same as a no. In our work with Perth trade businesses, we often find the customer is simply busy, waiting on a partner, a strata committee or the bank, unsure about an inclusion, or holding two quotes that do not compare like for like. A short quote follow up finds out which one it is, and each of those has a fix.
It is also cheaper than finding new work. In your sales funnel, the quote stage is where people who already trusted you enough to let you on site drop out. Tightening it costs a few phone calls a week, not a bigger ad budget.
1. Send the Quote Fast, Clear and Easy to Accept
Good quote follow up starts before the follow-up. A quote that arrives a fortnight after the site visit, or reads like a supplier price list, makes every later call harder. The aim is a quote the customer can understand, compare and accept without ringing you first.
Speed: say when it will arrive, then keep your word
At the end of the site visit, tell the customer when the quote will land, then hit that date. For a simple service job that can be the same day. For bigger work that needs supplier pricing, give an honest date and a heads-up if a supplier holds you up. That first kept promise shows the customer how you will run the job.
Clarity: what a good quote includes
That same WA Consumer Protection page lists what customers should look for in a written quote. Use it as your checklist:
- Your contact details, ABN and licence number
- A description of the job, in plain words
- The price of materials and the labour charges
- How long the job will take
- Call-out fees, and any weekend or public holiday rates
- Details of any potential extra work that could cost more
- Your terms and conditions
The page also says it is best practice to show a total cost including GST, and notes that a quote can have an expiry date. Put one on every quote. It protects you from supplier price rises and gives you an honest reason to check in later.
Make saying yes easy
Finish the quote with one clear next step, such as “To go ahead, reply YES or click Accept and we will call to book a start date.” If you offer options, keep it to two or three, such as a standard and an upgraded hot water system, so the customer compares your options, not just your total against someone else’s.
2. Set the Quote Follow Up Before You Hit Send
The most reliable way to make quote follow up happen is to set the date before the quote leaves. If it depends on someone remembering on a busy Thursday afternoon, it will not happen.
Two habits do most of the work:
- Tell the customer. In the quote email or at the end of the site visit, say “I’ll give you a call on Thursday to run through any questions.” The call is then expected, so it feels like service, not pressure.
- Book it as a task. The moment the quote goes out, a quote follow up task with a date and a name goes into your job management software, CRM or shared calendar. Not a sticky note on the ute dash.
Let the software send the reminders
Many job management programs can send routine quote follow up reminders for you. ServiceM8’s Quote Follow Up automation, part of its Automation add-on, can send up to 5 follow-ups by email, SMS or both. It pauses when the customer replies and cancels when they accept online or the job moves to Work Order, Completed or Unsuccessful. Tradify’s quote reminders go out 7 and 14 days after the quote is sent and 3 days before it expires, and stop once it is accepted, declined or expired.
Automation is good for reminders, not for the phone call. Read each automated message out loud before you switch it on. If it sounds like a debt collector, rewrite it.
3. Use a Short Quote Follow Up Cadence
A quote follow up cadence is simply the plan for when you get in touch and how. Three touches suit most residential and small commercial work. More than that starts to feel like chasing. Fewer, and you give up before the customer has decided.
| Touch | When | How | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Within 2 business days of sending | Phone call, then a text if there is no answer | Check it arrived, answer questions, learn their timeline |
| 2 | About a week after sending | Email with the quote attached again | Put the quote back on top of their inbox |
| 3 | A few days before the quote expires | Short text or email | Final check, then close the quote either way |
Why make the first quote follow up a call? Questions about inclusions, access or timing get sorted in two minutes by phone, and those are exactly the questions that stall a decision. The email a week later puts the quote back on top of an inbox where it may have sunk. The last touch has a genuine reason behind it: the price is only held until the expiry date.
Adjust for the size of the job
A blocked drain or a dead hot water system is decided in days, so tighten the gaps. An extension, a commercial fit-out or a builder’s subcontract package can take weeks while finance, strata approval or the head contract is sorted. For those, ask on the first call when the decision will be made and plan the next touches around that date.
Know when to stop
If the customer says no, thank them and stop. If they ask for time, agree a date and stick to it. After the third touch with no reply, mark the quote Lost, reason “no response”, and let it go. A respectful quote follow up keeps the door open for the next job, which is worth more than squeezing this one.
4. Know What to Say: Quote Follow Up Scripts
The best quote follow up sounds like a helpful tradie, not a salesperson. Keep it short, be specific about the job, and make it easy for the customer to say yes, no or not yet. Swap in your own details.
Phone call (touch 1)
Hi Sarah, it’s Dave from [business]. I sent through the quote for your hot water system on Tuesday and wanted to check it came through okay. Have you had a chance to look at it? Is there anything in there you’d like me to explain, or anything we missed?
If they are still deciding: “No worries at all. When do you think you’ll know? I’ll touch base then.” Put that date on the follow-up task before you hang up.
SMS (if the call goes to voicemail)
Hi Sarah, Dave from [business]. Just checking the hot water quote came through okay. Happy to answer any questions, call or text me on this number. Reply NO if you’d rather I didn’t follow up.
Email (touch 2)
Subject: Your quote for the switchboard upgrade at [street name]
Hi Mark,
Just following up on the quote we sent last week for the switchboard upgrade. I’ve attached it again so you don’t have to dig for it.
The price includes [removal of the old board, testing and the compliance paperwork], and we can start from [date] if that suits.
If you have any questions, reply here or call me on [number]. If you’ve decided to go another way, just let me know and I’ll close it off on our end.
Thanks,
Dave
When the answer is “your price is too high”
Do not drop the price on the spot. Ask what they are comparing it with, because two quotes are not always for the same job: one may leave out the call-out fee, rubbish removal or the certificate at the end. Walk through what yours includes. If budget is the real problem, offer a scope change, not a discount:
That’s fair, and thanks for being upfront. Can I ask what the other quote included? If the budget is tight, we could [stage the work, or use a different fitting] and bring it down to about [figure] without cutting corners.
When the answer is “we went with someone else”
Take it well and ask one question. The answer is some of the most useful feedback you will get all month.
No problem at all, thanks for letting me know. Would you mind telling me what tipped it? Was it price, timing or something else? It helps us get better.
Record the reason on the quote and keep it friendly. If the other business lets them down, you want to be the first number they call.
Keep texts and emails on the right side of the rules
A follow-up email or text that promotes your services can count as a commercial electronic message. Business.gov.au explains the Spam Act rules: you need the customer’s permission, a clear way to unsubscribe, and you must remove people within 5 working days of them asking. If your texts go out under a branded sender ID (a business name instead of a phone number), that name must be registered, or the messages are labelled “Unverified”.
In practice: ask on the enquiry form or at the site visit if it is OK to follow up by text or email, note the yes against the job, include a one-line opt-out and keep follow-ups about the quote they asked for. Adding quote customers to a newsletter later needs a separate yes.
5. Give Quote Follow Up to the Office and Track It
In a lot of trade businesses the owner quotes, sends and is meant to follow up. The owner is also on the tools, running the crew and doing the books at night, so quote follow up is the first thing to slip. It does not need the owner.
The office owns it, the owner backs it up
Give quote follow up to one named person: the office manager, admin or estimator. They run the cadence, make the calls from the scripts and update the status. The owner steps in only for big quotes or technical questions the office cannot answer. If handing it over feels hard, our guide to delegation covers how to let go without losing control.
Give that person access to every quote, the notes and photos from the site visit, and the authority to offer a site meeting or a scope change within limits you set. Without the site notes, every call turns into “I’ll get Dave to ring you back”, and the job stalls again.
One place for every quote
Track every quote and quote follow up in your job management software or a CRM, not an inbox. Each quote needs a sent date, a value, the next follow-up date and a status: Sent, Followed up, Won, Lost or Expired. When one is lost, record why in a word or two: price, timing, went elsewhere or no response. Our post on customer relationship management explains how to keep enquiries, quotes and follow-ups in one place so nothing slips through.
Measure whether quote follow up is working
- Win rate: of the quotes you sent last month, how many became jobs? Work it out by count and by dollar value. If you win plenty of small jobs but lose the big ones, the dollar figure shows it. Leave a few weeks before you count, so slow deciders have had time to decide.
- Quote-to-job time: the days from the site visit to the accepted quote. If it is long, find where the days go: waiting on you to send the quote, or waiting on the customer to decide.
Review both once a month, with the lost reasons beside them. A pile of “price” losses points to your pricing or how you explain value. A pile of “no response” points to the quote follow up itself. For a wider look at pricing, lead quality and getting yourself out of the bottleneck, the WA Tradie Revenue Multiplier workbook works through five revenue levers, including how to stop quoting tyre-kickers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon should you do a quote follow up?
Make the first quote follow up within 2 business days of sending the quote, ideally by phone. That is soon enough that the job is still fresh and late enough that the customer has had time to read it. For urgent work such as a burst pipe or a failed switchboard, call the same day.
How many times should you follow up a quote?
Three touches suit most jobs: a call within 2 business days, an email about a week later, and a final check a few days before the quote expires. After that, mark it lost with a reason and move on, unless the customer asked you to check back on a set date.
Is quote follow up pushy?
Not when it helps the customer decide. Checking the quote arrived, answering questions and telling them when the price expires is good service. It becomes pushy when you call every other day, lean on them or keep going after a clear no.
Can you automate quote follow up?
Partly. Job management software such as ServiceM8 and Tradify can send scheduled email and text reminders and stop once the quote is accepted. Keep the first phone call human, because that is where questions get answered and you learn when the decision will be made.
Where to Start This Week
You do not need new software to start. Pull every quote sent in the last 30 days that has not been accepted or declined. Give the list to one person in the office with the phone script above, and have them call each customer this week. Record what they learn against each quote.
Then make it stick: set a three-touch quote follow up as a task on every new quote, save your standard messages, and review win rate and quote-to-job time at the end of each month. Most of the work is deciding who does it and when.
If you would like help building this into your quoting process and software, ACS Consulting’s operations and process services map how work moves from enquiry to invoice, fix the leaks and set up tools your team will use.
Book a discovery call with ACS Consulting today. We will help you set up a quote follow up process your office can run without you.
Email: zoey@acsconsulting.com.au
Phone: 0452 665 021