How to Follow Up on a Quote
Most quotes are decided after you send them. Write the follow-up plan down before the quote goes out, make each contact worth answering, close the loop when it is over, and keep the record that tells you your real win rate.
Decide the follow-up before the quote goes out: how many contacts, how far apart, and what each one will add. Make every contact useful to the customer rather than a reminder that you exist. End with a clear close-out message, record the outcome and the reason for every quote, and use that record as the win rate in your quoting cost.
Follow-up is a pricing question
Every hour you spend on quotes is paid for by the jobs you win, which is the whole argument of what it really costs to win a job. At 2 hours per quote, $60.00 an hour and a 25% win rate, each won job carries $480.00 of quoting time. Follow-up adds hours to every quote, so it has to earn them back by winning more of them.
| Case | Per won job | Hours per quote, win rate |
|---|---|---|
| No structured follow-up | $480.00 | 2 hours at 25%, so 4 quotes per win |
| Follow-up that wins nothing extra | $600.00 | 2.5 hours, still at 25% |
| Follow-up at break-even | $480.00 | 2.5 hours at 31.25%, so 3.2 quotes per win |
Each row is the same contractor quoting the same work: the middle column is the quoting cost carried by each won job, worked out as hours per quote × $60.00 ÷ win rate. The extra 0.5 hours of follow-up is an illustration, not a measured figure.
So half an hour of follow-up per quote pays for itself if it turns about one more quote in every 16 into a job. Above that, it makes every job cheaper to win. This site does not publish a figure for how much follow-up lifts a win rate, because there is no honest one to publish; the quote follow-up tracker is how you find out your own.
Write the cadence down before the quote goes out
Follow-up that depends on remembering does not happen in a busy week, and it happens least in exactly the weeks you are on site all day. Decide three things when the quote is written, and put them in the tracker next to it:
- How many contacts, including the last one, so there is an end
- How far apart. One sensible shape is a short gap first, to confirm the quote arrived and answer early questions, then longer gaps while the customer decides
- What each one will add, decided now, so no contact is just checking in
Treat the gaps as your starting point, not a rule. Your tracker will show you where replies tend to stop coming, and that is where your sequence should end.
Make every contact worth answering
A customer who has not replied usually has a question, a comparison or a scheduling problem, not a lack of reminders. Each contact should give them something:
Answer the question they have not asked
- What is included and what is not, how long the floor will be out of use, what prep the price assumes
Explain the comparison
- If another quote is cheaper, the difference is often the system or the build. Our epoxy vs polyaspartic comparison is the kind of explanation that helps
Show the work
- Photos of a similar floor you finished, with the system named
Offer a date
- A real slot in your schedule turns a someday decision into a yes or no
Do not lead with a discount
A discount offered to a customer who has not asked for one tells them the first price had room in it, and it comes straight off your margin, which pricing for a real profit margin shows costs more than it looks. On small jobs it can also take you under your minimum job charge. If price is the objection, find out what it is being compared with first.
Close the loop
The last contact says plainly that this is the last one: you are closing the quote, the price holds until a date you name, and they can come back any time. Send it even when nothing before it was answered: it asks for a decision, and it lets you mark the quote closed instead of leaving it open forever.
Follow the rules where you work on calls, texts and marketing messages. They differ between countries and between kinds of contact, and this guide does not cover them.
Record every outcome, because that is your win rate
For every quote: won, lost, or no decision, and the reason in the customer's words where you can get them. Count all three when you work out your win rate, not just the ones that answered, or the rate will flatter you. That number, and your real hours per quote with follow-up included, are the two inputs that make the quoting cost calculator tell the truth.
Reasons are worth as much as the count. Lost on price again and again says something about your pricing or your explanation of it; lost on timing says something about your schedule; no reply at all says something about the first contact.
What this guide does not cover, and where those answers live
- Pricing the quote. Pricing for a real profit margin and the pricing and estimating guides
- Getting the inquiry in the first place. The marketing and sales guides
- Contact rules. Calls, texts and email are regulated differently where you work; check the rules that apply to you
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times should I follow up on a quote?
Decide a fixed number before you send the quote, and stop when you reach it. The right number is the one your own records support: track every quote and its outcome for a few months and you will see where the replies stop coming. Until you have that, a short sequence ending in a clear close-out message is better than open-ended chasing.
Is following up worth the time?
It costs quoting time, so it has to earn it back in won jobs. In the worked example on this page, half an hour of follow-up per quote pays for itself if it lifts the win rate from 25% to 31.25%. Above that it lowers what each won job costs you to win. Your own tracker is the only honest way to find out which side of that line you are on.
Should I offer a discount when following up?
Not as a reflex. A discount offered to a customer who has not asked for one tells them the first price was padded, and it comes straight out of your margin. If the price is the objection, ask what they are comparing it with: a different system or a thinner build is often the real difference, and explaining it does more than cutting the number.
What should I record when a quote is lost?
The outcome and the reason, in the customer's words if you can get them: price, timing, chose another contractor, chose a different system, or never answered. A lost quote with a reason tells you something about your pricing or your sales process. A quote with no recorded outcome only distorts your win rate.