Customer Not Responding to Quote? The Follow-Up Sequence

When a customer is not responding to your quote, follow up three times on a fixed clock and then stop: day 2 (a short check that it arrived and is readable), day 7 (one question about the substance of the job, not about the decision), and day 21 (the validity date is running out, so give them the last easy chance to say yes). If there is no answer after the third, mark it lost and log the reason. Never ask "have you had a chance to think about it?" That question asks the customer to justify themselves, so the polite ones stay quiet instead. Ask about the job, the timing, or the one price line they are stuck on, and give them a reason to reply that is not your bank balance.

Silence after a quote is normal and it is usually not rejection. There are three reasons a quote goes unanswered, and you should assume them in this order: it never got read (spam folder, wrong address, opened on a phone in a car park and forgotten); the customer is waiting on someone else (a partner, a landlord, a second price, a bank); or something in the quote is unclear and they would rather ignore it than admit they do not understand it. Only the third one is about you, and only following up tells you which one you are in.

A customer not responding to your quote is a timing problem, not a verdict

Two things about how trades actually work sit underneath all of this. First, most quotes are sent once and then abandoned, so you are not competing on price so much as on still being visible when the customer finally has ten spare minutes. Second, decisions about domestic work rarely happen at a desk. They happen on a sofa on a Sunday evening, in a conversation you were not part of. Your follow-up exists to land near that conversation, not to win an argument.

So stop reading silence as a no. Read it as a queue. Your job is to stay in the queue politely, three times, and then leave without a fuss.

The follow-up sequence: day 2, day 7, day 21

Count from the day you sent the quote, not from the site visit. Working days for the first touch, calendar days after that.

Day 2: check it landed

This is not a sales message. It is a delivery check, and that is exactly why it works: it hands the customer something cheap to reply to. Send it as a reply inside your original email so the quote is sitting right there underneath.

Hi Anna. Just checking the quote for the consumer unit change reached you on Tuesday, email being what it is. It is four pages and the price breakdown is on page two. If anything reads oddly, say so and I will rewrite that bit. No rush on a decision. Mark

Notice what is missing. No "just following up". No "wanted to touch base". No decision requested. That last line, "no rush on a decision", is doing real work: it removes the reason to avoid you.

Day 7: ask about the job, not about the decision

Ring them. If a domestic customer has been quiet for a week, two minutes on the phone beats a fourth email, and you will hear the real reason in the first thirty seconds. Have one specific question ready before you dial. The question is your reason for calling and it has to be genuine.

• Scope: "I quoted six downlights in the kitchen. Is the utility room going in at the same time? It changes how I run the cable and it is cheaper if we do both at once."
• Timing: "I have a gap the week of the 18th and another in mid-September. Want me to pencil the earlier one in? Costs you nothing and I will release it if you decide against."
• A specific line: "The board upgrade is the biggest single line in there. Shall I show you the cheaper option so you can see both side by side?"

If they do not pick up, leave a voicemail saying that same specific thing, then send the same question by email in two sentences. Do not phone twice in one day. That is the point where you turn into the tradesman who hassles people.

Day 21: let the validity date do the asking

This is the whole trick, and it is why you put a validity period on the quote in the first place. A stated expiry gives you a legitimate, non-needy reason to make contact. You are not chasing. You are administering your own document.

Hi Anna. The quote for the consumer unit change runs out on the 28th. Cable and the board itself have both moved since I priced it, so after that date I would have to reprice rather than simply extend. If you still want the job, say the word before Friday and I will hold the price as it stands. If the timing has gone, that is completely fine, just tell me and I will take it off my list so I stop bothering you. Mark

Three things are happening in that message. The deadline is external and true, so it does not read as manufactured pressure. There is a real cost to waiting that is not "I want your money". And you have given them permission to say no, which is what finally pulls a reply out of the polite ones who have been avoiding you for a fortnight.

Set validity at 14 to 30 days for domestic work. Longer than that and the material prices you based it on are fiction. In Sweden a quote (offert) with a stated validity binds you to that price if the customer accepts inside the window, so the date protects you as much as it prompts them; the standard consumer contract wording published via Konsumentverket assumes a dated offer for exactly that reason. In the UK, New Zealand and Australia ordinary contract law does the same job: a stated expiry ends the offer. Either way, put the date on the document, in words, next to the price.

What to write so you do not sound desperate

Desperation is not about how often you write. It is about who the message is for. Rewrite any follow-up that fails these:

• Never mention your own need. "I need to fill the diary", "we are quiet this month", "just wondering". Delete all of it.
• Never ask for a status update. "Any thoughts?" and "just checking in" put the work back on them.
• Always carry one piece of new information. A slot that opened, a price that moved, a cheaper option, a photo of a similar job you finished this week.
• Always give them an exit. "If it is a no, tell me and I will stop." That sentence gets more replies than anything else on this list.
• Keep it under 80 words. If it needs more, it is a phone call.
• Match their channel. If they have only ever texted you, do not suddenly send a formal email.

Follow up on signal, not on a hunch

Here is what has actually changed. A PDF attached to an email is a black hole: you have no idea whether it was read, so you either chase blind or you let it go. A quote sent as a link tells you it was opened, when, and how many times. That turns follow-up into reading rather than guessing.

• Opened within an hour, then nothing for four days: they read it and something stopped them. Phone now, do not wait for day 7. It is a scope or price question.
• Opened five times, three of them after nine at night: they are discussing it with someone. Send what helps that conversation: the cheaper option, a payment split, the timeline. They are not stalling, they are negotiating with a partner.
• Never opened after 48 hours: that is a delivery problem, not a sales problem. Ring, confirm the address, resend. Do not write a persuasive email to an inbox that never got the first one.
• Opened the moment your day 21 message lands: it was forgotten, not refused. Those close more often than you would think.

This is one of the few places where the software genuinely earns its keep. In OdinTask a quote goes out as a link with a validity date and a signing button, you can see whether it has been opened, and on a Swedish job the ROT deduction (30% of the labour cost, within an annual per-person ceiling shared with RUT, so check the current amount at Skatteverket) is already worked into the figure the customer reads. Accepting is one tap, which kills the most common reason for the delay: "I meant to reply and never got round to it."

When to close the quote as lost

After the day 21 message, stop. Mark it lost. Silence after three well-made attempts is an answer, and the fourth chase costs you more than the job is worth.

Closing lost is not giving up, it is bookkeeping. Log a reason from a short fixed list so you can count them at the end of the quarter: price, timing, went elsewhere, job cancelled, no contact. If a third of your losses say "no contact", your follow-up is broken. If a third say "price", your quote is not explaining itself, which is a completely different fix.

Two exceptions worth keeping. First, if the job depends on a season or a permission (a rewire waiting on a house purchase, an outdoor job waiting on spring, anything waiting on planning), do not close it. Park it with a date and let it come back to you. Second, a lost quote is worth one email six months later, once, when the season turns. Not a sequence. One line: "You looked at a board upgrade back in March. Still on the list? I have space in October." That is a different message from a chase, and it is allowed.