Free template pack

Eight emails to send after a quote

The check-in, the nudge, the price question, the one that offers a start date, and the polite way to close a quote off for good. Copy any of them, swap the bits in braces, send it under your own name.

No email box, no sign-up, nothing to download. The text is on the page.

Why the follow-up beats a better quote

Most quotes that go quiet were never a no. The client got busy, the partner had not seen it yet, or they were waiting on the roofer before committing to anything. Nothing about your quote changed in that week. What changed is that a week went past and no one said a word.

A second email fixes a fair bit of that, and it costs you two minutes. The firms that follow up on a schedule win work that the firms who wait lose, and it has very little to do with who wrote the better quote.

What I will not do is put a percentage on it. The quoting post on this site uses a 1-in-3 close rate to run the arithmetic and says plainly that it is an illustration rather than a measured NZ figure, and the same caution applies to anything you read about follow-up lifting a win rate. Send these, count what comes back, and use your own number.

How to use these

Anything in {{double braces}} is yours to replace. Leave the tone alone; short and plain is what gets a reply from someone standing in a trench.

The templates

01 / Day 2 check-in

Make sure it landed

Two working days after the quote goes out. Late enough that they have had a night to look at it, early enough that the job is still fresh.

SubjectQuote for {{job description}}

Hi {{first name}},

Sending this so the quote does not get buried. It went through on {{date sent}} for {{job description}}, {{quote amount}}.

Have a read when you get a minute. If anything in it does not match what we talked about on site, tell me and I will change it.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
{{business name}}
{{phone}}
02 / Day 7 nudge

Ask for a yes or a no

A week after the quote, when the day two email got no reply.

SubjectStill keen on the {{job description}}?

Hi {{first name}},

Chasing up the quote I sent for {{job description}}. I have not heard back, so I want to know where you have landed on it.

Yes, no, or not right now all work for me. A no is fine and I would rather hear it than keep the job pencilled in.

If you want to talk it through instead, ring me on {{phone}} and I will pick up.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
{{business name}}
03 / The price question

Say the number out loud

Day 3 to 5 on a bigger job, when the price is the likely sticking point and nobody has said so.

SubjectThe numbers on your {{job description}} quote

Hi {{first name}},

The quote for {{job description}} came to {{quote amount}}. If that is above what you had in mind, say so and I will walk you through what sits behind it.

There is usually room to move on scope. {{smaller option, for example doing the bathroom now and the laundry in the new year}}. Your call either way, and I would rather price a job you can afford than leave a quote sitting in your inbox.

Easier on the phone? Ring me on {{phone}}.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
04 / Start date offer

Put a real slot on the table

Day 10 to 14, and only when you have a genuine gap in the calendar to offer.

SubjectI can start your {{job description}} the week of {{date}}

Hi {{first name}},

A gap has opened up the week of {{date}} and your job would fit it.

If you want that week, let me know by {{decision date}} and I will hold it for you. After that it goes to whoever confirms first, and my next clear run is {{next available period}}.

Price is unchanged at {{quote amount}}.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
{{business name}}
05 / Quote expiry

The price has a shelf life

Three to five days before the date on the quote runs out. Only send it if your quotes carry an expiry, because an invented deadline gets found out.

SubjectYour {{job description}} quote runs out on {{expiry date}}

Hi {{first name}},

The quote I sent for {{job description}} holds until {{expiry date}}. After that I have to redo it, because {{material}} pricing has moved twice since {{month}}.

If you want {{quote amount}} locked in, reply before {{expiry date}} and I will get you booked.

If the timing is wrong, say so and I will requote whenever you are ready. No rush from my end.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
{{business name}}
06 / Day 21 close-the-loop

Close it off and leave the door open

Three weeks after the quote. This is the last email you send on this job.

SubjectClosing off your {{job description}} quote

Hi {{first name}},

I am tidying up the open quotes on my books and yours is one of them, so I am closing it off at my end.

No hard feelings at all if you went with someone else or the job is parked for now. If it comes back around, email me and I will requote it at the prices of the day.

Good luck with the {{job description}}.

{{your name}}
{{business name}}
{{phone}}
07 / Won the job

What happens next

The same day they say yes, before anything else lands in their inbox. This is the email that stops the phone calls asking what time you turn up.

SubjectBooked in: {{job description}}, starting {{start date}}

Hi {{first name}},

Thanks for the go-ahead. This is how it runs from here.

Start: {{start date}}, on site from about {{time}}.
On the day: {{what you need from them, for example access, a park for the van, pets inside}}.
Payment: {{deposit or terms}}, invoice through {{invoicing tool}} once the job is signed off.
If something changes: ring me on {{phone}} rather than emailing, that reaches me faster.

I will confirm the day before we start.

Thanks,
{{your name}}
{{business name}}
08 / Text version

For the client who rings, not emails

Day 4 or 5, on a smaller job, for the client who phoned you in the first place. One text, then leave it.

Hi {{first name}}, {{your name}} from {{business name}} here. Sent the quote for the {{job description}} through on {{date sent}}, {{quote amount}} all up. Keen to know if you want it done or not, either answer suits me. Give me a ring or text back when you get a chance.

Where this fits

Sending these by hand works fine up to about ten quotes a month. Past that, the emails stop going out on the days that matter, because the reminder lives in your head alongside the job you are standing in the middle of. That is the point where the tool you already pay for should be doing it.

Use these however you like. Paste them into your job management tool, your email drafts, or a note on your phone. Attribution is welcome and not required:

Quote follow-up templates, Kove. kove.nz/quote-follow-up-templates

Questions people ask

How many times should I follow up on a quote?

Three emails over about three weeks covers it: a check-in on day two, a nudge on day seven, and a close-the-loop on day 21. Add the expiry note if your quote carries a date. After the close-the-loop, stop. A quote that has had four emails and no reply is a no that has not been said out loud.

Is it better to text or email a quote follow-up?

Use whichever the client used to reach you. Someone who rang and never replied to an email wants a text. Someone who emailed you a written scope wants it in writing. Keep the text version short, because a long text reads as pushy on a phone.

Should I drop the price on a quote that has gone quiet?

Not as the opening move. Ask what the number is up against first. The problem is often scope or timing rather than the price, and offering to stage the work keeps your rate where a discount does not.

Do job management tools send these automatically?

Some do. Tradify has quote reminders and ServiceM8 has an automation add-on that chases a quote and stops the moment it is accepted or declined. Plenty of trades pay for those and have never switched them on. If you already own one, put these words into it rather than sending them by hand.

Want the follow-ups sending themselves?

Book a free 30-minute call. I will look at how your quotes go out and where they go quiet, then tell you whether the fix is a setting in Tradify or something worth building.

Christchurch based, working remotely across New Zealand. If the answer is a checkbox in software you already own, that is what I will say.