How many follow-up messages should I send on a quote?

Four is the sweet spot for residential trade work: Day 0 (quote), Day 2 (check-in), Day 5 (value/availability), Day 10 (respectful close). Most contractors send one. The gap is the opportunity.

Should I follow up by SMS or email?

SMS for short check-ins and confirmations. Email for the quote itself, terms, anything with detail. SMS read rates are over 90% within minutes; email sits at 20–30%. Use both.

Won't follow-ups annoy the customer?

Not if they're short, useful and spaced out. Customers consistently say silence after a quote feels like the contractor doesn't want the job. Three sentences every few days reads as professional.

What do I say in the final follow-up?

Give the customer permission to say no. 'Finalising my schedule — are you still keen or should I take this off the list? No worries either way.' Counterintuitively, this closes the most jobs.

How do I track which follow-ups I've sent to which customer?

Past ~10 open quotes, memory and WhatsApp stop working. A quote board with next-action dates is the simplest fix — see Contractor Revenue Hub's Quotes Board.

Should the templates be different for repeat customers?

Yes. Drop the formality, reference the prior job, and shorten the cadence. A repeat customer usually only needs one nudge — they already trust you.

Quote follow-up message templates that win more jobs

By Lee Stephens · Founder, Contractor Revenue Hub

TL;DR: Below are 10 copy-paste templates covering every contractor follow-up situation — Day 2 check-in, Day 5 confidence builder, Day 10 close, going-cold check, post-loss feedback, and SMS variants for every one. Steal them, paste them into your phone, and stop writing follow-ups from scratch.

A follow-up should take you 30 seconds, not 10 minutes. Every time you stare at a blank message thinking "how do I phrase this without sounding pushy?", the message doesn't get sent — and another quote goes cold.

More guides on the Contractor Revenue Hub blog.