You sent the quote on Thursday. It was a fair number, the customer seemed keen on the phone, and it is now the following Wednesday and you have heard nothing. You are not sure whether to call, whether calling looks desperate, or whether they went with the other guy on Friday.
Most quotes do not die from price. They die from silence on both sides, and silence is a process problem, which is the good news, because process problems are the fixable kind.
Speed decides who is in the conversation
A homeowner who fills in three quote forms on Sunday evening is not choosing a contractor yet. They are finding out who answers. The first reply gets a conversation, a few questions and the chance to shape what the job is. The third reply, on Tuesday, gets compared to a number that already exists.
You do not need to quote fast. You need to reply fast, and those are different things. "Got it, two questions before I price this: how old is the unit and is there access to the attic?" sent within the hour does more than a full quote sent in two days.
The five stages, and what each one means
Quotes go cold because nobody can see them. A dozen jobs spread across a text thread, an email inbox and a notebook in the truck have no stage, so nothing prompts a follow-up and nothing gets closed. Give every request one of five states:
- New. It arrived and nobody has replied. This list should be empty by the end of every working day.
- Contacted. You replied, asked your questions, maybe booked a visit. The job is live and the customer knows you are real.
- Quoted. A number went out, with a date. This is the stage where money goes cold, and it is the one that needs a schedule.
- Won. They said yes. Write the amount down; the amounts you win and lose say more about your pricing than any competitor's website.
- Lost. Over, with a reason.
Record the quoted amount and the date it went out. Those two numbers make the next section possible.
The follow-up order
Day 0: send the quote with an expiry. "This price holds for 30 days" is not pressure, it is information, and it gives you a legitimate reason to call later.
Day 2 or 3: one message. "Wanted to check this reached you and see if anything needs explaining." Often it went to spam, or they have a question they were too busy to ask.
Day 10: one more. "Anything changed on timing? Happy to adjust the scope if the number is not where you need it." This is where you find out whether it is the price, the timing or another contractor.
Day 30, as the quote expires: close it out. "Our price expires this week. If the job is still on later in the year, get back in touch and we will requote." Then mark it lost with a reason, and stop.
Three touches after the quote. Not six. A contractor who is still messaging at week eight is not persistent, he is the reason the customer stopped answering.
When to stop, and what lost is for
Mark a quote lost when the customer says no, the quote expires with no reply, or the job has clearly gone elsewhere. Record why: price, timing, went with someone else, no response, out of scope. After thirty lost quotes those reasons are a diagnosis. Mostly "price" on one job type and you are either too high or quoting the wrong people. Mostly "no response" and your day-2 message is not going out.
Lost is not dead; a lost quote with a good reason is somebody to contact when you have a gap. Just know what you are sending: a reply to someone's request is a transactional message, but a later "we have availability in March" to people who never hired you is commercial email, and the FTC's CAN-SPAM compliance guide is clear that the law covers all commercial messages, not just bulk ones, so include a way to opt out and honor it within 10 business days.
One more thing if you close jobs at the kitchen table: under the FTC's Cooling-Off Rule, a sale made in the customer's home can be canceled until midnight of the third business day, with exceptions that include work they asked you out to do, so a signed quote is not a won job until that window has passed.
Where the stages live
In Webkio, every request from the quote form lands in a quotes pipeline with exactly these five stages, and you record the quoted amount and date against each one. The setup guide covers it. When a job is won and done, the next message is the review request, and how to get more customer reviews covers the timing of that.
FAQ
How fast should I reply to a quote request?
The same working day, and within the hour if you can. The reply does not need to contain a price. It needs to contain a question, so the customer is now in a conversation with you rather than waiting on a number from three people.
How many times should I follow up on a quote?
Three times after the quote goes out: a few days in, around day ten, and as the price expires. Then mark it lost with a reason. Anything beyond that costs you more goodwill than it wins.
What should I do with lost quotes?
Record the reason, then leave them alone for a while. The reasons are your best pricing data, and the contacts are worth one polite message when you have capacity later in the year.