You sent the quote. A day passes. Then a week. Then you start wondering whether to chase it, and the longer you leave it, the more awkward it feels.
Most field service business owners handle this one of two ways. They either don’t follow up at all, telling themselves the customer will get back in touch when they’re ready, or they fire off the same message three times until it starts to feel embarrassing. Neither approach wins much work.
Following up on quotes is one of the cheapest, easiest ways to convert more of the work you’ve already spent time pricing. It doesn’t require a hard sell or a script. It just requires doing it.
Why most businesses don’t follow up
The honest reason most people don’t follow up is that it feels uncomfortable. Nobody wants to come across as desperate or aggressive. So the quote goes out, and then nothing happens, and the business owner convinces themselves that if the customer was interested they’d have been in touch.That logic costs real money.
Research across industries consistently shows that a large proportion of salespeople, in some studies close to half, never follow up after an initial contact at all. The businesses that do follow up tend to do it once or twice and then stop. Meanwhile, most jobs that do convert take several contacts before the customer says yes.
The field service context makes this worse. You’re often quoting for jobs that aren’t urgent: a kitchen refit, a new access control system, an annual maintenance agreement. The customer wants it done but they’re not in crisis. Other things take priority. They mean to come back to you and then they don’t.
Following up isn’t pestering them. Done right, it’s doing them a favour.
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Why customers go quiet — and what it actually means
Before you can follow up well, it helps to understand why people go silent after receiving a quote.
The most common reason isn’t price. It’s not that they’ve chosen someone else. It’s that saying no feels awkward, so they don’t say anything. Most people would rather let a quote quietly expire than pick up the phone and tell you they’ve decided against it. It’s a natural human thing to do, and once you understand that, it stops feeling personal.
Other reasons customers go quiet:
- They got busy. Your quote landed in their inbox during a hectic week and got pushed down. They didn’t forget about the job, it just lost its urgency in the moment.
- They’re waiting on someone else. In commercial work especially, the person who requested the quote often isn’t the person who signs off on the spend. Your quote might be sitting in someone’s inbox waiting for their manager, their landlord, or their board.
- They’re comparing multiple quotes. They asked two or three businesses to price the job and they’re still deciding. They’re not ignoring you; they just haven’t made a decision yet.
- They have a question they haven’t asked. Something on the quote confused them or raised a concern, and rather than ask they’ve stalled. This is particularly common if the quote was sent without a conversation to walk them through it.
- They’re not ready yet. The job is real and they intend to get it done, but the timing isn’t right. A follow-up isn’t going to push them into booking before they’re ready, but staying visible means you’re the business they call when they are.
In almost all of these cases, silence isn’t rejection. It’s delay. A well-timed follow-up is often all it takes to get the conversation moving again.
Before you send the quote: the question that changes everything
The easiest way to follow up without it feeling awkward is to set up the expectation before you send the quote at all.
When you’re wrapping up a site visit or an enquiry call, ask one simple question: “When are you looking to make a decision on this?”
That question tells you whether this is a genuine, imminent job or something they’re vaguely planning for six months from now. It gives you a natural reason to follow up, because you can reference the timeline they gave you rather than contacting them out of nowhere. And it often prompts the customer to think about their own timeline more concretely, which moves things along.
If someone can’t give you any indication of when they want to decide, that’s useful information too. It suggests the job isn’t urgent enough to justify a detailed quote yet. In that case, a ballpark figure and a follow-up in a few weeks is often more appropriate than spending an hour pricing something they’re not ready to buy.
The follow-up sequence: when to get in touch and how many times
There’s no universal rule for how many times to follow up. It depends on the job, the customer, and the relationship. But here’s a sequence that works for most field service businesses:
Within 24 to 48 hours of sending the quote: This one isn’t really a chase. It’s a courtesy check: a quick message or call to confirm the quote arrived, check there are no questions, and put a name to the quote. Keep it brief.
Something like: “Hi [name], just checking the quote came through okay — it sometimes ends up in junk. Happy to talk through anything on it if that would help.”
It also gives you a natural opener if you need to follow up again later. You’ve already spoken once, so you’re not contacting them cold.
Three to five days after sending: If you haven’t heard back, follow up properly. This is the main one, where you actually ask where they’re at. Keep it short, don’t repeat everything from the quote, and make it easy for them to respond.
One to two weeks later: If there’s still nothing, try a different approach rather than repeating the same message. Switch channels if you haven’t already. If you emailed, try a call or a text. Change the angle: a relevant question, a useful piece of information, or a prompt tied to the quote’s expiry date.
The final message: If you’ve followed up three times with no response, one last message is reasonable before letting it go. Make it a genuine closing contact rather than a veiled guilt trip. The goal is to leave the door open, not to pressure a decision out of them.
After that, move on. Keep their details on file and note the outcome. People who went quiet on a quote sometimes come back months later, and if you’ve recorded the conversation you’ll be ready.
What to actually say
The words matter. The most common follow-up mistake is leading with phrases that signal you’re chasing them: “just following up,” “just checking in,” “circling back.” These phrases have become so associated with sales pressure that most people tune out before they’ve read the rest of the message.
The messages that work are short, focused on the customer’s situation rather than yours, and easy to respond to.
Here are four that cover the full sequence:
- “Hi [name], hope the week’s going well. Just wanted to check you got the quote for [job] — sometimes these end up in junk. Let me know if you have any questions or want to talk through anything.”
- “Hi [name], checking back on the quote for [job]. I know things get busy — just wanted to see where you’re at with it. Happy to adjust anything or talk through the options if that would help.”
- “Hi [name], I haven’t heard back from you on the quote for [job]. Just to let you know the pricing is valid until [date] — after that I’d need to reprice depending on current costs. Worth giving me a call if you want to lock it in.”
- “Hi [name], I’ve tried to reach you a couple of times about the quote for [job]. I don’t want to keep bothering you, so I’ll leave it with you — if the timing changes or you want to revisit it, just give me a shout and I’ll pick it back up.”
That last message is more effective than it looks. Removing the pressure often prompts a response from people who have been putting off the conversation because it felt awkward.
One more option worth trying: instead of asking for a decision, ask a question that opens a conversation. “Where have you got to with it?” or “Is there anything on the quote that doesn’t make sense?” gives the customer something easy to respond to, and often reveals what’s actually holding them up.
Quote expiry dates: a built-in reason to follow up
Most businesses don’t put an expiry date on their quotes.
Quotes go out of date: material costs change, your diary fills up, and a price you gave in January might not reflect what the job will cost in March. A 30-day validity period is standard practice and customers expect it.
What makes it useful for follow-up is that it gives you a legitimate reason to get in touch: “just to let you know the quote expires at the end of the week.” That’s not pressure, it’s a practical nudge, and it creates genuine urgency without you having to manufacture any.
How to follow up across different channels
Most businesses default to email for follow-ups. Email is fine, but it’s also easy to ignore. For smaller jobs, a text message often gets a faster response. It feels more personal, and most people read texts within minutes of receiving them.
For larger commercial jobs, a phone call is usually better than either. It’s harder to ignore, it opens a real conversation, and it often reveals why someone hasn’t responded, which is more useful than another unanswered email.
If you’ve followed up three or four times with no response, let it go. Keep the record, note the outcome, and move on. Continuing to contact someone who hasn’t engaged at all is unlikely to win the job and can sour things with that customer and anyone they mention you to.
The exception is commercial work. Longer sales cycles and more decision-makers mean it’s reasonable to stay in touch over a longer period, but with less frequent contact and no pressure attached.
The jobs most worth chasing are the ones where there’s been some engagement, even if it’s gone quiet. A complete non-response from the start is a different signal, and your time is better spent elsewhere.
How software removes the manual work
The reason most businesses don’t follow up isn’t that they don’t want to — it’s that they forget, or they can’t keep track of which quotes are outstanding and when each one needs a nudge.
Field service software like Fieldmotion lets you see all open quotes in one place, set reminders for follow-ups, and track what stage each job is at. Instead of relying on memory or a spreadsheet, you get a clear view of what needs attention and when.
Automated quote reminders take this further. You set the timing once — send a reminder after three days, another after a week, close it out after 30 — and it happens without you having to think about it. The message still comes from you, but the system does the organising.
For businesses sending more than a handful of quotes a week, that clarity makes a real difference to conversion rates and to time spent chasing jobs that were never going to happen.
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FAQs
How soon should I follow up after sending a quote?
Within 24 to 48 hours for the first contact, just to confirm the quote arrived and check for questions. That’s not a sales call, it’s a courtesy check. If you haven’t heard back after three to five days, that’s when to follow up properly and ask where they’re at.
How many times should I follow up on a quote?
Three to four times is reasonable for most jobs before letting it go. Space the contacts out, don’t follow up every day, and vary your approach rather than repeating the same message. For larger commercial jobs, a longer sequence over several weeks is appropriate.
What should I say when following up on a quote?
Keep it short and make it easy for them to respond. Avoid “just following up” or “just checking in” — these phrases tend to trigger resistance before the person has even read the message. Ask a specific question, reference the quote’s expiry date, or try a different channel if the first hasn’t landed.
What if the customer still doesn’t respond?
Send one final message that removes pressure entirely: acknowledge you’ve tried to reach them and leave the door open without expectation. After that, record the outcome and move on. People who go quiet on a quote sometimes come back months later, and having a record of the original conversation means you’re ready.
Why do customers go quiet after receiving a quote?
Usually because saying no feels awkward, so they say nothing instead. Other common reasons: they got busy, they’re waiting on sign-off from someone else, they’re still comparing options, or something on the quote raised a question they haven’t asked. Silence is usually delay, not rejection.
