Three messages with three different jobs. Day 1 restates the price and names an hour, day 3 asks one question, day 7 offers an easy no. This cadence is ours, not a finding: no study measures the right number of follow-ups.
What should a quote follow-up say on day 1, day 3 and day 7?
Write the three below once and let them send themselves. What is measured is not the timing: it is that the customer is holding two other prices.
- 01Day 1, restate it and give a time"Your estimate: [price] for the 40 gallon heater, installed, haul-away included. I will call Thursday at 10 unless another time is better."
- 02Day 3, ask one question"Quick one: is it the price you are weighing, or the Thursday install date? Either way I can send you an option that fits."
- 03Day 7, make the no easy"Last note from me. This price holds through Friday. If you have gone another way, reply no and I will close the file."
View data
| Piece | What happens |
|---|---|
| Door | Emailed |
| Door | Texted |
| Door | Handed over |
| Door | Left in a portal |
| Hub | Day 1: price, scope, and an hour — nothing to decode, one next step |
| Stage | Day 3: one question — the only message built to get a reply |
| Stage | Day 7: an easy no, with a date — borrowed evidence, from mailed letters |
| Return | Booked, or the file is closed — either answer frees the slot |
Why does a quote go quiet?
Almost never the price. The customer asked two other companies for the same job, and nobody gave them a reason to answer today.
57% of 1,000 U.S. homeowners get a price from two or three companies before choosing (Roto-Rooter, April 2024).
A number with no next step leaves nothing to reply to. No published figure measures this, and it is the cheapest thing on this page to fix.
Only 16% of 1,050 U.S. owners quote in three tiers (Jobber, fielded December 2025), so the choice reads as yes or no.
The figures that circulate have no primary source with a sample. The speed of the first reply does: how fast to respond to a new lead.
View data
| Step | Value |
|---|---|
| The price leaves your hands | Quote sent (Email, text, paper or portal) |
| Two other companies are quoting | Silence (57% price two or three (Roto-Rooter, 2024)) |
| Price, scope and an hour | Day 1 ("I will call Thursday at 10") |
| One question | Day 3 (Built to be answered in four words) |
| An easy no, with a date | Day 7 (The last message, on purpose) |
| Either answer frees the slot | Booked or closed |
What should be in the quote before you follow up at all?
Options. Only 16% of 1,050 U.S. home service owners offer three pricing tiers (Jobber, fielded December 2025), so most customers get one number and a yes-or-no choice.
What the customer compares
your one price against two rivalsyour three options against two rivals
Jobber, 2026: 16% of 1,050 owners quote in three tiers.
The next step in the quote
"let me know"a named hour you will call
No study measures this. It is our recommendation, not a finding.
Where the follow-up lands
an inbox nobody openedthe phone they already carry
Pew, 2025: 98% of 5,022 U.S. adults own a cellphone. That is reach, not a reply.
The first five minutes
handled by memoryalready automatic
That part is written up: the five minutes after a form submit.
View data
| Metric | Day zero → target |
|---|---|
| What the customer compares | your one price against two rivals → your three options against two rivals |
| The next step in the quote | "let me know" → a named hour you will call |
| Where the follow-up lands | an inbox nobody opened → the phone they already carry |
| The first five minutes | handled by memory → already automatic |
Pew measures ownership, not replies, so treat the phone as reach only.
Does putting a deadline on day 7 actually work?
In the one preregistered trial we could read, yes, by a few points. It mailed cancer screening kits to 7,711 people, not quotes, so the direction is borrowed and the size is not.
Every arm with a deadline beat the control by 2.5 to 7.3 percentage points (all ps below .004), and the date on its own matched the date plus money.
- 01Quote with options
- 02Day 1 and day 3
- 03Day 7, with a date on it
- 04Closed out either way
So a deadline always works?
No. A second randomized trial found nothing, and every deadline result we could open comes from public health mail rather than a priced job.
246 men were mailed a health survey: 88.9% responded with a deadline against 85.0% without, not significant (odds ratio 1.41, 95% CI 0.67 to 2.99, p = 0.36). Gattellari and Ward, 2004.
In the screening trial a short deadline alone matched a deadline plus a small payment, 9.7% against 9.1% (Lieberman et al., 2021).
Neither trial priced a job, named a contractor or used a phone. Borrow the direction, not the number.
If the price still stands on day 20, the day 7 date taught the customer that your dates do not mean anything.
What about "80% of sales need five follow-ups"?
It has no primary source. Vendors trace it to a 2014 compilation and to two citations with no sample; one aggregator labels its own entry source pending verification. Count your own two numbers instead.
model numbers, our arithmetic, not a published benchmark. Plug in your own counts.
View data
| Stage | Value |
|---|---|
| quotes sent last month | 100 |
| got the day 1 message | 62 |
| got the day 3 question | 31 |
| answered either way | 14 |
Quotes that got a second message
not counted anywherecounted every month
The number nobody publishes a benchmark for, including us.
The cadence
whenever someone remembersday 1, day 3, day 7, automatic
This cadence is ours, not a finding. No study measures it.
"Five touches"
a rule from a slideyour own close rate
The figure has no primary source with a sample behind it.
When you stop
the thread stays openday 7, then closed
An easy no is an answer, and it frees the slot.
View data
| Metric | Day zero → target |
|---|---|
| Quotes that got a second message | not counted anywhere → counted every month |
| The cadence | whenever someone remembers → day 1, day 3, day 7, automatic |
| "Five touches" | a rule from a slide → your own close rate |
| When you stop | the thread stays open → day 7, then closed |
Write the three messages this week, put them on a timer, and count how many quotes got the second one. Nobody publishes a benchmark worth chasing.
Questions owners ask
What should you say in a follow-up after sending a quote?
Restate the price and the scope in one line, then give a time: "I will call Thursday at 10 unless another time is better." A follow-up that only says "just checking in" gives the customer nothing to answer. The time is what turns silence into a reply.
How many times should you follow up on a quote?
Three is our working answer: day 1, day 3, day 7, then stop. No published study measures the right number, and the figure that circulates ("80% of sales need five follow-ups") has no primary source with a sample behind it. Pick a cadence, automate it, and measure your own close rate.
Does putting an expiry date on a quote work?
The evidence is borrowed. In a trial of 7,711 cancer screening letters, every deadline arm beat the control by 2.5 to 7.3 points, and a short deadline alone matched one paired with a payment (Lieberman et al., 2021). A second trial, of 246 men mailed a survey, found no significant effect (Gattellari and Ward, 2004).
What should the last follow-up say?
Give them an easy no: "If you have gone another way, reply no and I will close the file." It ends the thread without a chase, it gets you an answer either way, and it is the only message in the cadence designed to be the last one.
Sources
- Lieberman A, Gneezy A, Berry E, Miller S, Koch M, Argenbright KE, Gupta S, The effect of deadlines on cancer screening completion: a randomized controlled trial, Scientific Reports, July 6, 2021 (preregistered field experiment, 7,711 participants mailed colorectal cancer screening kits) (2021)
- Gattellari M, Ward JE, Does a deadline improve men's participation in self-administered health surveys? A randomized controlled trial in general practice, Journal of Public Health 26(4), pp. 384-387 (246 men: 126 mailed a deadline, 120 without; general practices in Sydney) (2004)
- Jobber, 2026 Home Service Trends Report (survey of 1,050 U.S. home service business owners run by Conjointly, fielded December 2025, margin of error 3 points at 90% confidence; company that sells quoting software) (2026)
- Roto-Rooter, The State of Home Repair in 2024 (company-commissioned survey of 1,000 U.S. homeowners, April 2024) (2024)
- Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet, November 20, 2025 (5,022 U.S. adults, fielded February 5 to June 18, 2025; device ownership, not messaging behavior; read October 20, 2026) (2025)
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