You spent forty minutes on that quote. Measured up Tuesday, priced the materials properly, sat down after tea on Wednesday and typed it out. Then nothing. It is now the following Thursday and the customer who said "send it over, we want it done before the winter" has gone completely quiet.
So you leave it. You tell yourself they have gone with someone cheaper. Meanwhile that quote sits in your sent items next to all the others that never got an answer either way. Here is how to get a yes or a no out of those people without turning into a pest.
Silence almost never means "no"
When a customer goes quiet, the reasons are usually dull. They are waiting on a second price. They need to talk to their partner. Their mum is in hospital. They read it on their phone at 11pm, meant to reply in the morning, and forgot. Your quote is the biggest thing in your week and about the fourteenth biggest thing in theirs.
Your job is not to talk anyone into anything. It is to get an answer so you know whether to keep the slot free. A no is a perfectly good outcome. What costs you money is not knowing.
A chase timeline you can actually stick to
Two or three touches over about two weeks, then a clean close-off. Not eight messages over two months.
| When | What you do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Send the quote and say when you will follow up | Makes the chase something you already flagged |
| Day 3 | Short text or WhatsApp | Catches the ones who simply forgot |
| Day 8-10 | Phone call, voicemail if no answer | Some people never reply in writing but will talk |
| Day 14-21 | The close-off message | Gets you an answer or clears it off your list |
Day 0 is the one that changes everything. If you warn them at the point of sending, chasing stops feeling like begging.
The exact words to use
When you send the quote
Put this at the bottom, every time:
"Any questions at all, give me a ring. If I've not heard from you by Friday I'll drop you a quick text to check you got it — no pressure either way, I just don't want it sitting in your junk folder."
Day 3 — the nudge text
"Hi Sarah, Dave here — the electrician who came round Tuesday about the consumer unit. Just checking the quote came through OK? Happy to go through anything on it if it'd help. Dave."
Keep it that short. Remind them who you are and what the job was — they may have had three people round. Do not apologise for messaging, and do not ask "any thoughts?" That is too easy to ignore.
Day 8-10 — the phone call
Ring, don't text. If they pick up:
"Hi Sarah, it's Dave about the consumer unit quote. I'm not chasing you for an answer — I'm doing my diary for the next few weeks and I wanted to know whether to hold a day for you or let it go. Where are you up to?"
Then stop talking and let them fill the gap. If they are still getting prices in: "No bother, that's sensible. When are you expecting to decide? I'll ring you after that." Write the date down.
If it goes to voicemail: "Hi Sarah, Dave here about the consumer unit quote. Nothing urgent — just working out my diary and wondering if you still want that job doing. Give me a ring back on this number when you get a minute. Thanks."
Day 14-21 — the close-off
This one gets replies, because it lets them off the hook:
"Hi Sarah, I'll take it you've gone another way on the consumer unit — no problem at all, thanks for asking me out. I'll close it off my end. If anything changes, or you want a hand with something else down the line, you know where I am. All the best, Dave."
That one often gets "no no, sorry, we do still want it doing!" And when it does not, you have a clean answer and your evening back.
When the price is the problem
If they say you were dearer than someone else, don't knock money off on the spot:
"Fair enough. Can I ask what the other quote covered? Sometimes it's the same job and sometimes it isn't — mine includes the certificate and the making good, and I'd rather you compared like for like before you decide."
Fix the quote so you chase less
- Send it within 24 hours of the visit, while they still remember you.
- Put the price on the first screen, not page three. They will read it on a phone.
- State clearly whether the figure includes VAT, and whether it is a fixed quote or an estimate that could move.
- Say what is in and what is not — skip hire, making good, certificates, parking, scaffolding.
- Give one clear next step: "Reply YES to this text and I'll book you in."
- Put a date on it: "Price held until 30 September, materials permitting."
- Include your Gas Safe, Part P or MCS number if it applies to the work.
- Log the date sent and the date to chase. A notebook is fine.
- Make sure they can reach you when they do decide. A missed call at 2pm from someone ready to say yes is a lost job — which is why some trades put an answering service or an AI receptionist like DigiAutomate's on the line while they are up a ladder.
When this will not work, and when to get proper advice
Chasing will not save a quote that was never really a quote. If you gave a rough figure on the doorstep with no detail, you are not chasing a decision, you are waiting on one nobody ever made. Rework it properly instead.
It also will not work on someone stringing you along to beat down another trade's price. If you have been fobbed off three times, close it off and move on. And if you are getting silence from nearly everyone, the problem is upstream of the chasing — the price, the survey, or how long you take to get the quote out.
Two things worth saying plainly. Whether your document counts as a fixed quote or a movable estimate can matter if there is a dispute later, so on larger jobs or written contracts get the wording checked by a solicitor or your trade body. And how you show VAT, when you must register, and how deposits are treated are questions for your accountant. Chasing is a habit you can build tonight. The paperwork underneath it is worth getting right once, properly.
