You've done the site visit or the discovery call. You've spent an evening pricing the job properly, written it up so it looks the part and pressed send. Then it goes quiet.
Somewhere around day three, a little voice pipes up. If they wanted it, they'd have said. I don't want to hassle them. I'll leave the ball in their court.
So the quote sits in an inbox, and a few weeks later you find out the work went to someone else. Quite often not because they were cheaper or better, but because they were the one who picked up the phone.
This post is about that phone call (or email, or WhatsApp). When to send it, what to say, and when to stop.
Following up is part of the service
Here's the reframe that changes everything: a follow-up isn't chasing. It's finishing the job of quoting.
When you send a quote, you're asking someone to make a decision about money, usually in between the school run, a team meeting and forty other emails. Your quote is competing with all of that. A short, friendly follow-up isn't pressure. It's you making the decision easier for them.
Think about it from the other side. When you're the customer and you've asked three people for a price, which one do you trust more: the one who sent a PDF and disappeared, or the one who rang to check it made sense and answered your questions? Plenty of people on UK business forums say the same thing. When nobody follows up, they assume the business doesn't really want the work.
What the research actually says
There's a lot of noise online about follow-up, so here's what holds up.
In 2011, Harvard Business Review published an audit of 2,241 US companies, testing how quickly they responded to web enquiries. The average response took 42 hours, and 23% of companies never responded at all.
Velocify, analysing roughly 3.5 million leads, found that 93% of leads that converted were reached by the sixth call attempt. It also found that around half of leads were only ever called once.
You've probably also seen the line that "80% of sales need five follow-ups". It gets quoted everywhere, but nobody seems able to point to the study behind it, so I'd treat it with a pinch of salt.
These studies are about enquiries and sales leads in the US, not quotes from UK small businesses, so take them as a direction of travel rather than gospel. The direction is clear, though. Speed matters, persistence matters, and most businesses give up far too early.
Set it up before you send it
The easiest follow-up is the one the customer is expecting. A few small habits when you send the quote make everything after it feel natural.
Tell them when you'll be in touch. End the call or the email with something like: "I'll send this over today and give you a ring on Thursday to talk it through." Now Thursday's call isn't a surprise. It's you doing what you said you'd do.
Ask about their timeline. "When are you hoping to get this sorted?" tells you how hard to follow up and when.
Ask who else needs to see it. If a business partner, a spouse or a finance director has to sign it off, you want to know now, not after three unanswered emails.
Put a valid-until date on the quote. Two to four weeks is normal for most services. It gives a gentle, honest reason to get back in touch, and it protects you if your costs change.
A simple follow-up routine
You don't need a complicated sales process. You need a routine that happens every time, not just when you remember. Here's one that works for most service businesses.
Day 0: send it properly. Attach the quote, but also write two or three lines in the email saying what's included and what happens next. Plenty of people read emails on their phone and never open the attachment.
Day 2 or 3: the check-in. Phone if you can. "Just checking it landed okay and whether there's anything you'd like me to explain." That's it. You're not asking for a decision yet.
Day 7: the useful nudge. Add something of value. An answer to a question they raised, a photo of a similar job, a short case study, or your availability: "I've got space to start in the first week of December if that helps."
Day 14 (or a couple of days before the quote expires): close the loop. "I haven't heard back, so I'm guessing now isn't the right time. I'll close this off for now, but if anything changes, just reply to this email and I'll pick it up." This message gets more replies than you'd expect, because it's polite and it takes the pressure off.
Then: a diary note. Put a reminder in for two or three months' time. Plans change, budgets free up and the other supplier might not work out.
That's three or four touches over a fortnight. Friendly, useful and finished. Nobody will think you're a nuisance.
What to actually say
If the blank screen is the problem, borrow these and make them sound like you.
The check-in (day 2 or 3):
"Hi Sarah, just making sure the quote came through okay. Is there anything in there you'd like me to go through? Happy to jump on a quick call this week."
The useful nudge (day 7):
"Hi Sarah, you mentioned you were worried about disruption while the work's going on, so I've attached a short note on how I usually handle that. Any questions, just shout."
The close-the-loop message (day 14):
"Hi Sarah, I haven't heard back so I'm guessing the timing isn't right at the moment. I'll close this off for now. If anything changes, just reply here and I'll pick it straight back up."
Notice what's missing. No "just following up on my previous email". No "I know you're busy". No apologising for existing. You're a professional checking on a piece of work, so sound like one.
Phone, email or WhatsApp?
Use whichever channel the customer used to get in touch, and lean on the phone where you can.
A phone call gets you an actual conversation. You hear the hesitation in their voice, you find out the real objection and you can answer it there and then. An email gives you a paper trail and lets people reply at 11pm when they finally get a minute.
The best combination is usually both: a quick call, followed by a two-line email confirming what you talked about. If they found you on Instagram and have been messaging you all along, a WhatsApp or DM is perfectly fine. Just keep it as professional as you would an email.
When the answer is "it's a bit expensive"
Sometimes the follow-up surfaces the real reason they've gone quiet, and it's the price. Don't panic and knock 20% off on the spot.
Ask what they're comparing it to. Sometimes they've had a cheaper quote that covers less, and you can point out the difference calmly. Sometimes they simply have a budget, and you can offer to take something out of the scope rather than doing the same work for less.
If talking about money makes you want to hide under your desk, I've written a whole guide on how to sell without being pushy that covers saying your price out loud and asking for the yes.
How to stop forgetting
Most follow-ups don't get missed because people hate doing them. They get missed because there's no system, so they rely on memory, and memory is busy.
You don't need fancy software to fix that. A simple list does the job. For every quote you send, note:
Who it's for and how to reach them
What it's worth
The date you sent it
The date of your next follow-up and what it'll be
Then block out 20 minutes every Monday morning to work through the list. If you already use a CRM, set a follow-up task the moment you send a quote. If you don't, a spreadsheet or even a page in your notebook is miles better than nothing.
Do it for a couple of months and track what happens. Most people are surprised by how many jobs they win back from quotes they'd quietly given up on.
The bigger picture
Following up is one small piece of a sales process, but it's the piece where a lot of small businesses lose money they've already worked hard to earn. You've paid for the marketing, done the call and written the quote. A five-minute follow-up is the cheapest part of the whole journey.
If you want a hand building a sales process that doesn't rely on you remembering everything, that's exactly what the sales consultancy work with Scott McLellan from No Graft No Glory is for. There are also sales workshops for teams who want to get more confident with follow-up and closing. And if you're wondering whether outside help is worth it at all, have a read of what a sales consultant does for a small business.
If you'd rather have a sounding board every month, Qrios Minds starts in January, from £59 a month, with sessions that alternate between marketing and sales. Bring your quotes, your follow-up messages and your questions.
Sources: Harvard Business Review, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads" (2011); Velocify lead response research, as summarised by Usecarly (2026).