You already did the hard part. You got the lead, drove out, looked at the job, and sent a number. Then the customer went quiet and you moved on to the next one. That quote is now sitting in Jobber with a hundred others, and most of them will never get a second touch.
That is where the money is. In our experience, a trades company that follows up on every quote at least five times closes 15 to 25 percent more of them than one that sends the quote and waits. Same leads. Same prices. Same crew. The only change is that someone kept the conversation going.
This article gives you the math, a 7-touch cadence over 14 days with the exact messages, what to automate in Jobber versus with an agent, when to stop, and how to track whether it is working.
The math on unanswered quotes
Pull your Jobber quotes for the last 90 days. Count the ones marked Awaiting Response. Multiply by your average quote value. That number is your open pipeline. Most owners have never looked at it, and it is usually shocking.
Worked example for a pressure washing company:
- Quotes sent in 90 days: 120
- Won: 42 (35 percent close rate)
- Lost or declined: 18
- Still Awaiting Response: 60
- Average quote: $650
- Money sitting in Awaiting Response: $39,000
Now say a follow-up cadence converts just one in six of those 60. That is 10 more jobs and $6,500 in revenue from customers you already paid to acquire. Over a year, that is around $26,000. The cost of getting it is a few texts.
The reason it works is boring. People do not reply because they got busy, not because they said no. The quote landed while they were at work, they meant to answer, and three days later they forgot which company they even asked. The first follow-up reminds them. The third one usually closes it.
The 7-touch cadence over 14 days
The cadence below is what we run for residential and light commercial. A mix of text and email, with one phone call. Text gets read. Email carries the details and the link. The messages are written to be sent from a person, whether that is you, a VA, or an agent with your name on it.
Replace the bracketed fields. Keep the messages short. Do not add “I hope this finds you well.”
Touch 1, Day 0, text, sent the moment the quote goes out
“Hi [First name], [Your name] with [Company]. Just sent the quote for the [service] at [address] to your email. Should be there now. Any questions, reply here.”
Touch 2, Day 2, text
“Hi [First name], wanted to make sure the quote for the [service] came through and did not land in spam. Anything you would like us to adjust on the scope?”
Touch 3, Day 4, email
Subject: Your [service] quote, quick question
“[First name], following up on the quote we sent Monday for [address]. Two things people usually ask me at this point: whether the price includes [common add-on] and how soon we can get out there. It does, and we currently have openings next week. The link to the quote is below. Happy to answer anything else.”
Touch 4, Day 6, phone call
Call. If no answer, leave a 15-second voicemail: “Hi [First name], [Your name] from [Company]. Calling about the [service] quote. No pressure, just wanted to see if you had questions. I will send a quick text as well.”
Then text: “Just tried to call about the [service] quote. Reply here if a call back is easier, or let me know if the timing is off.”
Touch 5, Day 8, text with a reason
“[First name], we have a crew scheduled near [neighborhood or street] on [day]. If you want the [service] done then, I can hold the spot until [day before]. Just say the word.”
This one closes more than any other. A real reason to decide now, without a fake discount.
Touch 6, Day 11, email
Subject: Should I close this out?
“[First name], I do not want to keep filling your inbox. If the [service] is on hold or you went another direction, no hard feelings, just let me know and I will close the file. If you still want it done, reply with a good day and we will get you booked.”
Touch 7, Day 14, text, the last one
“Last note from me on the [service] quote, [First name]. I will mark it closed for now. If you want it done later this season, the number is good for 30 days and you can just reply here. Thanks for considering us.”
Then stop. See below.
What to automate in Jobber versus with an agent
Jobber can do some of this out of the box, and you should use it. It cannot do all of it.
| Step | Jobber can | Needs an agent or a person |
|---|---|---|
| Send the quote and a Day 0 notice | Yes | No |
| Scheduled follow-up reminders | Yes, fixed text | An agent writes to the actual job |
| Track opens and views | Yes | No |
| Pause when the customer replies | Partly | Agent reads the reply and stops or hands off |
| Phone call on Day 6 | No | VA or owner |
| Day 8 crew-nearby message with real dates | No | Agent pulls from the calendar |
| Close the quote with a reason at Day 14 | Manual | Agent archives and logs |
| Report close rate by number of touches | No | Agent or a spreadsheet |
If you only do one thing today, turn on Jobber’s automated quote follow-ups and paste Touch 2 and Touch 6 into them. That gets you two of the seven touches for free. We walk through that and the other settings worth turning on in Jobber automations that save time.
The agent version reads the quote, checks whether the customer opened it, checks the calendar for the crew-nearby date, writes each message with the real service and address, and stops the moment the customer replies. It then hands the reply to a person with a one-line summary. That is the version that feels like a human wrote it, because in every way that matters, one did. For how that fits with the rest of the back office, see what an AI agent can actually do for a field service business.
When to stop
Stop immediately when:
- The customer says no, in any words. Log the reason and archive.
- The customer says “stop” or anything like it. Stop all channels, not just text.
- The customer books. Obvious, but automations miss it if the quote is not converted in Jobber.
- Seven touches are done. Do not send an eighth. Move them to a 60-day season reminder list and send one message then.
Do not stop when:
- They said “let me think about it.” That is not a no. Continue the cadence.
- They opened the quote three times and did not reply. That is a hot lead who is comparing. Call them.
How to track close rate by follow-up
You cannot manage this if you do not measure it. The minimum setup is a tag or a custom field on each quote for touches sent, updated by whoever sends them, and a monthly export.
Then build a simple table:
| Touches before close | Quotes won | Share of wins |
|---|---|---|
| 0 (closed on first send) | 22 | 40 percent |
| 1 to 2 | 14 | 25 percent |
| 3 to 4 | 12 | 22 percent |
| 5 to 7 | 7 | 13 percent |
Those are illustrative numbers, not a benchmark. What they show you is that about a third of your wins happen after touch 3, which is exactly the point where most owners have stopped. If your table shows nothing after touch 2, either you are not sending the later touches or you are not logging them.
Also track:
- Close rate on all quotes, month over month. This should rise 5 to 10 points in the first quarter.
- Average days from quote to won. This should fall.
- Reply rate per touch. If Touch 5 gets no replies, your crew-nearby dates are not real enough.
Three mistakes that kill the cadence
- Sending every message from a no-reply number. The customer has to be able to answer the text and reach a person.
- Discounting in the follow-up. It teaches every customer to wait for the discount. Give a reason to act, not a lower price.
- Sending follow-ups on quotes you would not want to win. If the job is underpriced or the customer was a headache, archive it. Follow-up is for jobs you want.
Where Intrepid fits
We set up this cadence inside Jobber, then add an agent that writes the messages to the real job and hands replies to you or your VA. If you want to know what is sitting in your Awaiting Response pile and what it would take to work it, read about our Jobber work or book a call. Bring your last 90 days of quotes.