Estimate follow-up: no replacement quote left to go quiet

What the service includes

The workflow covers the whole life of an estimate, from the visit to the final yes or no.

• Stage rules. Clear entry and exit conditions for quote sent, follow-up in progress, won and lost, taken from your CRM blueprint.
• Follow-up sequence. A timed series of tasks and messages: thank-you text the same day, advisor call within two business days, a reminder that rebates or financing questions are welcome, a final check-in before closing out.
• Templates. Text and email messages with placeholders such as [Customer first name], [Advisor name] and [Equipment option], written in your voice.
• Lost reasons. A short pick list so you can see whether you lose on price, timing or trust.
• Weekly quote review. A saved view showing every open estimate by age, value and owner, used in a 20-minute weekly meeting.

Who it's for

This suits any HVAC company that writes replacement or installation quotes and doesn't track them closely. You probably need it if:

• nobody can say how many open estimates exist right now;
• advisors keep quotes in their own email or notebook;
• "we'll think about it" is the most common outcome;
• your close rate is a guess.

Worked example

Take a shop that writes 50 replacement estimates a month, closes 18 and averages $10,500 per job. If follow-up turns four of the remaining 32 into sales, that's $42,000 a month in added revenue at the same marketing cost. Your figures will differ; run the same sum with your own.

How it's built

1. Quote audit. We pull the last few months of estimates and sort them by outcome, age and owner. Often this alone finds jobs worth calling back.
2. Sequence design. We agree the touches, the timing and who owns each one.
3. Template writing. Messages are short, specific and easy to answer. Text templates go through a consent check first.
4. Configuration. Tasks, automations and saved views are set up in your CRM and tested with sample quotes.
5. Coaching. Advisors and office staff practise the workflow in training sessions, and we can join the first weekly reviews by video if your proposal includes it.

Phase dates are set out in your proposal.

How results are measured

We report on numbers you can check in your own CRM:

• close rate on estimates, by advisor and job type;
• median days from quote to decision;
• share of open estimates with a future next-step date;
• distribution of lost reasons;
• revenue from estimates closed after the first follow-up touch.

A sample sequence

Here is a starting sequence we often adapt. Each step is a task in the CRM with an owner and a due date.

1. Same day: a short text from the advisor thanking the customer and confirming the quote was sent.
2. Day 2: advisor call to answer questions about options, timing or rebates the customer may be checking.
3. Day 6: an email that summarises the options side by side.
4. Day 12: a text from the office asking whether they would like a second visit or a call.
5. Day 21: a final, polite check-in, then close as won or lost with a reason.

Every message stops as soon as the customer replies, and the conversation moves to a person.

Mistakes to avoid

• Following up only on big quotes. A $6,000 furnace job is still worth a call.
• Sending the same message three times. Each touch should add something: an answer, an option, a deadline.
• Leaving estimates open forever. An honest "lost" is more useful than a pipeline full of ghosts.
• Discounting by default. Follow-up is about answering questions, not cutting price. Track how often discounts close deals before making them routine.

To see which marketing source produced each estimate, pair this with call tracking. Conversation design for the text side is covered at HVAC.chat. See pricing.