You measured up the Karrinyup ensuite on Tuesday, wrote the quote that night, $9,400, and sent it before bed. It is now the following Wednesday. They have not replied. You have thought about texting them four times and done it zero times, because a text feels like begging and you have three other jobs on. Somewhere in that silence they got a second quote, and the second bloke rang them on Thursday.
Every trade business has a pile of these. What almost nobody does is count the pile, or notice that the same three-week silence is costing them the same jobs every month.
The short version
- Unfollowed quotes are the biggest leak nobody measures. One Perth-published example: a plumber sending 20 quotes a week and winning 40% of them was letting 12 quotes a week go, 624 a year.[1]
- Quoting is a third of the business. Fergus puts about 30% of a trade business's revenue through the quoting process.[2] Follow-up is the cheapest lever on that third.
- The fix is a sequence, not discipline. Day 2 by SMS, day 7 by email, day 21 by SMS, written once in your voice, sent every time, stopped the moment they reply.
- It stays legal by staying about the quote. A follow-up on the quote they asked for is a response to their enquiry. Promotions and discounts turn it into marketing under the Spam Act.[4]
- It is part of setup, from $999 then $197 a month. If a follow-up sequence bolted onto ServiceM8 is all you want, setup-only shops are cheaper and we will say so on the call.[3]
What a quiet quote costs
The clearest number we have found is an Australian one, from a Lifestyle Tradie guest post on the ServiceM8 blog. A plumber doing 20 quotes a week converted about 40% into work. That is 12 quotes a week not won, 624 a year, and at a modest $200 profit per job the post put the pile at $124,800 of work in a year.[1] The post is from 2017 and the prices are old. The shape is not.
Not every quiet quote was winnable. Some went to the cheapest price, some jobs never happened. But the ones that were winnable did not need a better price. They needed someone to ask. Fergus, whose software sits under thousands of Australian trade businesses, puts around 30% of a trade business's revenue through quoting.[2] Follow-up is the one part of that third that costs nothing to improve. Every quote you win back also lowers what each job cost you in leads: work out your cost per won job.
What are your quiet quotes worth?
Count the quotes that went silent last month and divide by four. Then drag.
Assumes a sequence gets 60% of quiet quotes back into a conversation you close at your normal rate. That is an assumption, not a Perth measurement. The missed call calculator does the same maths for the phone.
Why following up by hand stops at the first nudge
The first follow-up is easy because it has a cover story: just checking the quote came through. The second has none. It says I noticed you have not answered me, to someone you hope will recommend you to their street. So it gets drafted, softened, and left in the phone. By the time you send it, the silence has become the message.
It is not a discipline problem, and every tradie who has tried a spreadsheet of "quotes to chase" knows it. The spreadsheet lasts a fortnight. The fix is not to try harder. It is to take the task off a person who is on the tools at 7am and give it to something that does not feel awkward.
The sequence: day 2, day 7, day 21
Days count from the moment the quote leaves your job software. Every message names your business and the job, comes from your number or your address, and stops the sequence dead the moment the customer replies or accepts. Nothing in it sells anything except the quote they asked for.
- Day 2, SMS. One question, easy to answer with one line. Most replies land here, and most of them are a question the customer was not going to ring you to ask.
- Day 7, email plus a short text. The quote reattached, because "I never got it" dies here, with something useful added: the next available start date, a photo of the same job done, or a line on the one thing customers usually ask about. The text just says the email is there.
- Day 21, SMS, then a task for you. The price hold gives an honest reason to write. Whatever they answer, the automation ends and a task lands in your day: ring Sarah. By then the sequence has already converted the busy majority, and the call happens with a written trail behind it.
- Any reply, any day. The sequence stops and the reply goes to your phone. A reply of "went with someone else" gets a thank-you and one optional question: what decided it.
The wording above is an example. Yours is written with you on the audit call, in your words, and tuned monthly from the replies.
Where the quote goes quiet, trade by trade
- Plumbing. Bathroom and hot water quotes. A Perth hot water replacement runs $1,450 to $4,300 and the customer is usually getting two prices while the old unit limps on. Day 2 wins the ones who were waiting for a question to be answered.
- HVAC. Ducted decisions take weeks. At $8,400 to $23,100 the customer is comparing three installers line by line, and the one who follows up at day 7 with a start date is the one they can picture.
- Electrical. Switchboard upgrades at $735 to $2,950 and EV chargers at $1,050 to $3,150 get compared on price, and the quiet ones go cold. The sequence keeps yours on the table without you dropping the number.
- Roofing and solar. Solar customers compare installers and take their time, so for solar the build usually leads with quote follow-up rather than after-hours triage, timed around rebate changes rather than a generic three weeks.
Your four options, honestly
| Chase by hand | Job-software reminders | Setup-only shop | Part of a Flat Out build | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Your nights | Included, if your plan has it | From about $900 + GST[3] | From $999, then $197 a month |
| Never forgets | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Texts, not just email | If you write it | Check; often email only | Usually | Yes, from your number |
| Sounds like you | Yes | Generic template | Written once at setup | Your words, tuned monthly from replies |
| Stops when they reply | Yes | Sometimes repeats into a reply | Yes | Yes, and hands you the call at day 21 |
| Also fixes the phone | No | No | No | Missed calls, quotes and invoices, one build |
Straight assessment: if your quotes come out of ServiceM8 or Simpro and a single reminder email would do, switch on whatever your plan already includes today and stop reading. It is better than silence. If the sequence is the only thing you want built, a setup-only shop will do it for less than us, and we will tell you that on the call. The build earns its keep when quote follow-up is one of several leaks, the messages need to sound like you and arrive by text, and someone has to read the replies each month and adjust.
What it costs
Quote follow-up is part of setup, not a product on its own. Setup is $999 for the three founding clients in each trade, or $1,500 after that, plus a $197 monthly platform fee, and your first 8 booked estimates are free. It runs month to month with no lock-in, and the sequence is live within 7 days of signing. What else goes into the build depends on where the audit finds the work falling out: for most Perth trade businesses that is the phone first and the quotes second. The missed call text back page has the full pricing and what a build includes.
One recovered ducted quote covers the setup. One recovered switchboard upgrade a month covers the platform fee many times over. Whether your quiet-quote pile contains those is what we go through on the call, and the call is free.
The rules for follow-up texts
Australian commercial texts are governed by the Spam Act 2003, and follow-up texts sit close to the line, so the sequence is built to stay on the right side of it.[4]
- Stay about the quote. A message about the quote the customer requested, from your number, naming your business, is a response to their enquiry. The moment it promotes another service or a discount, it is marketing and needs consent you can prove.
- Identify yourself in every message. Business name in the text, quote number where there is one.
- Give them an out, and honour it. "Let me know and I'll close it off" is not just polite. A reply of no ends the sequence, and the number is marked so nothing else goes out.
- Keep the record. When the quote was requested, what was sent and when, and every reply, stored against the customer. That is the evidence if anyone ever asks.
- Send from a number, not a name. Since 1 July 2026 texts sent under an unregistered business name arrive labelled "Unverified". The sequence sends from your own number, so the Sender ID Register does not touch it.
The SMS compliance guide for tradies covers consent, identification, unsubscribes and the current penalties in full.
Where this fits in the bigger leak
A trade business loses work in three places along the same pipe. Before the job, when the phone rings out and the caller rings the next name. During, when the quote goes out and nobody chases it. After, when the invoice sits unpaid for a month. We audit all three before building anything, because the fix only pays when it targets the leak you actually have. For most businesses it is the phone first. For solar and for anyone quoting big installs, it is this page.
Frequently asked questions
How soon should a tradie follow up a quote?
Will following up annoy customers?
Can it run from ServiceM8 or Simpro?
Is it legal to text a customer about a quote they asked for?
What happens when the customer says they went with someone else?
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these. Last checked 18 September 2026.
- ServiceM8 blog, guest post by Andy and Angela Smith of Lifestyle Tradie — How to convert more quotes into work (February 2017). The 20-quotes-a-week plumber converting 40%, the 624 unconverted quotes a year, and the advice to follow up within two days.
- Fergus — How to get customer quoting right (August 2025). About 30% of a trade business's revenue comes from quoting.
- Web Blend — Quote follow up automation for tradies. A setup-only competitor's published pricing, from $900 + GST for a ServiceM8 setup, used as the benchmark in the options table.
- ACMA — Avoid sending spam and About the SMS Sender ID Register. Consent, identification and unsubscribe requirements for commercial messages; the "Unverified" label for unregistered sender names.
The pre-season text to past customers, with the consent rule and three templates.
RelatedAutomated invoice follow-up for tradiesThe same idea after the job: the reminder sequence that chases your money politely.
ServiceMissed call text back in PerthThe leak before the quote: every unanswered call texted back inside a minute.
GuideSMS compliance for tradiesSpam Act consent, identification, unsubscribe and record keeping, with current penalties.
More for Perth trade businesses: every article and free tool.