Estimate follow-up

Estimate follow-up is the planned set of messages after you send the estimate and before the customer says yes or no. It is not nagging, and it is not a plea. It is a date you chose in advance, a specific job named in the message, and one easy question. Most estimates go quiet because the customer got busy, not because they chose someone else and sent a letter.

The schedule should match the job. A small repair is decided in hours or a couple of days. A replacement or a remodel waits on a spouse, a landlord, or a payday, and a daily ping feels desperate. Write the next check-in into the first message so the customer expects it. People answer a note they were told was coming. They ignore one that appears from nowhere.

Each touch needs their name, the job, who you are, and a single next step. "Want Thursday at 8?" is a better ask than "let me know your thoughts." Repeating the same sentence three times trains them to swipe. Going silent after one try throws away the visit you already spent. Put the estimate in a stage and attach a task with a day. The hard part is remembering, not writing.

Puffly's free CRM is where that stage and that task live. On a paid plan, Puff can draft the check-in for you to approve. Nothing sends until you say so. The follow-up is still your words and your judgment. The list is what keeps day two from disappearing under the next emergency call.

Track which estimates got a second touch and which were won. That is the raw material of a quote-to-close rate. If you never follow up, the rate is not a verdict on the number you sent. It is a verdict on the silence.