Why Customers Ghost Your Quotes (And How to Win Them Back)

You drove to their house. Spent 45 minutes walking the property, measuring, answering questions. They seemed interested. Maybe even eager. You sent the estimate that night.

Then nothing.

A week goes by. You send a follow-up text. No response. You try calling. Straight to voicemail.

The job you thought was locked in just disappeared.

If you've been in the trades for more than six months, you know this feeling. It's frustrating and it's expensive. Every ghosted quote is hours of unpaid work and a slot on your schedule you could've filled with someone who actually pays.

But here's what I've learned: customers aren't ghosting you because they're rude. Most of the time, it's predictable stuff. And the contractors who understand why it happens, and build a system around it, close way more of their estimates.

Why Customers Actually Ghost

When a customer goes silent, most contractors assume they went with someone cheaper or were never serious to begin with.

Sometimes that's true. But usually it's something else.

They got busy and forgot. Your quote landed in their inbox between 47 other emails and three kids' soccer schedules. They meant to respond. They didn't. It's not personal. It's just life.

Price shock. Not necessarily that it's too expensive. Just that they need time to process it, talk to their spouse, or figure out financing. The silence isn't a no. It's "let me think about it" that they never said out loud.

They're comparing quotes and lost track. Homeowners are told to get three quotes. So they do. Then they have three PDFs, three sets of numbers, and no easy way to compare. Yours gets buried.

They feel awkward. If they're leaning toward another contractor, they might not know how to tell you. Ghosting feels easier than having that conversation.

The project got pushed back. They still want the fence. But the furnace broke or the car needed repairs. The project isn't dead, it's just on hold. They forgot to tell you.

The Follow-Up That Actually Works

The difference between contractors who close 50% of their quotes and those stuck at 20% comes down to one thing: systematic follow-up.

Not annoying. Not desperate. Just consistent.

There's a study that looked at 163,000 estimate follow-ups in home services. Campaigns with 5-6 touchpoints over 10-14 days had response rates above 70%. Campaigns with 1-2 touchpoints? Under 30%.

Most contractors follow up once. Maybe twice. Then they move on.

That's money walking out the door.

Here's what the timing looks like:

Day 1-2 after sending the quote: First follow-up

Day 4-5: Second follow-up

Day 7-8: Third follow-up, try a different angle

Day 12-14: Final follow-up

After that, move them to a long-term list. Check in every 30-60 days. Some of these projects come back months later.

On channels: text beats email and phone for follow-ups. 98% open rate on texts versus 20% for email. People respond to texts 5x faster than phone calls. That doesn't mean abandon everything else, but text should be your go-to.

What to Actually Say

The biggest mistake is sounding needy. "Just checking in" and "have you made a decision?" makes it seem like you're begging for work.

Lead with value or give them an easy out.

Follow-up #1 (Day 1-2):

"Hey [Name], it's [Your name] from [Company]. Wanted to make sure you got the estimate I sent over for [project]. Happy to answer any questions, just text me back or give me a call."

You're not asking for a decision. You're checking that they received it. Gives them a low-pressure reason to respond.

Follow-up #2 (Day 4-5):

"Hi [Name], quick thought on your [project]. If the timing or budget needs to shift, we can also do [smaller scope option or phased approach]. Sometimes that makes it easier to get started. Let me know if that's helpful."

You're solving a problem they might have without making them admit they have it.

Follow-up #3 (Day 7-8):

"Hey [Name], I know things get busy. If [project] is on hold for now, no problem at all. Just let me know and I'll check back in a few months. If you're still thinking it over, I'm happy to answer any questions."

You're giving them permission to say "not now" without feeling bad about it. Weird thing is, this often gets people who ARE still interested to finally respond.

Follow-up #4 (Day 12-14):

"Hi [Name], I'm scheduling out work for [next month] and wanted to see if [project] is still on your radar. If so, I can hold a spot for you. If not, no worries. You can always reach out when the timing's better."

Creates gentle urgency. The "hold a spot" framing makes saying yes feel like they're getting something.

The Problem With Doing This Manually

This system works. Contractors who follow it close more jobs.

But it takes something most contractors don't have: time and consistency.

You're not at a desk. You're on a roof, under a sink, driving between jobs. Remembering to send follow-up #3 to the Johnson estimate while you're troubleshooting a compressor isn't realistic.

So what happens? You send one follow-up. Maybe two. Then the quote joins the pile of "customers who ghosted" even though one more message might have closed it.

This is where the contractors who are winning have figured something out: they're not doing this manually.

Automating It

The top performers have systems that trigger follow-ups automatically when a quote is sent, space them out over 10-14 days, personalize with customer name and project details, and stop the sequence when someone responds.

Some build this themselves with Zapier, a CRM, and SMS tools. It works, but it takes time to set up and maintain.

Others use platforms that handle the whole workflow without any technical setup.

The math is simple. If you send 20 quotes a month and your close rate goes from 25% to 40%, that's 3 extra jobs. At $2,000 average ticket, that's $6,000/month in revenue you would've lost. All from follow-ups that happen while you're doing actual work.

What This Is Really Costing You

Every quote you send represents your time (the visit, measurements, quote prep), your opportunity cost (the schedule slot you held), and whatever marketing dollars got you that lead in the first place.

When a quote dies because you didn't follow up enough, not because they said no but because they just forgot, that's money you already spent disappearing.

The contractors who win don't have more leads. They convert more of the leads they already have.

What To Do Next

Option 1: Build it yourself. Set up a CRM like HubSpot, Jobber, or Housecall Pro. Create your follow-up templates. Build automation rules. Expect 5-10 hours to set it up right, plus ongoing maintenance.

Option 2: Keep doing it manually. Commit to the schedule above. Set phone reminders. Be disciplined. It works if you s tick to it.

Option 3: Let it run automatically. Platforms like Airosight are built for service businesses that want this handled for them. You send the quote, the system runs the follow-up sequence, and you step in when someone responds. No technical setup required.

However you do it, the people who are winning right now aren't better at their trade. They're better at following up.

The leads are already coming in. The quotes are going out. The question is how many of them you're actually closing.