Forum Discussion

anfel's avatar
anfel
Contributor 2
4 days ago

3 numbers every owner should check in their old quotes

Most of us push hard the first week. Quote out, a call, a text, an email. We give it everything we've got.

But what happens to the quotes after that first push stops?

Most shops have a pile of estimates sitting untouched from 30 to 180 days ago. Here are 3 numbers worth pulling from your old quote data:

  1. Total dollars with no next step. Add up every estimate where the homeowner never gave a yes or a no. Seeing it as one number changes how you look at your pipeline.
  2. "Said no" vs "went quiet." Separate the firm no's from the ones that simply went quiet. You can't revive a firm no, but the quiet ones are still open.
  3. Which ones first. Not all old quotes are equal. Age, job type and ticket size tell you which ones are worth a follow-up first.

On Jobber's own Masters of Home Service podcast, SendJim CEO Daniel Dixon shared how texting 270 old leads closed $100K in jobs. A lot of next month's work is already sitting in your quote list.

How does your shop handle quotes after that first week?

hvac
win jobs

2 Replies

  • Homeownership's avatar
    Homeownership
    Contributor 5
    7 hours ago

    Another approach is to reconnect with an old prospect as though the conversation never stopped. Instead of asking why they never responded, pick up where you left off. Reference their original project and offer a helpful next step. This removes the pressure of explaining their silence and gives them an easy way to reengage. Sometimes it's not about chasing the customer. It's about making the conversation comfortable enough to continue.

  • travisshepherd's avatar
    travisshepherd
    Verified Community Coach
    18 hours ago

    That pile of old estimates sitting in the pipeline is one of the biggest missed revenue opportunities in this business. Most guys grind on new leads coming in the front door while sitting on tens of thousands of dollars in open work they already drove out and quoted.

    ​Looking at those three numbers changes how you run your follow-up:

    ​First, total dollars sitting in limbo. When you pull up every quote with zero activity and see $50,000 or $100,000 just sitting there, it stops being a list of cold leads and starts looking like actual uncollected revenue.

    ​Second, separating the hard no from the silent lead. A customer who told you no moved on or picked someone else. But a customer who went quiet usually just got distracted, hit a budget bump, or put the project on the back burner. You cannot revive a definitive no, but a quiet lead is still fair game.

    ​Third, prioritizing by ticket size and age. Going down a list alphabetically is a waste of time. You start with the high-dollar jobs that went quiet 30 to 60 days ago, not a minor fix-it job from six months back.

    ​The story about Daniel Dixon texting 270 old leads and closing $100K proves the point. You already paid for the fuel, the time on site, and the effort to write the scope. Reaching back out to those quiet quotes costs almost nothing, and a surprisingly high percentage of them are ready to book once you get them back on the phone.