A homeowner asks three landscapers for a quote on a Monday. By Friday she has two numbers on her phone, one email she half-read, and a kid's birthday to plan. Whoever contacts her again, usefully, between now and the next weekend usually wins the patio. Here is the sequence that does it: five touches over 14 days, with the words to use at each one.

It's built for a lead who asked for a price and then went quiet, which is the most common leak in a service business. Estimators, cleaners, painters, HVAC techs, bookkeepers and consultants can all run it as written. Change the nouns, keep the timing.

One follow-up is not a sequence

Most owners send the quote and one nudge a week later, then give up. The nudge lands on a day when the lead is busy with something else, and that's the end of a job you could have won. One attempt tells you almost nothing about whether the lead is interested. It tells you whether Thursday was a good day.

A sequence spreads the attempts across days and across channels so one bad day can't sink the lead. Five touches in two weeks is about right for a quote. It's enough to be hard to miss and few enough that nobody feels hounded. If you want the longer argument about why this keeps slipping, the lead you never followed up covers it.

Our running example: Tomas owns a small landscaping company and quoted $4,800 for a paver patio for a homeowner named Priya. Everything below is what he sends her.

Day 0: reply within the hour, and send the quote the same day

The sequence starts the minute the request arrives, not when the quote is finished. Within an hour, send a short note saying you got it and when the quote will land. If you can, call. People who ask for quotes by form or email often pick up on the first or second ring.

Hi Priya, Tomas from Greenline Landscaping. Got your patio request. I'll have a written quote to you by 5 today. Quick question so it's right: is the grade behind the house flat, or does it slope toward the back door?

The question matters. It gets a reply that isn't about price, and a reply of any kind starts a conversation you can keep going.

When the quote goes out, end it with a specific next step and a date: "I'll call you Thursday afternoon to go through it. If another day works better, tell me." Now the follow-up isn't a surprise. You told her it was coming.

Day 1: the check-in text

The morning after, send one text if you have her consent to text (more on that in a moment). Keep it to two sentences and make it easy to answer.

Hi Priya, it's Tomas. Did the quote come through okay? Happy to walk through the paver options if any of it looks confusing.

You aren't asking for a decision. You're checking that the email wasn't eaten by a spam filter, which happens more often than anyone admits. If she says she never got it, you just saved the job.

Texting a lead generally requires that they've given you their number for this purpose, and marketing texts have stricter consent rules than a text about a quote they asked for. Always include a way to opt out and honor it right away. This is general information, not legal advice, so check the current rules or ask a lawyer if you plan to text at volume. If you don't have clear consent, send an email instead.

Day 3: the useful email

By day three the lead has either decided or forgotten. Don't write "just checking in." Send something she can use.

Subject: Two patio options to compare

Hi Priya, I was thinking about your yard. A lot of people in your position wonder whether the cheaper concrete-paver mix will hold up with kids and a grill on it. It will, but the base prep is what decides it, so I've added a line to your quote showing the base we'd use. If you'd like a second price with a smaller footprint, I can send that too. Which would help more?

That email does three things. It answers a worry she probably has but didn't say. It shows you thought about her yard. And it ends on a question with two easy answers.

Other useful things to send on day three: a photo of a finished job like hers, your start date, a short note on what your warranty covers, or a price for a smaller version of the job.

Day 7: the call

A week in, call. Phones cut through when email doesn't, and a short voicemail still counts as a touch. If she answers, you're not selling. You're asking.

Hi Priya, it's Tomas from Greenline. I'm calling about the patio quote. I wanted to see if you'd had a chance to look it over and whether there's anything I can adjust. I'm at 555-0142.

If you get voicemail, leave something like that, say your number twice, and follow it with a text: "Left you a voicemail about the patio. No rush, just wanted to see where you landed." For voicemail wording in more detail, see the voicemail script guide.

Day 14: the quote-closing note that gets answered

Two weeks after the quote, send a short message that gives her permission to say no. It sounds backwards, but this is often the one that gets answered.

Hi Priya, I haven't heard back on the patio so I'll assume the timing isn't right and close out your quote. If anything changes, reply here and I'll pick it up. The price holds through the end of the month either way.

Nobody feels pressured by it. It tells her you're not going to keep emailing, and it reminds her there's a deadline. People who were quietly leaning yes tend to answer. People who were leaning no often write back to say so, which is also useful, because now you can stop carrying the lead. There's a whole guide to this kind of message in how to write a breakup email.

What to do when they answer

The moment a lead replies, drop the sequence. Don't send the day 7 call because the calendar says so. Answer what she wrote, ideally within the hour, and move her toward the next real step: a site visit, a deposit, a start date.

  • If she says yes, send the agreement or the scheduling options the same day.
  • If she says "let me think," ask when you should check back and put that date in your calendar.
  • If she says the price is high, ask what she was expecting, and offer a smaller scope before a discount.
  • If she says no, thank her and ask what made the difference. One line is enough.

Not every lead answers, and that's fine. A sequence with a defined end is the part that keeps it from feeling like a chase. Day 14 is the finish line, and after it the lead goes on a slow list you check once a quarter. How to space those later touches is in how often to follow up with leads.

Write the sequence once, then stop deciding

The reason this falls apart is rarely the wording. It's that every follow-up requires a fresh decision about whether to send it, when, and what to say. Put the five messages in a note on your phone with the day next to each. When a quote goes out, put five reminders in your calendar. It takes ten minutes the first time and almost none after that.

If you'd rather not run it by hand, this is the kind of step an AI worker handles. Rocketship's worker follows up by email from your own Gmail when a lead goes quiet, answers replies, and books the meeting on its own, so Day 3 and Day 14 happen even in a week when you're on a roof.

A quote that goes quiet is a lead you already paid to get. Rocketship finds the buyers, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the meeting on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required. See how the AI workers run follow-up for you.