What to text after you send an estimate
One way to do it: a short message the next day, one three days later and a last one after a week. One question each time, and make the last one easy to say no to. It is a way that is easy to keep up, not the timing that works best. Nothing here was measured.
By TailGateBid. .
Messages to copy
The day after
Hi Dana, it's Sam with Sample Plumbing Co. I sent over the estimate for the water heater yesterday. Did it come through okay?
Three days on
Hi Dana, Sam with Sample Plumbing Co. again. Any questions on the water heater estimate? I can go over any line of it.
A week on
Hi Dana, it's Sam. Do you want to go ahead with the water heater, or should I check back another time?
They opened it and went quiet
Hi Dana, it's Sam with Sample Plumbing Co. Is there a part of the estimate you'd like me to explain or change?
Sending the link again
Hi Dana, here is the water heater estimate again so it is easy to find: (paste the link here)
When the price has a date on it
Hi Dana, a heads up that the price on the water heater estimate is good through Friday. Any questions before then?
The last message
Hi Dana, I don't want to keep after you about the water heater, so I'll close out the estimate for now. If you want it later, just text me and I'll send a fresh one.
Change the names, the job and the day. If you name a date, make it the date that is on the estimate. Leave the price out of the message: it is on the estimate, and the estimate is what you want them to open.
Why it is built this way
Each message asks one thing, so it can be answered with a word.
The last one makes no an easy answer: your customer does not have to write anything at all. Then you stop. A no lets you both get on with the week.
Three messages and a goodbye is our suggestion, not a finding. We have no figure for how often a follow-up wins a job, and no source for one.
Who to text
Only a customer who gave you their number for this job. If they ask you to stop, stop, and do not start again.
What the law asks before a business sends a customer a text message was not looked up for this page. If you want to text anyone who did not ask you for a price, find that out first.
Send the link again
In TailGateBid a quote you have sent has a button, "Copy customer link". Tap it, and paste the link into a message from your own phone. Your customer opens the same quote, with the same way to approve it.
To send it by email instead, "Send again" emails your customer the link once more.
What TailGateBid does not do
- It does not send text messages to your customers. It emails the quote, and a text message comes from your own phone.
- It does not follow up a quote for you. No reminder about a quote that has not been answered goes out by itself.
Know when they looked
The timeline on a quote shows when it was sent and when the link was first opened: "First viewed".
That tells you the link was opened. It does not tell you who opened it or how much they read. If you opened the customer's link yourself to check it, that may be the view you are looking at.
Use it to pick the message: "did it come through" before it has been opened, "any questions" after. Do not tell your customer you saw them open it.
Put a date on the price
A quote can carry a date it is good until. With a date on it, your message has something true to say.
After that date the customer's link says the quote has expired and asks them to get in touch. How to choose that date, and the rest of what goes on an estimate.
The word, and the language
Estimate, quote or bid? In the message, use the word that is on the paper. What each word says, and what it does not.
Write to each customer in the language they read. The Spanish version of this page has these messages in Spanish. TailGateBid sends each customer's quote and its email in English or in Spanish, whichever you set for them.
Related
- QuotesOptions, add-ons and a signature on your customer's own phone.
- How to write an estimateWhat goes on an estimate, in order, on one that is filled in line by line.
- Estimate, quote or bidWhat each word says, what it does not, and what the paper has to say whichever you use.
- English and SpanishEach person works in English or Spanish, and each customer gets the one you set for them.
A TailGateBid quote shows you when it was first opened, and can carry the date its price is good until.
Quotes