Following up a quote on WhatsApp: 4 messages to copy

The hall-bath quote went out on Monday, November 2, in the thread where the homeowner had asked for it. About 40 sq ft, the cast-iron tub out, a walk-in shower, wall tile, the drain moved, their vanity, 3 weeks after they accept, price open 30 days, through December 2, and we’ll call it estimate 214. On Wednesday, November 4, day 2, nothing has landed under that message.

Silence at that point is rarely a no. The spouse has not opened the PDF, the bank has not called back, or the tile sample is still in the truck. A follow-up is how you get an answer, yes or no. The piece on making and sending a quote on WhatsApp stops at the send. Here, the quote is already with them.

How do you follow up a quote on WhatsApp?

To follow up a quote on WhatsApp, send 3 short messages in the chat where they first wrote, then a closing note: on day 2 to check the quote arrived, on day 7 to name what is stuck, on day 14 to offer a start date you can actually keep, and the close before the price expires. Each message names the number, asks one question and lets them say no. Stop as soon as they reply.

On this estimate the 4 dates are November 4, November 9, November 16 and November 23. If they write on November 5, "I’ll look this weekend," the November 9 message does not go. That sentence is already a reply, and you answer it. You do not stack the calendar on top.

Say what happens next on the day you send

The next step belongs in the message that carries the quote. They know which day you will write again, and the follow-up leans on 2 dates that are already written: November 4, the day you said you would come back, and December 2, the day the price ends. The file is the quote on WhatsApp. The company number is on the PDF, with the company name.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], estimate 214 from November 2 is ready, the hall bath, good through December 2, and I’ll write again on November 4 if I haven’t heard back.

The follow-up stays in the original chat. They can answer with a voice note. The quote link is already there, and the PDF may also have gone by email: the conversation stays on WhatsApp, because that is where they wrote first and where they will find the thread without hunting an attachment.

The lines come from the price library. A job that mixes several trades starts from the renovation quote template, and the follow-up then names the number of the quote you sent, not the name of the template.

This estimate came from a voice note after the walkthrough. How to dictate the lines, and what to check, is in an AI quote from a voice note. The voice note stays in the chat. On day 7 they can answer the same way, and it is usually clearer than an "ok" typed between doors.

Tax was set on each line before the send, with the wording that belongs on the invoice. The follow-up does not change it, unless a line changes and a new version goes out.

On the morning of November 4, open the link in the November 2 message and check that it is the version you sent: the number, open through December 2, the company number, the vanity left out. An older draft sitting in the history does not get resent. That is the version they have, or have not opened.

The schedule, 4 messages in 3 weeks

The 1st follow-up goes out 2 or 3 days after the send. 3 messages, then 1 closing message, then you file it. A reply ends the schedule.

The price stays open 30 days, through December 2. The closing message goes on November 23, day 21, and it still names December 2, because the number holds another 9 days and they can sign inside that window without you rebuilding the lines. If the quote is only open 10 days, you close 3 days before the end, not on day 21. A fixed calendar that ignores the date on the quote chases a price that is already dead.

Match the pace to the job. A leak is followed up on day 2, and you close as soon as the slot is gone, because the crew has already been put somewhere else. A remodel leaves time for the bank between day 7 and day 14, and writing every 2 days while they wait on a loan makes you look like a shop with nothing else on the board.

4 WhatsApp messages to copy

Each message says who is writing, names the quote and November 2, asks one question, and lets them say no.

1. Day 2, check the quote arrived

On November 4 the question is about receipt, not about the price. The share link goes back in the chat, and they open the November 2 version on a phone without hunting a file. You do not create a second quote just to send it again.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], I’m following up on estimate 214 from November 2, the hall bath, and the link is in this text so you can tell me whether it reached you. If the job is off, reply no and I’ll close the file.

2. Day 7, name what is stuck

On November 9 the chat is still empty. The block almost always has a name: the price, the 3 weeks, or the wall tile. Naming it beats "so, where are you at?", which asks for nothing specific and which they can ignore without feeling rude.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], on estimate 214 from November 2, what’s holding it up: the price, the 3-week schedule, or the wall tile? A voice note in this chat is fine. If you’re dropping the job, one word is enough.

What comes next is the point they named. If they say the schedule, you talk about November 30. If they say the price, you open the lines, not a discount you promised on the phone.

3. Day 14, offer a real start date

On November 16 the date you offer is one you can keep. Monday, November 30 is open, the job takes 3 weeks, and this message does not close the board: November 30 stays open until they actually take it. Holding the week "just in case" while 2 other jobs are waiting on an answer is how a crew ends up with a hole.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], for estimate 214 from November 2 I can start the hall bath on Monday, November 30, the job takes 3 weeks, and that date is still open on the board. Tell me whether the start works, and if it doesn’t I will not hold the week.

4. Close, the follow-up stops

On November 23 the follow-up stops and November 30 comes off the board, while the price itself still runs through December 2, which the message says out loud. They can write again in the same chat, and if they do on December 3, the November 2 price is no longer the one you are offering: a new version, with a new end date, goes out instead. You do not confirm the old total in the thread.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], I’m closing the follow-up on estimate 214 from November 2, the price holds through December 2, and I’m releasing the November 30 start. I need to know whether the job has stopped, and if you pick it up later, write in this chat.

You file the estimate with the history still attached, and a 5th message does not go out after that.

When they reply

A reply ends the schedule. Answer the sentence you got, on the version that is still the right one.

"I want to change a line"

They want less wall tile, or the shower screen as an option. Do not chase the November 2 version. A new version gets saved, the old one stays dated in the history, and the WhatsApp message says the new version is ready, with the link. It does not replace the quote.

Options and discounts sit on the document. The screen as an option is a line. A discount, if you grant one, is a line, and you look at the private margin before you save. They never see it. Tax stays on each line, with the field for the wording. The link opens the new version. The November 2 PDF stays in the history, and the CSV export lists the lines of the version you send.

"That works for me"

An "ok" in the chat is not the signature on the quote. Send the link again. They sign on the screen, and so do you, including with a finger on the phone. Only then does Monday, November 30 get held.

Hi [First name], it’s [company], to hold the Monday, November 30 start on estimate 214, the signature still has to go on the document, and the link is in this text.

The deposit invoice is created from the signed quote, without typing the lines again. The deposit and the retainage are recorded on the job. The progress invoice and the final invoice are created from that quote too. Peppol e-invoicing is included when the invoice is between Belgian businesses. You follow the invoices in Finance.

"It’s too expensive"

Walk the lines in job order, from the demo to the drain, vanity outside the quote. An option or a phased job, on a new version, beats a discount you invent on the spot: the screen can stay an option, the drain can move to a 2nd phase. If a discount goes out anyway, it is on the document, next to the private margin, before you send.

"We went with someone else"

Thank them, ask one question, file it. The November 23 message does not go after that reply. The follow-up is finished, and pushing the next day reads like someone who has not taken the no.

Hi [First name], thanks for telling me, and on estimate 214 from November 2, what made the difference?

Keep the unsigned quotes in view

Quotes you have sent, and that are not signed, are listed in Sales. This one stays there until the signature is on the document.

Shappy prepares the follow-up message on WhatsApp, in their chat. Before you approve the send, 4 checks: the chat is theirs, the number is the right one, the date is the date of the version they should read, and there is one question. The message goes out after that approval.

Per-line tax, the on-screen signature and invoices created from the quote are the points to compare when choosing quoting software.

The extra message

I would not send a 4th note after the close. Past that, you look like a shop that needs the work, and a homeowner who was still on the fence about the price reads it that way. On November 23 the follow-up stops. If they write again, it is a new version, not the same PDF.

To draft the next follow-up in the thread, before the evening disappears into a spreadsheet, the trial starts from the pricing page.