You sent the quote. You can see that they opened it, or you cannot, and either way the reply never came. Now you are refreshing the thread like that will produce one.
Following up on a quote feels needier than following up on an invoice. The invoice is money you are owed. The quote is a yes you want, and wanting it makes the email feel like begging.
You are about to get four emails, on a calendar you do not have to invent. Send the first 3 to 5 days after the quote. The next at a week. The next at two weeks. Then a short note that closes it.
Why a silent quote is so hard to chase
An invoice chase has a moral floor. You did the work. A quote chase does not. You are asking a stranger, or a client, to choose you, and silence feels like a soft no you are too slow to hear.
Often it is not a no. The quote is in a forwarded email. Someone is on leave. They liked the price and then got busy. Your job is a short sequence that makes the decision easy, then a clean end so the maybe does not live in your head for a quarter.
The sequence only works if you send it when you said you would. The awkward feeling is a reason to use a template, not a reason to wait until the quote is three weeks old and you are annoyed.
When to follow up on a quote
Count from the day you sent the quote, not from the day you got nervous.
- Day 3 to 5: the first note. Confirm they have it. Restate the price. Ask if they want to proceed.
- Day 7: the one-week note. Same quote. One question. Offer a smaller option only if you mean it.
- Day 14: the two-week note. Tell them the quote expires on a named day.
- Day 21: the breakup. The quote is closed. A later yes needs a new one. Then you stop.
If they reply at any point, you leave the sequence. A reply with a question gets an answer, not the next nudge. A reply with "next month" gets a date on your calendar and silence until that date. Do not keep the cadence running over a person who already spoke.
Send these on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday morning, their time. If the day falls on a weekend, move it to the nearest weekday morning. Put the follow-ups where you will see them. Follow ups is the list for exactly this, the quote that went quiet, so day 4 is a button instead of a memory.
Quote follow up email after 3 to 5 days
This is the easy one. You are checking delivery, not chasing a decision they have been avoiding for a month. Attach the quote again.
Hi [Client name], I sent a quote on [date] for [project name], at [amount]. I am sending it again in case it got buried. It covers [one line of scope]. It is valid until [expiry date]. Do you want to go ahead, or should I close it? A yes, a no, or a question are all useful. Thanks, [Your name]
Why it works: You give them a no as a respectable answer. People reply faster when silence is not the only polite option. The price and the expiry are in the email, so they do not have to hunt the PDF to know what they are answering.
If you are not sure the document you sent was a firm price, read estimate vs quote vs proposal before you chase it. Following up on a rough range as if it were a promise is how the next email becomes a dispute.
Quote follow up email after one week
Send this on day 7 if the first note got nothing. Keep it shorter than the first one. You are not recapping your process. You are asking for a decision.
Hi [Client name], Checking once more on the quote from [date] for [project name], at [amount]. I can hold that price until [expiry date]. After that I will need to requote, because the dates move. If the full scope is more than you want to spend, I can do [smaller scope] for [smaller amount]. If neither fits, tell me and I will close the file. [Your name]
Why it works: The expiry is a reason the price cannot sit forever, not a threat. The smaller option is a different job with a different price. You are not discounting the original. If you do not have an honest smaller scope, delete that sentence. A fake alternative is worse than a straight question.
Quote follow up email after two weeks
Day 14. You have written twice. This one names the last day you will hold the number. Pick a date about a week out, so the breakup email on day 21 matches it.
Hi [Client name], I have not heard back on the quote for [project name], sent [date], for [amount]. I will hold it until [date]. If I do not have a yes by then, I will close it and release the time I had pencilled. You can still start later. It would be a new quote, at the rate I am using then, which may not be [amount]. [Your name]
Why it works: You tell them the consequence, and the consequence is ordinary. The time comes off the calendar. The price is not a permanent offer. There is no guilt in it, which makes it easier to send and easier to read.
People ignore quotes for some of the same reasons they ignore invoices. Wrong person, buried thread, no clear next step. Why clients ignore invoice emails is worth ten minutes if this keeps happening to documents you know arrived. Fix the address before you fix your tone.
Breakup email when a quote gets no reply
Send this on the expiry date, or the morning after, around day 21. Then stop. Do not send a fifth "one last try" a month later unless they write first.
Hi [Client name], I am closing the quote for [project name]. It was [amount], sent on [date], and it expired on [date]. I have taken the time off my calendar. If you want to pick it up later, reply and I will send a fresh quote. I cannot promise the same number. Thank you for asking me to look at it. [Your name]
Why it works: You close a loop they were never going to close. The thank-you is one line, not a plea. A future yes is allowed, and it is a new quote, so you are not trapped by a price from last quarter.
If they come back three months later and the work goes ahead, the next silence you deal with may be an unpaid invoice, not a quiet quote. The sequence in how to ask for payment politely is the other ladder. Do not mix the two. A quote is a choice. An invoice is a debt.
What to do when they reply late or not at all
A reply on day 10 with questions is a live deal. Answer the questions. Do not also send the day-14 template on top. One conversation.
A reply after you closed it is a new inquiry. You can reopen it. You do not have to honor the old price if the date has passed and your note said so. Send a fresh quote within two business days, or decline. Do not "see."
No reply after the breakup is the end. Archive it. Take the number out of your forecast. A pipeline full of silent quotes is how a thin month surprises you. The closed file is more honest than a hopeful one.
If the same client does this on every quote, believe the pattern. You can still send the sequence once. You do not clear your week for a yes that has never arrived on time.
How to stop quotes dying in the inbox
Put an expiry date on the quote before you send it. Fourteen or twenty-one days is enough. A quote with no end date feels free to ignore. A date gives your follow-up a spine.
Send it to the person who can say yes. If you are guessing, ask in the first email who else should see it. A beautiful quote in the wrong inbox looks like silence and is actually a routing problem.
Write the next step in one line at the bottom of the quote. "Reply yes and I will send the deposit invoice." People do the thing you named. They do not invent a process.
Then run the four emails on the days. The first time feels stiff. The fourth time it is admin. Admin is what you wanted. You did not start a business to spend Fridays wondering if a maybe is still warm.
Tone rules for a quote follow up
Do not say "just," "sorry to bump this," or "I know you are busy" more than once in the whole sequence. Once is human. Four times is a flinch.
Do not add new promises in the follow-up that were not in the quote. A free extra, a faster date, a lower price. Those are new offers, and they belong in a new quote if you mean them.
Sound like a person with other work. You do, even in a slow month. The email should read as if a no is acceptable, because it is. That is what makes a yes feel safe to send.
Then send it on the day. A perfect follow-up on day 18 is worse than a plain one on day 4. The calendar is the whole trick.