"38 quoted and never followed up" is the single most common finding when Datify first reads a trades business. The estimate took an evening to write; the follow-up — the part that turns it into money — lost to the next day's jobs. Sample numbers, two-electrician archetype.
The situation
A quote that gets no follow-up isn't a no. Most of the time it's a homeowner comparing prices who forgot, waiting to be nudged — and the firm that nudges politely usually wins, because most firms never do.
The owner's fear is the opposite failure: pestering. So the chase has to be short, polite, and finite.
The instruction, verbatim
“Chase every open quote from the last 90 days. Two polite nudges maximum, a week apart, then close it and tell me.”
One sentence, typed by the owner, with the rules already standing:
The plan it came back with
Each nudge referenced the actual quote — the job, the number, the date — and asked one question: still want it done before winter? The four big ones waited for the owner, who approved three.
What actually happened
Nine acceptances from work that was already quoted, already priced, already half-won. The 21 that closed as lost closed cleanly — marked, dated, no third nudge — which is what keeps the next chase welcome.
What changed
Follow-up is now automatic at the moment a quote is sent: day seven and day fourteen, written into the plan before the owner has driven home. Nothing waits for an evening that never comes.
Sector story: the workflow above is the real product loop; the figures are representative sample numbers, not a named client's results.
One instruction, a plan read before it ran, and a ledger that never rounds up. 9 quotes accepted after the chase — and the same loop runs again next month without being asked twice.