Gainesville, serving Alachua County Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Español
(352) 226-0681 Call us Español

How to follow up on an estimate in Florida, and when a reminder text needs consent

When to call, what to say, what Jobber’s reminders do and why the reminder goes to you before it goes to the customer.

Lumora, Gainesville. . 6 min read

On this page 8 sections

General information, not legal advice.

Jobber calls it a quote. On the job site you may call it an estimate. Here both mean the priced job you sent and never heard back on.

When to follow up

Jobber’s two guides on this put the first follow-up one to three days after the quote, and one of them adds a second a week after the quote went out. Neither backs the timing with a study. Treat the timing as a habit, not a measured result.

Our default: the owner gets a reminder once a quote has waited 48 hours with no answer, and calls. The second call comes a week after the quote went out. One Jobber guide says that if a customer does not answer the second follow-up, “it may be time to move on.”

The other adds a third, 24 to 48 hours before the quote expires, which only fits a quote with a real expiry date. After the last call, archive the quote, with a note on why you lost it if you know.

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySundayMonday Quote goes outCallCall again 2 daysa week
Our default on a planner page: the quote goes out on Monday, the first call is two days later and the second a week after the quote.

What to say

Call. On a call you can ask why they went quiet and hear the answer. Keep it short:

Hi, this is [your name] from [Business]. I am calling about the quote for [the job] we sent on [day]. Did it reach you? Do you have any questions about it?

About 23,300 people in Alachua County speak Spanish at home, 8.4 percent of residents 5 and older (US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024, government data). For a customer who called in Spanish:

Hola, le habla [su nombre], de [Negocio]. Le llamo por la cotización de [el trabajo] que le enviamos el [día]. ¿Le llegó bien? ¿Tiene alguna pregunta?

  • 23,292Alachua County residents 5 and older who speak Spanish at home, 8.4% of that age group

    Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year, table C16001, Alachua County. Government data, via Census Reporter.

If they are leaning toward no, ask what would change their mind, and write the answer down. If the quote has a real expiry date, say it. Never make one up.

Roofing shops, and any contractor who inspects roofs, have one more rule. A follow-up never offers a homeowner a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, deductible waiver or any other thing of value for a roof inspection or for filing an insurance claim on the roof. Florida can fine a contractor up to $10,000 for each violation (F.S. 489.147).

  • $10,000the most Florida can fine a contractor for each violation: offering anything of value for a roof inspection or a roof insurance claim

    Source: Florida Statutes, section 489.147 (2026): roof inspections, insurance claims and the fine.

Can Jobber text the customer a reminder?

Yes. On Jobber’s Connect plan and up, quote follow-ups send clients “up to two reminders” about quotes still awaiting response. You set each one by the number of days after the quote, up to 90 (Jobber Help Center, updated August 6, 2026). Four details matter here:

  • Each reminder goes “in the same method as the quote.” Text the quote, and the reminders go by text. Email it, and they go by email, which this article does not cover.
  • Each one goes “at the same time of day (local time) as the original quote.” Send a quote at 9:30 p.m. from the kitchen table, and its reminders go out at 9:30 p.m. Florida’s own window for sales calls is 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the customer’s time zone (F.S. 501.616).
  • When you type in a new client’s phone number, Jobber turns texts on for it by default (Jobber Help Center, updated May 1, 2024). A number on file is not consent.
  • Each client profile has an “outstanding quote follow-ups” setting, so the reminders can be off for one client and on for another.
A quote sent at 9:30 p.m. sends its reminders at 9:30 p.m., after Florida’s 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. window for sales calls
Florida’s windowfor sales calls 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. midnightnoon 9:30 p.m.the quote andits reminders Drawn to scale. Each square is 2 hours.

Source: Florida Statutes, section 501.616(6) (2026): hours for sales calls, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jobber Help Center, “Automations”: same time of day as the quote. Updated August 6, 2026. Vendor documentation.

Florida law counts a text sent “for the purpose of soliciting a sale” as a sales call. It bars unsolicited automated sales texts without “prior express written consent” (F.S. 501.059).

A reminder to approve a quote asks the customer to buy. The wireless industry’s messaging guide puts a message that “prompts Consumer to buy something” in its promotional column, where the customer “should agree in writing” (CTIA, 2023).

The answer turns on one word, “unsolicited.” The law leaves out calls made “in response to an express request of the person called” and calls to someone with “a prior or existing business relationship.”

A customer who asked you for a quote may fit either. Whether a quote reminder does is not settled. Until it is, we treat it as a sales text.

Set the reminder on your side

The reminder goes to you, and a person calls. In Jobber, the quotes list is the reminder:

  1. Step 1 of 3

    Open Quotes. Filter by the status “Awaiting response” and sort by created date.

  2. Step 2 of 3

    Each workday, call the customer on any quote that has waited two days or a week. Log each call.

  3. Step 3 of 3

    Leave Jobber’s quote follow-ups off, and any custom automation that texts clients about a quote. If you turn them on for customers who gave written consent, turn off “outstanding quote follow-ups” on every other client’s profile.

Jobber can also archive unanswered quotes on its own after a set number of days. If you use that, set it longer than a week, or a quote drops off this list before your second call.

Not on Jobber? A spreadsheet works: one row per quote, the date it went out, the date of each call and how it ended.

Quotes awaiting response WaitingFirstcallSecondcall 1 day2 days5 daysa week
Your own list does the reminding: one row per quote and each call logged. The quote that has waited two days with no call is the one to call today.

If you do let Jobber text the reminder, send it only to customers whose written consent has all four parts in rule 3 of our texting article, and only once your shop has the do-not-text policy and the state check that rule 3 also names.

A ticked box or a “YES” reply counts as the signature. A phone number on an invoice is not consent. Send those reminders between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the customer’s time zone, at most one a day. In Jobber that means sending the quote itself inside those hours, since its reminders keep its time of day.

CTIA notes that a business that already has customers sign forms “can add a field to capture the Consumer’s consent.” If your customer signs the estimate on site, that form is one place for it, as long as the box stays optional.

What the silence costs

Three numbers, multiplied:

Quotes nobody answered × share you would have won × profit per job = what the leak costs you

Quotes nobody answered. Last month’s quotes still awaiting response, with no call logged. Leave out the ones where the customer said no.

Share you would have won. Jobber shows a conversion rate at the top of the quotes list: quotes converted to jobs in a date range, divided by quotes sent in it (Jobber Help Center, updated March 18, 2026). Jobber notes it can pass 100 percent over a short range, so read it over a few months.

If you do not track it: in a survey of 1,050 US home service owners, 69 percent reported winning more than half of their quotes (Jobber, 2026, vendor survey). A customer who went quiet is not your average customer, so pick a share below your usual rate.

  • 69%of 1,050 US home service owners surveyed reported winning more than half of their quotes

    Source: Jobber, 2026 Home Service Trends Report: survey of 1,050 US home service business owners, December 2025, self-reported win rates. Vendor survey.

Profit per job. What you keep after parts and labor, not the ticket total.

Example numbers, not a real shop: your list shows 8 quotes from last month still awaiting response, and nobody called. Say a call would have won 4 in 10 of them. You keep $380 on a typical quoted job.

  • 8 quotes × 0.4 = 3.2 jobs
  • 3.2 jobs × $380 = $1,216 a month

Your numbers will be different, and the result is a rough figure, not a promise.

Sample Example numbers,not a real shop 8 quotes nobody answered A call would have won4 in 10 8 × 0.4 = 3.2 jobs 3.2 × $380 = $1,216a month
This section’s example numbers on a torn sheet, with the result circled. Your own three numbers go in the same places.

Where to start

Open your quotes list today and call the customer on every quote from the past month still awaiting response. Then put the ones you think you lost into our loss calculator, which has a line for quotes that went cold.

These are the rules we follow as of .

Sources, in plain words

Questions and answers

How long should I wait to follow up on an estimate?

Call two days after the quote goes out, and once more a week after it went out. Jobber’s two guides say one to three days for the first follow-up, and neither backs the timing with a study. One of them adds a last follow-up 24 to 48 hours before the quote expires, which only fits a quote with a real expiry date. After the last call, archive the quote, with a note on why if you know.

What should I say when following up on an estimate?

Keep it short, and call: “Hi, this is [your name] from [Business]. I am calling about the quote for [the job] we sent on [day]. Did it reach you? Do you have any questions about it?” If they are leaning toward no, ask what would change their mind. If the quote has a real expiry date, say it. Never make one up.

Can Jobber text my customers a quote reminder?

Yes, on the Connect plan and up: up to two reminders, up to 90 days after the quote. They go by the same method as the quote and at the same time of day, so a quote texted at 9:30 p.m. sends its reminders by text at 9:30 p.m. Each client has an “outstanding quote follow-ups” setting to turn them off (Jobber Help Center, as of September 25, 2026).

Does a quote reminder text need consent in Florida?

It is not settled. Florida requires written consent before unsolicited automated sales texts, and leaves out texts made at the customer’s express request or to someone with a prior or existing business relationship (F.S. 501.059). Until it is settled, we treat a quote reminder to the customer as a sales text, so our default is a reminder to the owner and a phone call.

How do I work out what unanswered quotes cost me?

Multiply three numbers: quotes nobody answered, the share you would have won and your profit per job. With example numbers, 8 unanswered quotes × 0.4 = 3.2 jobs, and 3.2 × $380 profit = $1,216 a month.

Read next

Count yours

Try the loss calculatorCall or text us

Money back

Not worth it to you? Text or email us within 7 days of the call where you go over your sheet, and you get the walk fee back.

Full terms