The 2-7-14 rule for quotes that go quiet
You walked the job. You sent the quote. Then nothing. That silence is usually a busy homeowner, not a hard no. Three short texts on set dates: day 2, day 7, and day 14. Then you close the file.
Same story every week. You spent forty minutes in someone's backyard. You measured, talked through the beds, sent a clean quote that night. Two days later the thread is dead and you are staring at it in the truck, wondering if poking them is desperate or if letting it die is leaving money on the table.
Most owners pick silence because follow-up feels like begging. Then the job goes to the guy who texted twice.
Quiet is not a no. The homeowner who walked the yard with you is also packing lunches, waiting on a spouse, collecting two other numbers, and trying to remember which message they opened. Your quote is sitting under a grocery list.
The 2-7-14 rule is three texts. Not emails. Not a nine-touch sequence. Three short messages on calendar dates, then you close the file. We also covered this in a short video if you want the 45-second version.
Why quotes go quiet after a walkthrough
You were in their yard. They were in the problem. Then you left and their day resumed.
Three common reasons, none of them personal:
- •Busy. Kids, work, the other contractor still has not shown up for their walkthrough.
- •Comparing. They told you they were getting two more quotes. They meant it.
- •Forgot. They liked you. They meant to reply. Then Thursday happened.
Until they say no, or they booked someone else, treat silence as unfinished. Not rejected.
Texts, not email
Send the original quote however you send quotes. Follow-up belongs on their phone.
Email is where quotes go to die. The homeowner who walked the yard with you already has your number. A text lands where they actually look. Keep it under a minute to send. If you already have a thread from the site visit, stay in that thread.
The cadence: day 2, day 7, day 14
Count from the day the quote went out, not the walkthrough, if those are different days. Quote goes out Monday? Day 2 is Wednesday, day 7 is the next Monday, day 14 is the Monday after that.
Put the three dates in your phone the same afternoon you send the quote. Dates, not vibes. If you wait until you “feel like following up,” you will follow up never, or you will follow up annoyed. Neither wins the job.
Day 2
Light, named, no pressure
Reopen the job in their head. Who you are, which yard, that the quote is sitting in the thread.
Day 7
Add something useful
A start week you can actually hold, or a smaller version of the job. A real choice, not a poke.
Day 14
Close the file
Tell them you are taking it off the board. That gives them a reason to answer yes or no.
Day 2: light, specific, no pressure
The job is to reopen the file in their head. Remind them who you are and which job. Do not recap the whole quote. Do not ask them to “let you know either way” yet. That question is for day 14.
Hey Sarah, it's Tyler from [your company]. Walked the backyard Tuesday. Quote is in this thread if you want another look. Happy to tweak the scope if the fence line changed.
Swap in their name, the job, and the day you were there. If you sent two options, say you can walk them through the difference. That is the whole text.
Day 7: give them something useful
A week in, “any thoughts?” is noise. Add a fact they can act on. Two versions that work:
A start week you can actually hold. Only if you mean it. Do not fake a full book.
Hey Sarah. I have a start window the week of the 22nd if you still want the beds done before the long weekend. Want me to hold it, or should I release it to the next job?
A smaller version of the job. Same prices as the quote. You are not discounting. You are splitting the work so they can start.
Hey Mike. If the full wash plus seal is more than you wanted this month, I can do the driveway only and leave the sidewalk for spring. Driveway price stays the same as the quote.
The point is a real choice, not a poke.
Day 14: close the file politely
This one matters because it gives them a reason to answer either way. You are not chasing. You are taking their job off your board so you can book someone else.
Hey Sarah. Closing the file on the backyard quote so I am not sitting on a start date. If you still want it, reply yes and I will get you on the list. If you went another way, no stress. Either answer helps.
If they still do not reply, you are done. No fourth text. The file is closed. If they come back in October, you start fresh, you do not guilt them about September.
When you should break the cadence
The dates are the default, not a law.
If they already said “text me after the 20th,” wait until after the 20th. Do not 2-7-14 someone who gave you a date.
If they said they are waiting on a spouse, HOA, or permit, day 7 asks whether that blocker moved. Skip the fake start-week unless you still have one.
If they say “maybe in the spring,” stop. Put a spring reminder. Leave them alone until then.
If they reply at any point, stop the remaining texts. You are in a conversation now. Talk like a person.
What to stop doing
- •"Just checking in." It says nothing and asks them to do the work.
- •Guilt. "I guess you're not interested" makes you look small and makes them hide.
- •Daily pokes. Three texts in two weeks is the system. Nine texts is spam.
- •Disappearing after one send. One quote with no follow-up is how quiet jobs leak.
- •Essays. If it takes more than a minute to send, it is too long.
- •Fake urgency. "This price expires Friday" when it does not. They can smell it.
Write the three texts before you need them
The hard part is not the wording. It is remembering on day 7 while you are on a roof in Surrey and the last thing you want is to write a polite text with wet gloves.
Same afternoon you send the quote, write all three messages. Put them in Notes. Set three reminders. When a reminder fires, you paste, glance, tap send. You are not composing from the truck.
That is the whole trick for a one-truck shop. The thinking happens when you still remember the job. The sending happens on the date. Notes, Reminders, a paper list on the visor: the tool does not matter. The dates do.
Copy this for the crew
Screenshot the box. Stick it in the group chat. Run it on every quiet quote this month and see what comes back.
2-7-14 checklist
- Quote goes out the same day as the walkthrough, or first thing the next morning if you finished at dusk.
- Write all three texts that same afternoon, while you still remember the fence line and the dog's name.
- Set three phone reminders: day 2, day 7, day 14, counted from the send date.
- Day 2: light. Name the job. No "let me know either way" yet.
- Day 7: a date you can hold, or a cheaper / smaller version of the work.
- Day 14: close the file. Ask for a yes or a no.
- Stop the sequence the moment they reply, book, or say they went another way.
- If they still do not answer after day 14, you are done. No fourth text.
- Note the outcome so you are not guessing next spring.
Three texts. Under a minute each. Set dates, not vibes.
If you want to click around a live quote to see how the send side feels, the homepage demo saves nothing and sends nothing. Prefer a phone call, grab 15 minutes and we can talk through the cadence on your actual pipeline.