The one text to send before you leave a site visit
You walked the job. You measured. Then you drove off with “I'll send something over.” That gap is why quotes die. Before you leave the street, send one text. A day and a time.
You spent forty minutes in their backyard. Beds, drainage, the fence line, the dog. They are standing in the driveway while you pack the tape. The next thing they hear from most owners is nothing, until a PDF shows up two nights later, or never.
The quote does not die because the price was wrong. It dies because you left without telling them when it would arrive. They go back inside, open the other guy's text, and book the person who said Thursday.
Before you leave the street, send one text. We walked the exact line in a short video if you want the 45-second version. What follows is the copy-paste version, plus when to change it.
This is not the follow-up you send after a quote goes quiet. That is the 2-7-14 rule. This is not the chase after the patio is done and the invoice is sitting. That is the $9,400 text. Different file. This one goes out while you are still on their street, before the quote exists.
For them
A time they can wait for
They are expecting the quote. They also have a reason not to book someone else before that clock.
For you
A promise, not a vibe
You told a real person. The day you named is the worst case, not the plan.
Same day
Notes are already on the phone
The memo and the photos are in your pocket. Most nights the quote goes out before the deadline.
The text
Send it from the truck, or from the sidewalk, before you pull away. Stay in the thread you already have. If you met both of them, say both.
Great meeting you both. You'll have the quote by Thursday at 5.
Fill-in version, same bones. Names, a day, a clock time:
Great meeting you [both]. You'll have the quote by [Thursday] at [5].
One person on the walk? Use their name. “Great meeting you, Sarah.” Thursday at 5 is the example from the driveway, not a law. Swap in a slot you can actually hit. The line does not change: who you met, the day, and the time.
That is the whole text. No recap of the yard. No “let me know if you have questions.” No price teaser. A day and a time.
Why it works for them
They just walked the job with you. Their head is full. What they can use is a moment they can put on the fridge.
Once they have Thursday at 5, they are expecting the quote. They also have a reason not to sign with anybody else before then. The other contractor can still send a number. They can wait and compare. You bought the window without asking them to wait.
Leave with “sometime this week” and they have nothing to hold. The next clear text wins.
Why it works for you
Look at what the same text does on your side. You just made a promise to a real person. Not a note in your head. A message they can scroll back to while you are on the next street.
Thursday is not the plan. Thursday is the worst case. Most nights you will send the quote the same day, because the memo and the photos are sitting right there on your phone. The promise is the backstop. The work usually happens while the job is still warm.
Wait until you are home, dinner is on, and the yard is a blur, and the quote slips to Friday. Then to the weekend. They booked someone else on Wednesday.
When not to send it
The line is the default. Do not send a promise you already know is a lie.
If they already gave you a date, use it. “Text me after the long weekend.” “We're away until the 20th.” Do not invent Thursday because the script says Thursday. Send their day, with a clock time: “You'll have it Tuesday at 5, after you're back.”
If you are still measuring overnight, say so. A true later time beats a Thursday you cannot hit.
Still finishing the takeoff in the morning. You'll have the quote by Friday at noon.
If they are waiting on a spouse, an HOA, or the neighbour before the scope is even real, do not promise a full quote you cannot write. Tell them what you will send, and when.
I'll send the two options we walked by Wednesday at 5. The HOA version can wait until you hear back.
Adjust it honestly. A wrong promise is worse than no text. They remember the miss longer than they remember the walk.
If you already handed them a number on site and they said yes, skip this. You need the next step, not a quote deadline.
What to stop doing
- •"I'll send something over." It names nothing. They cannot wait for something.
- •"Sometime this week." A week is seven days. They will book the person who named one of them.
- •Waiting until you are home. The job is cold by dinner. The notes and photos are on your phone now.
- •A price in the driveway text. This text is a clock, not a quote. The number goes in the quote.
- •A Thursday you do not mean. Miss the time you named and you taught them your texts are decoration.
- •Running 2-7-14 from the curb. That cadence starts after the quote is out and the thread goes quiet. Different file.
Write it before the truck is in gear
The hard part is not the wording. It is remembering while you are already thinking about the next yard in Surrey and the tape is still in your hand.
Send it before you leave the street. If the quote itself can go the same night, send that too, while the memo and the photos are still the top thing on your phone. The Thursday you named is the worst case you already promised. Beating it is the normal night, not a favour.
Once the quote is actually out and the thread goes quiet, switch files. That is the 2-7-14 rule: day 2, day 7, day 14. If you are staring at a finished job and an unpaid invoice, that is the payment text. Do not run either of those from the driveway.
Copy this for the crew
Screenshot the box. Stick it in the group chat. Run it on every walk this week and see how many quotes go out the same night.
Before you leave the street
- Before you leave the street, send one text. Do not drive off on "I'll send something over."
- Name them. If you met both, say both.
- Promise the quote by a day and a clock time you can hit. Thursday at 5 is the shape. Use your real slot.
- That time is the worst case, not the plan. Send the same day if the notes and photos are already on your phone.
- If they already gave you a date, use their date. Do not invent Thursday.
- If you still have measuring to finish overnight, say so and name the later time.
- If a spouse or HOA is blocking the scope, say what you will send and when. Do not fake a full quote.
- Do not put the price in this text. The price is the quote.
- This is not the 2-7-14 quiet-quote cadence. That starts after the quote goes out and the thread dies.
- This is not the payment chase. That starts when the job is done and the invoice is sitting.
One text. A day and a time. Then leave.
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 text on the jobs you just walked.