How to Follow Up Roofing Quotes: A 21-Day, 5-Message Plan

The best way to follow up a roofing quote is a short, planned series of friendly messages: five touches over about 21 days, stopping the moment the customer replies. Most quotes don't get a "no". They get silence. A clear follow-up plan turns some of that silence into booked jobs, without you having to remember who to chase.

This guide gives you the plan, five scripts you can copy, the rules for when to stop, and the line between a factual follow-up and a marketing message under Australian spam law.

Why do roofing quotes go quiet?

A homeowner asks for three quotes. Yours arrives. Then life happens: the kids, work, a car repair, a partner who wants to "think about it". Nobody rings back to say no. The quote just sits in their inbox.

On your side, you're on a roof all day. Chasing quotes is the job that slips first. By the time you remember, it's been six weeks and the job has gone to whoever called back.

Following up isn't pushy when it's done well. It's a service. The customer asked you for a price. A short, polite check-in helps them decide.

What does a good follow-up plan look like?

Keep it simple: five messages, spread out, each with one job.

Day 1 is the day after the quote goes out. Send between about 8am and 6pm on weekdays, and avoid Sundays. People reply when the message arrives at a sensible hour.

Can I copy these quote follow-up scripts?

Yes. Change the names, keep them short, and send them from your business number so replies come back to you.

Notice what these messages don't do. They don't offer discounts nobody asked for. They don't push other services. They don't pile on pressure. They help the customer finish a decision they already started.

When should I stop following up?

Stop straight away when any of these happen:

• They reply. Any reply ends the sequence. Now it's a conversation, so answer it like one.
• They say no or "not now". Thank them and stop. A polite "no worries" leaves the door open for next year.
• They ask you to stop. Stop immediately and note it so nobody on your team messages them again.
• The job is won. Obvious, but sequences in apps keep running unless someone marks the job as won.
• Day 21 has passed. After five touches, leave it. You can include them in a seasonal reactivation later, but only with the right consent (see below).

The most common mistake is the opposite one: messages keep going after the customer has replied. That annoys people and looks automated. Whatever tool you use, make sure a reply stops the sequence.

Is quote follow-up allowed under the Spam Act?

Australia's Spam Act covers commercial electronic messages, which includes SMS and email. The ACMA's three core rules for marketing messages are:

There's an important distinction for quote follow-up. The Act allows "designated commercial electronic messages" that contain no more than factual information (plus limited extras like your business name and contact details) to be sent without consent or an unsubscribe. Law firm Clayton Utz explains that a message becomes commercial if one of its purposes is to promote goods or services, even if that isn't the main purpose.

What that means in practice:

• A message that says "your quote is attached, any questions?" is closer to factual.
• A message that adds "and check out our gutter special this month" has a promotional purpose, so the marketing rules apply.
• Inferred consent can apply where there's an existing relationship and the message relates directly to it. A homeowner who asked you for a quote has a relationship with you, but the ACMA says you must be able to prove consent, so keep a record of how they contacted you.

The safe approach for roofers:

• Always identify your business by name in every message.
• Add an opt-out to anything that could be read as marketing, for example "Reply STOP to opt out".
• Keep records of who asked for a quote and when.
• Don't add promotions to quote follow-ups.

For the full detail, read our guide to SMS rules for roofers in Australia.

Should quote follow-up be SMS, email or a call?

Use all three, for different jobs.

A good rule of thumb: SMS to start the conversation, email for the paperwork, a call when the job is big enough or the customer asks for one.

What should I track?

You can't improve what you don't count. Keep a simple list, in a spreadsheet or your job app:

After a couple of months you'll see which message gets the most replies and how many quotes come back to life. That's real data about your own business, which is worth more than any industry average.

How can I make this run without me?

You can run this plan by hand with a reminder in your phone. Plenty of roofers start that way. The problem is that it relies on you remembering after a 10-hour day on a roof.

The alternative is to have it set up to run automatically: the sequence starts when you mark a quote as sent and stops when the customer replies or the job is won. That's what our quote follow-up service does, as part of the Foundation plan ($397/month + $997 setup, AUD, no GST charged).

If you've got a pile of old quotes from the last year, our $497 Quote Reactivation Sprint follows them up for 14 days. If it books zero inspections, you get your money back. We don't promise a number of jobs, because that depends on your prices and your quotes, but you'll see every reply.