Most quotes don’t get a no. They get nothing. The client meant to reply, got busy, and now your $4,800 deck quote sits in “awaiting response” next to forty others. Nobody in the office has time to chase each one by hand. This guide sets up a follow-up sequence in Jobber that nudges every open quote on a schedule, flags the big ones for a phone call, and clears out the dead ones so your pipeline shows the truth.
What you need
- Jobber Connect, Grow or Plus. Jobber’s help center says quote follow-ups are available on Connect and up, and the pricing page lists “Automated follow-ups” and the “Custom automation builder” on Connect, Grow and Plus, not Core. At the time of writing, Connect is $139/month on monthly billing ($99/month billed annually). Check Gear icon > Account and Billing to see your plan.
- Admin access. Automations live in settings that only admins can see.
- Client communication settings switched on. A follow-up only reaches a client or contact who has “outstanding quote follow-ups” turned on in the communication settings of their profile.
- For text follow-ups: two-way texting and a dedicated phone number. Follow-ups go by the same method as the original quote. If you only ever email quotes, every follow-up is an email.
Step by step
1. Decide your schedule before you touch settings
Write it down first. Here’s a schedule I’d start a small residential shop on:
- Day 2: soft check-in. “Did it come through? Any questions?”
- Day 6: answer the usual objection. Timing, financing, or “can we do part of it”.
- Day 12: last friendly touch, plus a phone call for anything over a set dollar amount.
- Day 30: archive it.
Worked example: if you send 60 quotes a month and 40% go quiet, that’s 24 quotes a month nobody is chasing. Even a handful closing on the day-6 message pays for a Connect plan many times over. Your numbers will be different. Plug in your own.
2. Turn on the two built-in quote follow-ups
Go to Gear icon > Settings > Automations. (If you don’t see Automations, Jobber says older accounts may find quote follow-ups under Emails and Text Messages settings.)
Jobber gives you two quote follow-up automations for quotes in “awaiting response”. For each one you can set:
- A title (e.g., “Quote follow-up 1 – day 2”)
- Timing, as a number of days after the original quote was sent, up to 90
- Message text
Jobber sends each follow-up at the same local time of day the original quote went out. So if your office sends quotes at 9pm from the couch, follow-ups go at 9pm too. Send quotes during business hours.
Example for day 2:
“Hi {client name}, just checking your quote from Ridgeline Decks came through OK. If anything’s unclear, reply here and I’ll sort it out. You can approve it straight from the link whenever you’re ready.”
Example for day 6:
“Hi {client name}, a few people ask whether we can split a deck job into two phases, or start later in the season. We can do both. If budget or timing is what’s holding things up, tell me and I’ll rework the quote.”
Use Insert Variable for the client’s name rather than typing it.
3. Add a third touch with the custom automation builder
Two follow-ups is a short sequence. To add a third, go to Gear icon > Settings > Automations > New Automation. Jobber’s builder uses a trigger, up to six conditions, and an action.
- Trigger: Date passed, 12 days after quote sent.
- Condition: quote status is awaiting response. This is what stops the message going to someone who already approved.
- Action: Notify (sends the client a message, by the same method as the original quote).
Message for day 12:
“Hi {client name}, last note from me on your deck quote. If now isn’t the right time, no problem. Just reply ‘later’ and I’ll check back in the spring. If you’d like to go ahead, the approve button is in the link.”
Note the builder’s limits per Jobber’s help center: date triggers max out at 90 days, and automations don’t apply to quotes that were already sent before you turned them on.
4. Flag big quotes for a human call
Text and email work for a $350 repair. A $12,000 job deserves a phone call. Build one more custom automation:
- Trigger: Date passed, 12 days after quote sent.
- Conditions: status is awaiting response, and line items include your high-value item (e.g., “Composite decking” or “Full system replacement”).
- Action: Add tag, e.g., “Call – big quote”.
Then filter clients by that tag each morning and make the calls. Jobber’s builder can filter on line items and client tags, not on quote total, so pick the line items that only show up on big jobs.
If you use Jobber AI’s automatic quote drafting, there’s also a Notify me for new high-value quotes setting with a dollar threshold. That pings you when an auto-drafted quote crosses the amount. It’s for drafts, not for chasing sent quotes.
5. Archive dead quotes automatically
In the same Automations page, switch on Automatically archive quotes and set it to 30 days for quotes in “awaiting response”. This keeps your open-quote total honest. You can still find and revive archived quotes later.
6. Check the communication settings on existing clients
Open a few client profiles and confirm “outstanding quote follow-ups” is on. If you imported clients from another system, spot-check ten of them. If it’s off, the automation runs and nothing gets sent.
7. Review after 30 days
Look at which follow-up gets the most approvals. If day 6 does the heavy lifting, put more effort into that message. If almost nobody approves after day 12, shorten the sequence.
Common mistakes
- Sending quotes late at night. Follow-ups go out at the same time of day as the original quote.
- No status condition on custom automations. Without “status is awaiting response”, a client who approved can still get “just checking in”.
- Expecting texts when the quote was emailed. The follow-up method copies the original. If you want text follow-ups, send the quote by text.
- Assuming old quotes are covered. Automations don’t apply retroactively. Chase the current backlog by hand once, then let the automations handle new quotes.
- Never archiving. A pipeline full of four-month-old quotes hides the ten you can still win.
When it’s worth getting help
The built-in follow-ups take ten minutes. The parts that take longer are writing messages that sound like you, choosing the line items that mark a big job, and checking what’s actually working a month in. If you want someone to set it up and review the numbers with you, see the Jobber page. The trades cost calculator will tell you whether paying for setup makes sense at your quote volume.