MaidBossPro Blog — Quotes & Pricing

Cleaning Estimate Follow-Up Emails for Quotes That Went Quiet

A cleaning quote that gets no reply is not always a no. Often the customer opened it, liked it, meant to talk to their partner about it, and then the week happened. A short, friendly follow-up brings a surprising number of those customers back. The problem is that a busy office rarely has time to remember who to follow up with.

Why Good Quotes Go Quiet

Quotes that are approved go straight onto the schedule, as covered in From Approved Cleaning Estimate to Scheduled Job. This article is about the ones that are not approved yet.

Common reasons a customer has not answered:

• They are comparing two or three companies and have not decided.
• They need to check with someone else in the house.
• They meant to approve it and forgot.
• They have a question and did not get around to asking it.
• The price was more than they expected.
• The email went to a folder they do not check.

Most of these are fixable with a reminder. Only the last two need anything more.

Let the Follow-Ups Send Themselves

MaidBossPro sends estimate follow-up emails. A customer who has not approved their estimate gets a reminder, and the office does not have to keep a list, set calendar reminders or remember who was quoted last Tuesday. The follow-up points them back to the same estimate, where they can approve it online.

Automating this is one of the most useful changes a cleaning company can make to its follow-up. A follow-up that always goes out beats a better-written one that someone forgets to send.

What to Say

Keep follow-ups short, helpful and free of pressure. A good first follow-up might read:

“Hi Dana, just checking in on the cleaning estimate we sent for your home on Maple Street. If you have any questions about what is included or which frequency makes sense, reply here or text us. When you are ready, you can approve it online and we will get you on the schedule.”

A few things make it work:

• Use the customer's name and the address. It shows a real company sent it.
• Invite questions. Many customers are stuck on one small question.
• Make approval one step. Point them back to the estimate.
• Skip the fake urgency. “Offer ends Friday” on a house cleaning quote feels like a sales trick.

How Many Times and How Far Apart

There is no perfect schedule, but a sensible one is a first follow-up a couple of days after the quote, and a second about a week later. After that, most companies stop and treat the quote as lost, or make one personal call if it was a large or valuable job, such as a big weekly home or an office.

Do not follow up every day. A customer who feels chased is less likely to book, and more likely to remember you as pushy.

When a Reply Comes Back

Follow-ups often bring questions rather than approvals. “Is the dog fee every visit?” “Can you do Fridays?” “Could you drop the fridge?” Answer quickly. Two-way texting from the office is often faster than email for this.

If the answer changes the quote, update the estimate and let the customer approve the new version. That way the job carries the right services, add-ons and cleaning details, and the invoice matches what was agreed.

If the reply is about price, resist cutting the number straight away. Offer a different frequency, remove an add-on, or explain what the first-time deep clean covers. A lower price on the same work teaches customers that your quotes are negotiable.

A personal touch still has its place. For larger jobs, such as a big weekly home, a multi-location account or an office bid, a short phone call or text from the person who quoted it can do more than any email. Use follow-up emails as the safety net that catches every quote, and personal follow-up for the few that justify the time.

Also check that your follow-ups are not landing in spam. Ask a friend or family member to request a quote and see where the follow-up arrives. If it lands in a junk folder, your customers may not be seeing it either.

Learn From the Ones That Do Not Come Back

Some quotes will still go unanswered. Look at them every month or two. Are they mostly one type of job? Mostly from one source? Mostly above a certain price? Patterns tell you where your quotes, prices or speed need work. That is covered in Why Cleaning Quotes Get Lost, and What to Change. For how follow-ups fit with the rest of your estimating, visit the house cleaning estimate software page.