Go back through the quotes you sent this year. Count the ones that never got a yes or a no. For most trade businesses it’s a long list: the deck that was “going to happen after Christmas”, the bathroom waiting on the bank, the repaint the owner wanted to “think about”.
Most of those weren’t lost to a competitor. The customer got busy, the budget moved, the season changed, or they simply forgot. Some of them still want the job done. They just need a reason to pick up the conversation, and it’s easier to reply to you than to start again with someone new.
This guide covers how to win some of them back: who to contact, what to say, what to offer, and how to do it without becoming the business that spams its old leads.
Why old quotes are worth chasing
A customer who asked you for a quote has already done the hard part. They found you, they let you on site or sent photos, and they read your price. They know who you are.
That makes an old quote a different kind of lead from a new enquiry:
- They’ve already decided you’re worth considering.
- You already know the job. You’ve measured up, seen the access and priced it.
- It costs almost nothing to ask. One email, no ad spend.
If you haven’t chased your current quotes, start there first: we cover a rhythm for that in do you actually follow up your leads? This guide is about the ones that have already gone quiet for months.
Who to contact (and who to leave alone)
Pull a list of quotes from roughly the last 3 to 18 months that never became a job and never got a clear no. Then sort it.
Contact:
- Quotes that went quiet with no answer.
- Customers who said “not yet”, “after Christmas”, “next summer” or “when the money’s sorted”.
- Enquiries you never got around to quoting, if the job is still your kind of work.
Leave alone:
- Anyone who said no, unsubscribed, or asked you to stop.
- Anyone you know went with someone else and had it done.
- Jobs you don’t want any more: the area you’ve stopped covering, the work you’ve stopped doing, the customer you’d rather not work with.
- Anything so old you’d struggle to explain why you’re getting in touch.
Keep the list small and real. Twenty well-chosen emails beat five hundred to a spreadsheet nobody has looked at in years.
Check the rules first
Commercial emails in New Zealand have rules about who you can send them to. We’re a marketing agency, not lawyers, so check what applies to your business with your lawyer.
Common sense covers the rest: make sure the email clearly comes from your business, make it easy to opt out, and stop when someone asks you to. If you’re unsure whether someone would welcome the email, leave them off.
Pick a real reason and a good time
The best reactivation emails have a real reason behind them. A few that work for trades:
- The season has come round. Exterior painting, decks, landscaping and roofing all have a season. The customer who stalled in autumn is often ready again in spring.
- You’ve got availability. If you genuinely have a gap in your calendar in three weeks, say so. That’s useful to someone who was put off by your lead times last time.
- Their timing was the issue. “After Christmas” and “when the bank comes through” have dates attached. Get in touch around then.
- The quote needs updating. If your old quote has expired, a fresh price is a fair reason to reconnect, and it stops a customer turning up months later expecting last year’s number.
What doesn’t work is pretending nothing happened, or inventing pressure. The customer knows it’s been six months. So do you.
What to say
Keep it short, plain and personal. One email, written the way you’d talk, with one question at the end. Something like:
Hi Sarah, it’s Dave from Dave’s Decks. Back in April I quoted your deck in Taradale and you were going to look at it again in spring. I’ve got some room in my diary in November, so I thought I’d check in. Is it still on the cards? If it is, I’m happy to come back out and update the quote. And if you’ve sorted it already or it’s off for now, no problem at all, just let me know.
What makes it work:
- It’s specific. It names the job, the suburb and when you last talked.
- It gives a real reason. Availability, the season, an updated price.
- It asks one easy question. Yes, not yet, or no.
- It makes “no” easy. Customers reply to emails they can answer in five seconds.
We’re keeping the full set of copy-paste wording for quote follow-up email templates, including versions for different trades and situations.
What to offer (and what not to)
You don’t need a discount to win back an old quote. Most stalled jobs stalled for reasons that had nothing to do with price, and a discount teaches customers to wait you out.
Good things to offer:
- An updated quote, so they’re working from a current price.
- A real start date, if you have one.
- A smaller first stage, if budget was the problem: the front deck this year, the back one next year.
- A quick re-visit, if the job has changed or it’s been a while.
Don’t offer:
- A fake discount. “15% off this week only” on a price you invented for the email.
- Fake urgency. “Only two spots left” when your calendar is wide open.
- Last year’s price, if you can’t honour it. If materials have gone up, say so and re-quote. A quote is an offer, which is why a validity window matters (more on that in our quote template guide).
What to do with the replies
- “Yes, let’s do it.” Book the re-visit or confirm the start, and update the quote before you do anything else.
- “Not yet.” Ask when would be a better time, and put a reminder in for then. That’s a future job with a date on it.
- “We’ve had it done.” Thank them, wish them well, and mark it lost. Ask, lightly, what tipped it: you’ll learn something about your quotes.
- No reply. One gentle follow-up a week or two later is fine. After that, leave it.
Doing it on autopilot
Doing this by hand once is worth it. Doing it every season is where it pays off, and that’s where automation helps.
In the System we set up for trade businesses, quotes that went quiet don’t disappear. They sit in your pipeline as “lost” or “on hold” with the job details, the quote and the whole conversation attached. From there you can:
- Run a reactivation email to a hand-picked group, like everyone who stalled on an exterior job last autumn, at the start of the season.
- Set a reminder for the customers who said “after Christmas”, so the email goes out when they said it should.
- Stop it the moment they reply, so a person picks up the conversation, and stop it for good if they say no or unsubscribe.
It’s email only. We don’t run text message follow-up. Every reply lands in the same conversation as that customer’s original enquiry and quote, so you know exactly what you said last time. More on how the System works, and on automated lead follow-up for the leads that haven’t gone quiet yet.
Winning back old quotes: FAQ
How long after a quote should I follow up again?
Chase new quotes within days. For quotes that have gone quiet, a reactivation email makes sense a few months later, ideally tied to a reason: the season, the customer’s own timing or your availability.
Is it spam to email old leads?
Check the rules for commercial email with your lawyer before you send. Keep the email about the job they asked you to quote, make it clearly from your business, and make it easy to opt out.
Should I offer a discount to win back an old quote?
Usually no. Offer an updated quote, a real start date or a smaller first stage instead. A discount invented for the email undercuts your price and trains customers to wait.
What if the price has gone up since I quoted?
Say so and re-quote. Holding an old price you can’t afford loses you money on the job, and quietly changing it loses you the customer.
Should I phone instead of emailing?
For your biggest jobs, a call can be better. For most old quotes, an email is easier for the customer to answer in their own time, and it’s easier for you to send twenty of them.
Want to know how many jobs are sitting in your old quotes, and how to bring them back without hassling anyone? Get a free leads audit: 20 minutes, real numbers, no obligation.