How to Follow Up on a Quote: A 14-Day Plan for Malta Businesses

You priced the job. You sent the quote on Tuesday. The customer said it looked good and they would think about it. Then nothing. No yes, no no. Just silence.

Most owners in Malta know this feeling. And most of those quotes are not lost to a cheaper rival. They are lost because nobody asked again. This guide shows how to follow up on a quote properly: what the research says, a simple four-touch plan over 14 days, the exact words to use, and when to stop.

A quote is a question you asked the customer. Silence usually means they have not answered it yet, not that the answer is no. People get busy. A partner wants to see it. A second quote is late. Your quote slides down a WhatsApp chat until it is out of sight.

The trouble is on the seller's side too. When researchers sent test enquiries to 2,241 US companies, 23% never replied at all, and the average first reply took 42 hours (Harvard Business Review, 2011). A study of almost 3.5 million sales leads found that half of them were only called once (Velocify, via the National Law Review).

Malta adds its own twist. Of the 60,856 active enterprises the NSO counted in 2024, 73.2% were sole traders and partnerships (NSO, Business Demography 2024). In most of them, the person who quotes is the person who does the work. When the van is loaded at seven, the follow-up call is the first thing to drop.

Sales advice is full of numbers that nobody can trace. So here is only what has a source you can read.

The first reply sets the tone for everything after it. In the Harvard study, firms that tried to contact an enquiry within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited longer (HBR, 2011). An earlier study by the same lead researcher found the odds of reaching someone fell sharply between five and thirty minutes after they asked (Lead Response Management study, 2007, summarised by Expertise.ai).

For a quote, that means two things. Send it while the conversation is still warm. And make the first follow-up quick and easy to answer.

In the Velocify data, 93% of the leads that turned into sales were reached by the sixth call. Only 7% converted after more than six (National Law Review, 2016). Yet half of all leads got a single call and nothing more.

You may have seen claims like “80% of sales need five to twelve follow-ups” or “44% of salespeople give up after one”. We looked for the original studies and could not find them, so we do not lean on them. The traceable data says enough: a few well-spaced touches win sales that one touch leaves on the table, and more than six rarely adds much.

Here is a plan any small business can run. Four touches after the quote, over fourteen days, switching between a message and a call. A message reaches people who do not pick up. A call reaches people who do not read. Together they cover both, without nagging.

Keep it to two or three sentences. Say who you are, mention the job, and make it easy to reply. Do not ask whether they have decided. It is too soon, and it puts them on the spot.

A call on day five feels attentive, not pushy, if it brings something. Ask about the thing that usually holds people up in your trade: the start date, access to the site, the colour, the second opinion. Questions move a decision. “Just checking in” does not.

By now they have heard from you twice. The third touch must add something. A slot that has opened up next month. A photo of a similar job you finished last week. A cheaper option without the extra they were unsure about. New information is a reason to reply.

The last call is honest and friendly. Ask whether to keep the slot or let it go. A clear no is a good result: you can stop, and you can ask why. If the timing is wrong, agree a date to come back and put it in the diary. That quote is not lost. It is parked.

Use your own words, but keep the shape: who you are, which job, one question. Here are examples you can adapt for WhatsApp, email or a call. Our free follow-up message generator writes them for your trade.

In Malta, many enquiries start on WhatsApp, so the quote and the first message often belong there too. Calls are best for the questions that need a conversation. Email suits businesses and anything with attachments. The best channel is the one the customer used to reach you, plus a call. Our guide to WhatsApp sales covers the first reply in detail.

Pushy is not about how often you get in touch. It is about whether each touch is for the customer or for you. These rules keep it on the right side.

Stop when you get an answer. A yes, a no, or “not now, try me in March” are all answers. Stop when they ask you to. And stop after the last call on day fourteen, if there is still silence.

Stopping is not giving up. Put the quote in a list of parked work with a date on it. Past customers and parked quotes are often the cheapest sales you will ever make, because they already know you. That is what customer reactivation is: calling them back, with a reason, at the right time.

Follow-up fails quietly. Nobody notices the quotes that were never chased. So keep score. Once a week, write down how many quotes went out, how many were chased to an answer, how many were won, and why the others were lost.

We call this the Monday Number: one page, every Monday, won and lost and the reason in the customer's words. After a month you know whether you lose on price, on timing or on silence. You can start with our free Monday Number template.

If you have the time, run the plan yourself. A notebook, a diary and the four touches will win you work you are losing today. Use the lost enquiry calculator to see what the silence is costing.

If you do not have the time, that is what we do. Our desk in Malta answers your enquiries and follows up every quote in your name, on your number, until there is an answer. We always say who we call for. No AI voice on any call that sells. One “stop” ends it. Read how lead follow-up works, or compare in-house and outsourced sales.

Either way, the quote you sent on Tuesday deserves a second message. Talk to our sales team if you would like us to send it.