Guide
Follow-up is the cheapest revenue in your business and the first thing that breaks when everyone gets busy. Nearly every service business we open up has the same story: strong first conversation, quote sent, then nothing. The fix isn't discipline. It's a cadence with owners, timing, and a place where misses become visible.
Symptoms we see most often
A follow-up cadence is a written sequence: how many touches, over how many days, on which channels, with what message. Written once, it removes the daily decision of whether to reach out again.
Adapt these examples to the customer's context and your consent rules. Day 0 email: ‘Hi [Name] — attached is the estimate for [scope]. The next step we discussed is [next step] by [date]. Reply here with questions, or choose [option A] or [option B] for a quick review.’ Day 3 text: ‘Hi [Name], this is [Owner] from [Company]. Do you want to review the estimate for [scope], or should I close it for now?’ Final email: ‘I’ll close the active follow-up after today. If the project is still planned, reply with the timing that works and I’ll update the next step.’ Stop when they book, decline, opt out, or become unqualified.
A 14-touch sequence over roughly 60 days can be an adaptable starting point for larger consulting or professional-service opportunities, where multiple stakeholders and internal approvals extend the decision. Do not apply it to an urgent residential estimate. Use fewer, faster touches for residential work; use value-bearing recaps, stakeholder questions, and agreed decision dates for long-cycle work.
Response inside five minutes, second touch same day, third touch inside 48 hours. Most lost deals aren't lost to a competitor's pitch — they're lost to a gap in the calendar.
Phone for the attempt, text for the reply, email for the record. Sending the same email three times reads as automation; changing channel reads as attention.
Every open opportunity needs an owner, a next step, and a date. Anything without those three fields is a leak. One weekly report on "no next step" turns follow-up from a personality trait into a process.
Frequently asked
Five to eight touches over the first two weeks is a reasonable default for service businesses. Most teams stop after two, which is why persistent competitors win deals they didn't source.
Same day for the second touch, then roughly every two to three days for the first two weeks, then monthly. Shorter gaps early, longer gaps later.
Use all three deliberately: call to reach the person, text to get a reply, email to document scope and price. Channel variety improves reply rates more than better copy does.
Every touch should carry something the prospect can use — a timeline, a clarified scope, an answer to an objection, a scheduling option. Persistence with new information reads as service; persistence with "just checking in" reads as noise.
More guides
The Pipeline Teardown maps where your follow-up breaks and hands you the cadence, owners, and reporting to close the gap.