The words that make chasing a quote feel natural, not needy. Four short phone scripts and three email lines for the first chase through to the soft-deadline nudge.
Most people do not avoid chasing quotes because they are lazy. They avoid it because they do not know what to say without sounding needy. The fix is a small set of scripts you can reach for on autopilot — so the call gets made and the email gets sent, warmly and without the awkward hovering. Here is exactly what to say, on the phone and in writing.
Every good quote-chasing script follows the same principles. Keep them in mind and almost any wording will land well.
Swap the placeholders such as [customer name], [quote total], [job or project] and [your business] for the real details, and adjust the tone to how you normally speak.
Hi [customer name], it's [your name] from [your business] — is now a bad time? No problem if so. I just wanted to check the quote for [job or project] reached you okay, as sometimes they slip into spam. Did you have any questions on it, or anything you'd like me to walk through?
The goal here is only to confirm receipt and open a conversation. If they are not ready to talk numbers, you have still surfaced any "I never got it" problem and reminded them you exist.
Hi [customer name], it's [your name] from [your business]. I know you were weighing up the quote for [job or project], so I didn't want to pester — just checking whether there's anything holding it up that I could help with? Sometimes it's a small tweak to the scope or the timing, and I'd rather sort that than have you sitting on the fence.
This call is about removing obstacles, not applying pressure. Asking "what's holding it up?" often surfaces a fixable objection — price, timing, one line item — that you would never have heard otherwise.
Hi [customer name], it's [your name] from [your business]. Quick one — I'm booking work in for [timeframe] at the moment, and I'd love to hold a slot for your [job or project] before it fills up. The quote at [quote total] still stands. Shall I pencil you in, or is the timing not quite right yet?
A genuine, honest deadline — real availability filling up — creates momentum without manufactured urgency. Only ever use a deadline that is true; a fake one costs you trust the moment it slips.
Hi [customer name], [your name] from [your business] — sorry to miss you. I won't keep chasing, but I wanted to leave the door open on the quote for [job or project]. If it's still of interest, drop me a text or email and I'll get you booked; if the timing's changed, no problem at all. Either way, thanks for considering us.
The "I won't keep chasing" framing is disarming and often prompts the callback precisely because it signals this is the last one.
Not every chase warrants a call, and email lets the customer reply on their own time. Keep the wording short and human. Here are three lines for the key moments:
The beauty of the email lines is that they never depend on you remembering. With Quote Nudge you load them into a sequence once and every SENT Xero quote gets chased on your chosen cadence, from your own domain — and because it is idempotent, no customer is ever sent the same line twice. For the full set of longer templates, see our five quote follow-up email templates, and to wire them to your quotes, here is how to automate the whole sequence.
The perfect script is worthless unread and unspoken. Templates remove the excuse of not knowing what to say; automation removes the excuse of not having time to say it.
The strongest approach blends the two. Let the automated email sequence keep every quote warm in the background, then use the phone scripts for the deals that matter most or the customers the funnel shows are going quiet. Your win-rate funnel tells you who has viewed the quote but not accepted — those are your best call candidates, and Script 2 is exactly the right opener for them. Full setup is covered in the docs.
Start a free 14-day trial — no card required, then £16.79/mo, cancel anytime. Keep the email chase running automatically on every Xero quote, and save your voice for the calls that clinch the job.
Auto follow-ups, branded e-sign acceptance and deposits on your Xero quotes. £16.79/mo after the trial — no card required.
Start free trialFive ready-to-use follow-up email templates — first nudge through deposit reminder — with placeholders you can adapt in minutes and automate on every Xero quote.
Xero will chase an unpaid invoice for you, but it never lifts a finger on an unaccepted quote. That silence is costing you jobs you have already half-won.