Roofing Contractor Case Study: Automated Quote Follow-Up
How a roofing contractor stopped losing signed jobs to silence after the estimate, with a follow-up sequence that runs itself and stops the moment the customer replies.
Overview
The client, a roofing contractor in the Inland Empire, sends a lot of estimates. The problem was what happened afterward: nothing. The sales rep would follow up when he remembered, usually a week later, by which time the homeowner had two other quotes and no reason to pick them.
Gain Rhino connected the estimating tool to the CRM so that every sent estimate starts a follow-up sequence automatically. A text two hours later to confirm it arrived, an email the next morning with financing options and photos of similar jobs, a reminder on day two with a one-tap 'approve' link. The sequence stops the instant the customer replies, and the rep gets a nudge to call.
Research
We looked at 120 estimates from the previous season. Half were never followed up at all. Where follow-up did happen, it averaged nine days after the estimate went out. Signed jobs came overwhelmingly from estimates that got a touch within the first two days, which told us the content of the follow-up mattered less than its timing.
We also interviewed the rep. He was not lazy; he was on roofs. So the system had to carry the first 48 hours without him and hand off cleanly when the customer showed interest. We wrote the messages in his voice, kept them short, and put the approval link in every touch so a homeowner could say yes from their phone.
Result
Every estimate now gets four timed touches over 48 hours without anyone remembering to send them. Homeowners who are ready sign from their phone. Homeowners with questions reply, the sequence pauses, and the rep calls back with the full context on screen. Nothing falls through the gap between 'sent' and 'signed'.
By the numbers (first 90 days):
- Estimates that received follow-up100%, up from about 50%
- Average time from estimate to signatureunder 48 hours, down from 9 days
- Estimate close rateup an estimated 22%
- Follow-up messages sent by hand0
- Signed jobs approved directly from the SMS linkroughly 1 in 4
Client identity withheld at their request. Figures reflect the first 90 days after launch.
