How to respond to a quote request by email

Reply the same working day, even if you can't price the job yet. Say you have the request, say what happens next and by when, and ask for the one thing you need to move it on. Put the price in that first email only when the job is small and you already know what it costs. Every other request gets a question, a visit or a date.

The customer is probably writing to other firms too. Citizens Advice tells people in the UK to get written quotes from at least three traders before they choose, so a homeowner following that advice has sent her request to at least two more inboxes. How fast those firms answer is harder to say. RevenueHero, which sells lead-routing software, published a test of 1,000 B2B websites in 2022. It got 365 responses, and the average first reply took 1 day, 5 hours and 17 minutes. That's a software vendor's test of B2B websites, so read it as a sign that firms can be slow, not as a benchmark for your trade.

Which reply to send

Read the request once and find its row.

What the request gives you	What you do today	Template
Enough to price a small, standard job	Send the price	1
Nearly enough, with one or two facts missing	Ask for them	2
A job nobody can price without seeing it	Offer two visit times	3
"Roughly how much?" before they'll book a visit	Give a labelled estimate and offer the visit	4
A job you want but can't reach soon	Say when you could quote	5
A spec, a reference or a deadline from a business	Confirm receipt, check the scope, name a date	6
Work you don't do, or outside your area	Say no	7

Here is a made-up request to try it on: "Hi, could you give me a price to replace our bathroom extractor fan? It stopped working last week. Thanks, Jo." A fan-for-fan swap on a job you do every month is row 1. If you can't tell whether the old fan has a timer or where the duct runs, it's row 2, and one photo settles it.

Seven templates to copy

Replace everything in square brackets. Answer in the customer's own email thread and use their words for the job. Jo wrote "bathroom extractor fan", so "your ventilation enquiry" would sound like a form letter.

1. You can price it now

Subject: Quote for [job], [Business name]

Hello [name],

Thanks for your message about [job in their words]. We can do this for [fixed total], [including or plus] VAT. That covers [what's included]. It doesn't cover [the main exclusion].

The price holds until [date]. We could do the work on [day] or [day]. Reply with the day that suits you and we'll confirm it.

[Your name], [Business name], [phone]

Write the price in the body of the email. A customer reading on a phone at a bus stop may never open the PDF, so attach one only as the longer version.

2. You need a detail or a photo

Subject: Re: [their subject]

Hello [name],

Thanks for your message. To give you a firm price I need [a photo of the old unit and its label] and [the size of the room]. You can reply to this email or text them to [mobile]. You'll have the price by [day].

[Your name], [Business name]

Ask for two things at most, and only things that change the price. A list of eight questions gets answered later or not at all.

3. You need to see the job

Subject: Re: [their subject]

Hello [name],

Thanks for your message about [job]. We need to see [the thing] before we can put a price on it, because [the reason in a few words]. Could we call round on [day and time window] or [day and time window]? It takes about [number] minutes. [There's no charge for the visit, or what the visit costs and whether it comes off the job.]

You'll have a written quote by [day] after the visit.

[Your name], [Business name], [phone]

The customer usually has to be home for this, so the template says how long it takes and whether it costs anything. Giving the reason matters as well, because "we need to come out" can read as a sales visit. A quote visit of known length can also go on a booking page, and the guide to online booking for tradespeople lists which jobs suit one.

4. They want a rough price first

Subject: Re: [their subject]

Hello [name],

Jobs like this usually come to between [low] and [high], [including or plus] VAT. Where yours lands depends on [first factor] and [second factor]. That's an estimate, and we'll give you a fixed price in writing once we've seen it.

We could call round on [day and time window] or [day and time window]. Would either suit you?

[Your name], [Business name]

Take the range from your last few invoices for that kind of job. Choose the two factors after reading this request, because they tell the customer why their job might land at the top of the range. Citizens Advice describes a quote as a fixed price and an estimate as a rough guess, so use the word "estimate" and let the customer see which one they have. If you never give ranges, send template 3.

5. You're booked up

Subject: Re: [their subject]

Hello [name],

Thanks for your message about [job]. We'd like to do it, and we're booked until [date]. The earliest we can look at it is [date], with a quote by [date]. If that's too late for you, I understand. Either way, let me know and I'll keep the slot free or release it.

[Your name], [Business name]

6. A business customer with a spec or a deadline

This one suits a cleaning firm, a bookkeeper or an IT support company as much as a contractor. The sender is often a property manager or an office manager collecting prices for someone else, and they need your reply to be easy to file.

Subject: Re: [their reference], quote request received

Hello [name],

We have your request for [job], ref [their reference], and you'll have our quote by [their deadline or your date]. Two points so that we price the same thing as everyone else: [does the scope include this item?] and [access times, or who supplies what]. Should the quote go on your form or in our own format, and to whom?

[Your name], [Business name], [phone]

Keep their reference in the subject line of every email after this. The person collecting prices may have a stack of these open.

7. A polite no

Subject: Re: [their subject]

Hello [name],

Thanks for thinking of us. We don't [do this kind of work, or cover your postcode], and I'd rather tell you today than keep you waiting. [A firm you know, or the kind of trade to look for] should be able to help.

[Your name], [Business name]

Name another firm only if you've seen their work. Otherwise name the trade, so the customer at least knows what to search for.

What to check before a price goes out

Citizens Advice tells customers that a quote binds them and the trader once they accept it, whether it was written down or not. It also tells them to expect these things in a quote:

a fixed total rather than a daily rate
a breakdown of the work and the materials, with separate costs
how long the price is valid
whether the price includes VAT
when the price can go up, for example only if the customer agrees to extra work

A small job can carry most of that in the three lines of template 1. A bigger one needs the breakdown, and customers who have read that page will look for it.

Vague wording has a cost of its own. Section 51 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers a contract for a service that neither fixes a price nor says how one will be fixed, where the consumer hasn't yet paid and nothing you said or wrote that counts as part of the contract under section 50 fixes one either. The consumer then owes a reasonable price "and no more", and what counts as reasonable is a question of fact. A reply that says "should be a few hundred" can leave you arguing about that after the work is done. This is the UK position as I read it, and it isn't legal advice. Check your own country's rules if you work elsewhere.

If the customer goes quiet

Send a short second message after two days, then a last one after a week. Both can go by text if you have the number.

Hello [name], did my message about [job] reach you? [Day] or [day] still works for a visit. Reply with the one that suits you.

Hello [name], I'll close this off for now so you aren't chased. If [job] comes back on your list, reply here and we'll pick it up.

That covers a request you've answered and haven't yet priced. After the quote has gone out, the timing and the wording change, and the quote follow-up plan has both.

When requests arrive after you've gone home

Templates 2 and 3 name no price, so they're the two that can safely go out without you. The Saturday evening enquiry shows what that first reply is worth when it lands within minutes, and how to do it with one person and a phone.

Our Website Lead Nurturing employee does this for requests that come through your website form. It replies within minutes, evenings and weekends included, asks the questions you need answered, follows up if the customer goes quiet and books the visit. You still write the quote. The employee page shows a sample exchange from a form enquiry at 9:40 pm through to the booked site visit.

Frequently asked questions

How quickly should you respond to a quote request?

The same working day, and within minutes if you can manage it. The first reply doesn't need the price. It needs to confirm you have the request and say what happens next and by when.

What should a reply to a quote request email say?

Thank the customer and name the job in their words. Then give the price, ask for the missing detail or offer two visit times, and say when they'll hear from you next. Finish with your name and a phone number.

Should you charge for a quote?

That's your decision. If there's a charge, say so in the first reply, with what it covers and whether it comes off the job if the customer goes ahead.

Can you reply to a quote request by text?

A text is fine for the first answer if that's how the customer reached you. Send the quote itself in writing, somewhere the customer can find it again. Citizens Advice tells customers not to rely on a verbal quote.

How do you respond to a quote someone has sent you?

Reply in writing and repeat the essentials. To accept, give the quote's reference and date, the total, the work it covers and the start date you agreed. To decline, one sentence is enough: "Thanks for the quote, we've decided to go with another firm." It costs you a minute and saves the sender a follow-up.