A Christmas light quote follow-up sequence that works is 5 touches over 21 days: a text and an email when the quote goes out (day 0), a text on day 2, an email on day 5, a text or call on day 10, and a close-the-file email on day 21. We run it at our own lighting company in Ottawa. Every message is below, word for word, with its consent line. Any reply, signature or deposit stops it.
The sequence at a glance#
| Day |
Channel |
Job of the message |
Trigger and stop rule |
| 0 |
Text and email |
Deliver the quote link, say what is in it, say the deposit books the date |
Sent when the quote is sent |
| 2 |
Text |
Check it arrived, answer the two questions everyone asks |
Sent early if the customer opens the quote before day 2 |
| 5 |
Email |
Handle the measurement question and the "what happens next" question, offer a call |
Skipped if they replied |
| 10 |
Text (call if it is over $3,000) |
Calendar pressure that is true, and an easy way to say no |
Skipped if they replied |
| 21 |
Email |
Close the file politely, leave the door open |
Ends the sequence |
Merge fields are in braces. {first name}, {your name}, {company}, {street}, {total}, {quote link}, {install week}, {phone}. Keep every text under 300 characters so it arrives as one message.
Day 0: the quote goes out#
Send both within a minute of each other. The text gets read; the email holds the link they will search for later.
Text
Hi {first name}, it's {your name} from {company}. Your lighting quote for {street} is here: {quote link}. It shows the drawing, the footage and the price, {total} all in. Reply here with any questions. Reply STOP to opt out.
Email, subject: Your lighting quote for {street}
Hi {first name},
Thanks for having me out today. Your quote is attached and at this link: {quote link}.
What is in it: the drawing of your roofline with each run marked, the footage by run, the price per foot, and the total of {total}. The measurement is taken from the photo we used and we confirm it with a tape on install day; if anything changes by more than 5 percent we confirm the new price with you before we start.
If it looks right, you can sign on your phone from that link and pay the deposit, which books your install date. If it does not, reply to this email or text me at {phone} and we will change it.
{your name}
{company}, {phone}
You are receiving this because you asked us for a quote. Reply "unsubscribe" and we will stop.
Day 2: did it arrive, and the two questions#
Nearly every homeowner asks the same two things: is the measurement real, and how far out are you booking. Answer both before they ask.
Text
Hi {first name}, {your name} again. Did the quote come through OK? Two things people usually ask: the footage is measured from your photo and we confirm it on site, and the deposit is what books your date. Happy to walk through it, 5 minutes on the phone whenever suits.
The quote-view trigger. If your quoting tool tells you when the customer opens the quote, send this text within the hour of the first view instead of waiting for day 2, then skip the scheduled one. Someone who is reading the quote right now is the easiest person you will talk to all week. If you do not have view tracking, day 2 is fine.
Day 5: the measurement email#
By day 5 the ones who were going to sign at once have signed. The rest have a question they have not typed. This email answers it.
Email, subject: Quick answers on your {street} quote
Hi {first name},
A few things that usually come up around now.
The measurement. We measured your roofline from the photo, scaled off the garage door. That method is close on runs that face the camera and can read short on runs that angle away, so we confirm every run with a tape before we start and the quote says so. Nobody gets a surprise on install day.
The timeline. Right now we are booking {install week}. The deposit holds the date; the balance is due when the install is done and you have walked around it with us.
The price. It is {total}, priced per foot by run type, with the peaks and the jumps between runs shown as their own lines so you can see where the money goes.
If you want to talk any of it through, reply with a time and I will call. If you are ready, the link is here: {quote link}.
{your name}
{company}, {phone}
Reply "unsubscribe" to stop these emails.
Day 10: the calendar, honestly#
Only say the calendar is filling if it is. In an Ottawa October it usually is; in a July permanent-lighting month it may not be, so change the message to match.
Text
Hi {first name}, {your name} at {company}. Our {install week} slots are filling and I would rather hold one for you than lose it. If you want it, the quote link books it: {quote link}. If this is not the year, just say so and I will stop messaging. Either answer is fine.
If the quote is over $3,000, call instead of texting, at a time you said you would. If they do not pick up, leave a 15-second voicemail with the same content and send the text.
Day 21: close the file#
Three weeks of silence is an answer. Say so kindly and leave the door open, because some of the homeowners who go quiet in October come back next season.
Email, subject: Closing your {street} file for now
Hi {first name},
I have not heard back, so I will assume the timing is not right and close your file for now. No hard feelings; lights are a want, not a need.
Your quote stays at {quote link}. If you come back to it before {expiry date}, the price holds. After that, text me and I will refresh it from the same drawing in a few minutes.
Thanks for having me out.
{your name}
{company}, {phone}
Reply "unsubscribe" to stop these emails.
What consent do these messages need?#
Not legal advice; I am an installer. Two sets of rules matter, and both are simpler than the horror stories.
Canada (CASL). A text is an electronic message under the Act, so the same rules cover texts and emails. A quote request is an inquiry, and an inquiry gives you implied consent for six months from the day it was made; a signed job extends that to two years from the purchase. Every message must identify who sent it, give a way to contact you and carry an unsubscribe, and you must act on an unsubscribe within 10 business days. ISED's consent guidance adds that you should be ready to prove the consent, so keep the date of the quote request. Our CASL follow-up templates go deeper on express versus implied consent.
United States (TCPA). Get the customer's consent to text before the first message and keep a record of it. Since April 11, 2025, STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT-OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE all count as a revocation, you must honour one within 10 business days, and you may send one clarifying text within five minutes of a STOP with no marketing in it. The courts have been moving on what "written consent" means in 2025 and 2026; the safe habit is the same in both countries. Ask on the quote request form, record the answer, and put the opt-out line in the first text.
The messages above already carry the identification, contact and opt-out lines. Do not strip them to save characters.
Worked example: one $4,482 quote through the 21 days#
An illustration, priced on GlowBid's default track rate card (installers set their own): a bungalow with a 112 ft front roofline, two gables and a garage, measured from one photo in the free roofline tool and quoted for permanent track. Roofline 112 ft at $25 is $2,800; four peak runs of 10 ft at $28 plus the 15 percent peak premium is $1,288; two jumps totalling 12 ft at $12 is $144; one Wi-Fi controller is $250. Total $4,482 before tax, so over the $3,000 line where day 10 becomes a call. Here is how the three weeks can go.
| Day |
What happened |
Message sent |
| 0, afternoon |
Quote sent from the driveway |
Day 0 text and email |
| 0, evening |
Customer opens the quote link |
Day 2 text sent early by the view trigger; scheduled day 2 skipped |
| 3 |
Customer texts "Can we do warm white only?" |
Sequence paused; human reply, quote revised, same total |
| 4 |
Customer signs on their phone and pays the 30 percent deposit, $1,344.60 |
Sequence ends; install confirmation and reminders take over |
Total signed: $4,482, deposit $1,344.60, balance $3,137.40 due on install day. Four messages went out, two of them written by a person. The sequence carries the quiet days so you can spend your typing on the customer who replied.
How is this different from the sequences already published?#
Jobber's follow-up templates (May 28, 2026) are email only, timed at 1 to 2 days, one week and 24 to 48 hours before expiry, with no text messages and no consent wording. Instant Sales Funnels runs a general contractor sequence on days 0, 1, 3, 7 and 14 with a STOP line but no view trigger and no lighting-specific answers. LightQuoter's rebook guide (April 2, 2026) covers renewals of existing customers only, with no message templates. None of them answers the measurement question, which on a lighting quote is the question.
How GlowBid Pro runs this sequence#
On Pro the sequence is tied to the quote rather than to a calendar. The quote goes out with the drawing, the footage and the price from the same rate card, and the follow-ups run from that send. Quote-view tracking fires the view trigger. Texts go through Twilio with the consent record and STOP handling built in, so a customer who opts out stops getting messages without anyone remembering to remove them. The pipeline board shows which quotes are in which day of the sequence, next to the Takedown and Re-book stages for the customers you already have.
Core includes texting for appointment reminders, job reminders and on-the-way messages; the automated quote sequence is the Pro difference. Founding pricing is $299 a year for Core and $499 for Pro on the pricing page, 7-day trial, no card. If you would rather run it by hand, the messages above are yours; the estimate template gives you the quote to attach to them.
Mistakes that get a follow-up sequence blocked#
- Texting after 8 pm. A late text gets the number blocked before the quote gets read. Send between 9 am and 6 pm in the customer's time zone.
- Sending day 10 to a customer who paid on day 6. Tie the sequence to the quote status, not the calendar, or check the board before each send.
- Skipping the STOP line to fit the message in one text. Cut a word somewhere else.
- Following up on a quote with no price on it. A "we will send pricing shortly" email cannot be followed up; send the number on day 0.
- Five emails and no text. Texts get read in the driveway; email is for the link.
- Not pausing on a reply. A customer who asked about warm white and then gets the "calendar is filling" text knows a machine sent it. Any reply pauses everything.
- Texting from a personal phone. No record of consent, no record of the STOP, and the number leaves with whoever owns the phone.
