How to set up estimate follow-ups in Housecall Pro?
By the Escloser team · Published · Updated
Open Pipeline, Estimates, then Automations. Turn on the three resend rules, leave auto-decline off until you have a logged no, and call from Sent the same business hour. The resends never miss. They do not pick up the phone.
This is the click path for a 2-to-10 truck shop on Housecall Pro whose change-outs sit in Sent.
What Sent actually means
Pipeline is an add-on board. Getting Started with Pipeline (dated 2026-08-06) puts the estimates you already wrote on cards, every option on the same card.
| Status | What it means | Follow up? |
|---|---|---|
| Unscheduled, Scheduled, In Progress, Completed | Written, not sent | Send it, then call |
| Sent | They got a link. No option approved | Yes, today |
| First, Second, or Third Follow-Up | A resend already went out | Yes. Call, then leave the next resend on |
| On Hold | Automations paused | Yes, on the date they gave you |
| Approved | One option signed, last 7 days, no job yet | Yes, until you copy it to a job |
| Rejected | Every option declined, last 7 days | No. Keep the reason |
Approved is not booked. Copy to Job (dated 2026-08-11), then schedule.
Pipeline FAQs (dated 2026-07-15) pre-populate the last 180 days. Older quotes are still in the account. Open them from search if they are missing from the board.
Turn on the three resends Housecall Pro already has
If Pipeline is missing from the left nav, add it in Billing. Housecall Pro’s pricing page (read 2026-10-23) is a questionnaire. Listed cards: Basic $59 a month billed annually or $79 month-to-month, 1 user. Essentials $149 or $189, 5 users. Max $299 or $329, 8 users, then $35 a month per extra user. Pipeline is an add-on with no dollar amount there. The Pipeline landing-page FAQ (read 2026-10-23) still lists $25 to $100 by plan. Confirm in Billing.
Most estimate automations start on. Check them before you add more.
- Click Pipeline, then Estimates.
- Click the gear at the top right. Open Automations, then Estimates.
- Under Actions, turn on the three resend rules. Leave the Third Follow-Up decline rule off until the office has called through the cadence.
- Click the pencil on each resend. Set First to 2 days after Sent, Second to 2 more, Third to 3 more. That is days 2, 4, and 7.
- Edit the message. Estimate follow-up email and text templates has wording. SMS body edits need Custom SMS on. Save.
A text estimate gets a text follow-up. An email estimate gets an email follow-up. If you sent both, the last method wins. Pipeline FAQs, dated 2026-07-15, are that split. STOP already on file means no new texts.
Use Smart Recommendations locks the timing. Leave it off for 2, 4, and 7-day delays. A new rule only fires for estimates still inside that delay. Last month’s Sent pile is still a phone list. Call those by hand, highest dollar first. If they asked for time, drag the card to On Hold. Automations pause.
Open the Sent column
- From the left nav, open Pipeline, then Estimates.
- Work Sent, then First, Second, and Third Follow-Up. Highest dollar first. One option shows a total. Several options show a range.
- Click a card. Read the notes, the options, and CALL.
Filter by employee, tags, job type, or value, then Maintain Filters. Automation settings stay on web. Field techs do not see Pipeline.
Tags (dated 2026-07-16) sit on each option. Put the hold-up there if you want a report later. Conversion reporting has no built-in lost-reason field.
A cadence that gets used
One CSR job post for this work asks for a callback within 30 minutes, then days 2, 4, 6 and 7. Five phone attempts in two weeks is enough. Leave the three resends on.
| When | What you do | What you are trying to learn |
|---|---|---|
| Same business hour (day 0) | Call. Confirm the estimate arrived | Did they get it |
| Day 2 | Call. First resend goes out | Spouse, financing |
| Day 4 | Call. Offer the next two open install slots | Timing, price, second bid |
| Day 7 | Call. Ask what is stopping them | A real objection |
| Day 14 | Last call. Copy to a job or decline | A reason, then stop |
If they already gave you a date, park it on On Hold and call then. If nobody answers, leave a short voicemail with your name, the shop, and a callback number.
How to follow up on HVAC estimates that haven’t closed has the scripts. There is no reliable public number for close rate. Score it from Reporting, Reports, Estimates. Conversion rate (dated 2026-07-09) is won over won, lost, and open.
Default expiration (dated 2026-07-20) is off until you turn it on. If Pipeline declines first, decline wins over expired.
Work one sent estimate
Click the card. Read the estimator’s notes, then CALL. After the call, pick one ending:
- They buy. Copy to Job. Pick the option. Schedule from the new job. Do not leave Approved sitting with no job.
- They need time. Put the real reason in the notes. Stay Sent, or move to On Hold. Call on the date they gave you.
- They want a different option. Edit this estimate and Send it again. How to send an estimate (dated 2026-06-18) is Email or Text.
- They are done. On web, Approval, then Decline estimate. Status becomes Pro Declined. You cannot decline from the mobile app. Approvals help (dated 2026-01-21). Tag the reason.
A Voice call does not move the card. Update the status yourself, or let the resend rule do it.
What Housecall Pro already sends
Housecall Pro wins the board, the three resends, and the portal. They do not pick up the phone.
| Job | Pipeline email or text | A person on the phone |
|---|---|---|
| Sends every time | Yes, three resends on your delay | Only if someone owns Sent |
| Picks up the phone | No. CALL is a button | Yes |
| Answers what the visit included | No | Yes, from the notes |
| Books the install | If they approve in the portal | Yes, then Copy to Job |
| Logs why they said no | Not captured | Only if you write it |
| Cost | Inside the Pipeline add-on | Time, a CSR, or a hire |
Keep the three resends on. Add the call. Text reminders vs phone calls is that split.
When to stop
- They said no, hired someone else, or asked you not to call. Decline it that day so CSRs are not calling dead quotes.
- They replied STOP, or they put you on their do-not-call list on the call. Honor it immediately.
- The FCC (updated 2026-02-27) prohibits telemarketing calls to the home before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. local time, and says telemarketers must comply immediately with a do-not-call request. This is not legal advice. Check with your own counsel.
Five attempts in two weeks, then a logged no, ends it. A year-old quote they bring up again is a new estimate.
Four ways shops actually keep Sent moving
1. Run the Estimates board as designed
Every morning. Sent, then the follow-up columns, highest dollar first. Call, then copy to a job or decline before you leave the card. Right answer when someone is at the desk. It breaks the first week.
2. The tech calls from the truck
Same-hour check-in from the person who wrote the quote. Best first call. Field techs do not see Pipeline, so they call from the estimate itself. It stops the afternoon they have three more jobs.
3. Hire someone whose job is the list
Job posts from 2025 list a sales VA for estimate follow-up at about $700 a month. You still hire, train them, and check that they log the reason.
4. Put the open estimates on a daily call list
Leave Housecall Pro in place. Pull Sent and follow-up cards and put each one on a call cadence so the office, or a caller working as the shop, dials. We make Escloser, which does this, so weigh that suggestion accordingly. Ask who is on the phone.
How to tell this week
Follow-up is working when yesterday’s Sent cards have a same-day call, Approved rows are already jobs, declined jobs have a tagged reason, and Friday’s Sent value is smaller than Monday’s. If the column only grows, the resends are firing and nobody is calling.
Open last month’s estimates in Pipeline. Lay the Sent and follow-up cards next to the phone. Start there. They already exist.
Frequently asked questions
Does Housecall Pro automatically follow up on sent estimates?
Yes, once Pipeline is on the account. Automations can resend a sent estimate, move it to First Follow-Up, then Second, then Third, then decline it. Housecall Pro's Pipeline help, dated 2026-08-06, says most of those rules start on. They email or text on the same channel as the original send. None of them call.
Will a new Pipeline rule follow up on estimates I already sent?
Only if those estimates still sit inside the delay you set. Housecall Pro's Pipeline FAQs, dated 2026-07-15, give this example. A two-day First Follow-Up rule you turn on today fires for yesterday's send. A three-week-old quote is outside the window. Last month's Sent pile is still a phone list.
Does Pipeline call the customer about an open estimate?
No. Open a card and you get CALL, CHAT, or EMAIL. Someone has to click CALL. A Voice call does not move the Pipeline status. Housecall Pro's Pipeline FAQs, dated 2026-07-15, are that split. Field techs do not see Pipeline. Office staff and admins do.
Should I let Pipeline auto-decline after Third Follow-Up?
Leave it off until someone has called. Auto-decline clears the board and writes no reason. Tag the no, then Decline estimate from Approval on web. You cannot decline from the mobile app. Housecall Pro's approvals help, dated 2026-01-21. If they come back later, copy a new estimate. Pricing may have moved.