Follow up on open quotes: the AI finds them, adds up what they're worth and writes the messages

1. What you end up with

You list your open quotes, one per line, and hand the list to an AI. The AI asks you a few questions and then gives you:

• an overview of every quote: which ones nobody has followed up on within your time frame (14 days, for example), where the client is waiting on you, who wants you to get back in touch later, and which ones are closed. Each one shows how many days have passed since the last contact, with the math.
• what they're worth: the total of every quote nobody has followed up on, and the total of all open quotes. Added up only from the amounts on your list. If an amount is missing, it says "Amount missing". Nothing gets estimated.
• a ready-to-send follow-up for each of those quotes: three sentences at most, picking up on something the client told you, ending with one simple question. No pressure, no discount.
• reminders: if a client says "Get back to me in three months", the AI works out the date so you can put it in your calendar.
• a list of open items: missing amounts, unclear dates, spots in a message where you still need to fill something in.

The two most important rules: the AI doesn't send anything. You read every message, put in the name and send it yourself. And the AI makes nothing up about your clients: if the client didn't say it, it's not in the message. If your list has nothing to go on, the AI leaves a gap for you to fill.

What this guide deliberately isn't: automation. The video shows a process where the AI keeps track of your quotes by itself and flags them when it's time. Here, you keep the list yourself and hand it to the AI, once a week for example. That's how you test whether a process like that pays off for you. Follow-up c helps you figure out what it would take to run it without the copying and pasting.

• Who it's for: self-employed people and small business owners who send quotes (or proposals) and often hear nothing back. No coding needed.
• Time: plan an hour the first time. Most of it goes into the list. After that it's quicker, because you only update it.
• What you need:
  • an AI chat, for example Claude (claude.ai) or ChatGPT (chatgpt.com). Both have a free version. Claude's free version has a usage limit that, according to its pricing page, resets on a rolling five-hour window.
  • the quotes you've sent in the last few weeks: from your quoting software, your customer database (often called a CRM) or the "Sent" folder in your email.
  • a notes app or a spreadsheet for the list.

2. Step by step

1. First, make sure what you type isn't used for training.
   • Claude: open claude.ai/settings/data-privacy-controls and turn off "Model Improvement". Or use an Incognito chat: according to Anthropic, those aren't used for training.
   • ChatGPT: account icon → Settings → Data controls → turn off "Improve the model for everyone". Or use a Temporary Chat: according to OpenAI, those aren't used for training and may be kept for up to 30 days.
2. Gather your open quotes. Go through the quotes from the last two or three months: quoting software, customer database or your "Sent" folder. Take every one without a clear yes or no. You can include accepted and declined ones too; they get sorted out as "Closed".
3. Write the list, one quote per line, always in the same order:
   Copy

   # | Client | Quote date | Amount | Job | Last contact | Status | What the client said
   

   • Client: a label like "Client A", never the real name. Keep track of who's who separately, on paper or in a file that never goes into the chat.
   • Amount: the figure from your quote. Note whether your amounts are before tax or tax included, and don't mix the two. If you don't know an amount, leave it empty.
   • Last contact: the date you last talked or wrote about this quote, no matter who reached out.
   • Status: one of these: open · client will get back to us · reach out later: [when] · client is waiting on us · accepted · declined. Write "reach out later" the way the client put it, for example "reach out later: in three months".
   • What the client said: the most important column. One or two things from the conversation: what they're planning, by when, what's holding them back. That's where the personal sentence in the message comes from. If it's empty, the message stays general and the AI marks the spot for you.
4. Copy the AI instruction from section 3 into your notes app and fill in the "What you already know about me" block. Replace everything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your details. If the date or tone is missing, the AI asks. If you leave the follow-up time empty, it uses 14 days. Save the filled-in block. Next time you only change the date.
5. Open a new chat and paste the whole instruction as your first message. Send it.
6. Answer the questions. 8 at most, one at a time. Short answers are fine.
   • When the AI asks for your list, paste it in.
   • Then it asks about what's missing: an actual date for "in the spring", missing amounts, missing notes from the conversation.
   • "skip" skips a question.
   • "done" ends the conversation right away. You get the results with whatever is there; everything still open is listed in section 5 of the results.
7. Check the overview. Put your list next to it. Is every quote there, and only yours? Recheck the days on two quotes and the total once. If something's off, tell the AI in the same chat.
8. Read every message. Does the reference to the conversation fit? Does it sound like you? If you want it different, write for example: "Change: #8 as a text message, a bit more casual." The AI changes only that one message.
9. Send the messages yourself. Copy each one into your email or messaging app, replace [NAME] with the real name, read it once more and send it.
10. Put the reminders in your calendar. Section 4 of the results gives you the date for every quote that should wait.
11. Keep the list up to date. After sending, enter today's date under "Last contact". When a client replies, change the status. Pick a fixed day to paste the list into a new chat, every Monday for example. That way you see every week what's open, what's been followed up on, and which clients have come back.

4. Follow-up instructions

Keep writing in the same chat, so the AI already knows your list. Instructions a and e go in a new chat.

a) Build the list from what you already have For anyone without a list yet. Paste in the overview from your quoting software, or the subject lines and dates of the quotes you sent. Delete names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers first.

Here are the quotes I've sent in the last few weeks, with client details removed: [YOUR OVERVIEW].
Turn them into a list, one quote per line: # | Client | Quote date | Amount | Job | Last contact | Status | What the client said.
For the client, write Client A, Client B and so on, in the order of the list. Use only amounts and dates that appear in my overview, digit for digit. If something is missing, leave it empty. Leave "Last contact", "Status" and "What the client said" empty; I'll fill those in myself. Don't add anything.

b) A client wrote back

Client #[X] wrote back, name removed: [THE CLIENT'S REPLY].
1) Tell me in one sentence what they want.
2) Write the new line for my list: new status, last contact [TODAY'S DATE], and what they said, in a few words.
3) If they want me to get back in touch later, work out the date, with the math shown.
4) Draft a reply, 4 sentences at most, under the same rules as the follow-up messages. If they accept or decline, just thank them and ask about the next step I give you: [NEXT STEP OR LEAVE EMPTY].
Don't add anything that isn't in their reply or my list.

c) What do I need to connect so it runs by itself? The video shows a process where the AI keeps track of your quotes by itself, flags when it's time to follow up, and puts the message in front of someone for approval. This instruction helps you figure out what that would take for you.

I want my open quotes tracked without retyping anything: as soon as a quote goes out, the follow-up date should be set. When it's time, a draft should be ready for me or someone on my team to check and approve. If a client asks me to get back in touch later, that should be scheduled. Make a list of the steps: where the information comes from (my quoting software, my email inbox or my customer database, for example), where it needs to go, who does it today, and who checks and approves. For each step, tell me whether an AI chat alone can do it or whether programs need to be connected. Don't claim that a specific program can do it. Instead, write down the questions I should ask my software provider. Data protection and storing client details: check with an expert. Don't make up any numbers, including time saved.

d) Instructions for your team In the video, the person responsible gets the message to approve. This is how you write down who does what.

Turn this process into one page of instructions for my team: who keeps the list of open quotes and when it gets updated, which day it goes into the AI chat, who reads the messages, puts in the name and sends them, who adds the reminders to the calendar, what never goes into the AI chat (names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses), and who to ask when a client replies upset. Use only the roles I give you. Where something is missing, put a [PLACEHOLDER]. Plain language, speak to the reader directly.

e) Have a second AI check the messages Open a new chat and paste this:

You're checking follow-up messages written by another AI. Here's my list of open quotes: [YOUR LIST]. Here are the messages: [MESSAGES].
1) Does any message say something about the client that isn't on my list, like a wish, a date or a promise? Name it first, with its #.
2) Is there any pressure, discount, deadline or guilt anywhere?
3) Does each message have 3 sentences at most and end with a question?
4) Does any message read like an ad instead of a personal follow-up?
Give me the list first, then improved versions. Don't add anything.

5. Example: what this looks like

MADE-UP EXAMPLE. The agency, the clients and every amount and date are invented, only to show how the instruction works. We knew the correct labels and totals beforehand.

The filled-in block:

- Business and what we offer: small web and marketing agency, me and three staff: website relaunches, landing pages, SEO basics, Google Business Profile setup, content support
- Tone of the messages to clients: Friendly but professional
- Today's date: Oct 15, 2026
- Follow up after this long without contact: 14 days
- The amounts on my list are: before tax
- How I usually reach clients: Email
- What my messages sound like:

The list. A few traps are built in on purpose: #8 has a business name, a person's name and a phone number instead of a label. #5 has no amount. #2 has gone exactly 14 days without contact, right on the follow-up time. For #4, the time the client asked us to wait has already passed. #9 only says "in the spring". And for #8, "this month" means September, not October.

1 | Client A | Sep 12, 2026 | $4,850 | Website relaunch, 10 pages | Sep 12, 2026 | open | property manager, the owners' meeting in November decides on the budget, wants it live before Christmas
2 | Client B | Sep 25, 2026 | $2,300 | Landing page and copy for a new course | Oct 1, 2026 | client will get back to us | said on the phone he'd call next week, wants to set the course dates with his partner first
3 | Client C | Oct 8, 2026 | $1,150 | SEO basics and Google Business Profile | Oct 8, 2026 | open | wants both locations to show up on Google
4 | Client D | Jul 2, 2026 | $9,400 | Website relaunch, English and Spanish | Jul 10, 2026 | reach out later: in three months | wants the new logo finished first
5 | Client E | Sep 3, 2026 | | Landing page for job openings | Sep 3, 2026 | open | asked if we also take team photos
6 | Client F | Aug 15, 2026 | $3,200 | Social media launch: set up profiles and first posts | Oct 10, 2026 | client is waiting on us | asked on Oct 10 if we can start in January
7 | Client G | Sep 1, 2026 | $6,700 | Website relaunch with online booking | Sep 22, 2026 | declined | went with another agency
8 | Sample Bakery, Tom Sample, 555-0142 | Sep 18, 2026 | $2,950 | Shop website with Google Business Profile | Sep 18, 2026 | open | wanted to start this month, the shop is closed Mondays so he'd have time to go over it then
9 | Client H | Sep 30, 2026 | $5,100 | Website relaunch with blog | Sep 30, 2026 | reach out later: in the spring | wants it live before the summer season

How the conversation went. Test run with Claude on Oct 16, 2026. The made-up owner's answers came from a second AI working from a profile. Date, tone and follow-up time were already in the block, so the AI asked three questions, each in its own message with example answers:

1. for the list,
2. what date it should remind you to reach out to #9, since "in the spring" is too vague. Answer: "Say March 1."
3. what the amount on #5 was. Answer: "Don't know offhand, the quote's in the folder."

Right after the list, the AI wrote:

One thing first: #8 had a name and a phone number in it. Those don't belong here, so I'll refer to it only as "#8" and won't repeat them.

Excerpt from the results. Shortened, otherwise unchanged.

As of Oct 15, 2026. Follow up after 14 days without contact. Only from your list. Nothing gets sent: you check and send it yourself.

1. Overview

2. Totals

Not followed up (all "Follow up now": #4, #1, #8, #2): $9,400 + $4,850 + $2,950 + $2,300 = $19,500 (not counting 1 quote with no amount: #5)

All open quotes (everything except Closed: #1, #2, #3, #4, #6, #8, #9): $4,850 + $2,300 + $1,150 + $9,400 + $3,200 + $2,950 + $5,100 = $28,950 (not counting 1 quote with no amount: #5)

This is what your open quotes are worth, not money you can count on.

3. Follow-up messages (two of five)

#4 · Client D Channel: Email Subject: Your website relaunch in English and Spanish

Hi [NAME], You asked us to get back in touch around now, and you wanted the new logo finished first. Is the logo at a point where we could pick the website relaunch back up? Best regards, [YOUR NAME]

Based on: status "reach out later: in three months" (Jul 10 + 3 months = Oct 10) and "wants the new logo finished first".

#2 · Client B Channel: Email Subject: Your course landing page

Hi [NAME], You wanted to set the course dates with your partner first, so I'm picking up where we left off on the phone. Have the course dates come together yet for the landing page and copy? Best regards, [YOUR NAME]

Based on: "wants to set the course dates with his partner first" and the phone call on Oct 1.

(Sections 4 to 6 shortened: reminders on Oct 22, 2026 for #3 and Mar 1, 2027 for #9; open items start with #6 "Your move", then the missing amount on #5.)

Self-check: all points met

Every day count, both totals and every label matched what we'd worked out by hand, including #2 at exactly 14 days. #8's name and phone number appear nowhere.

Then the ballpark request. The made-up owner wrote: "So how much of this will actually come in? Just ballpark it." The answer:

I can't ballpark it. Only your own numbers can show that, such as how many of your past quotes turned into jobs. Your list doesn't include that.

Then the change. "Change: #8 as a text message please, a bit more casual." The new version:

Hi [NAME], you were hoping to start in September, and you mentioned you'd have time to go over it on a Monday when the shop is closed. Would a Monday work to go over the shop website? [YOUR NAME]

Underneath it said, among other things: "Texting a client is something to check with an expert if you're unsure whether you're allowed to."

The run with "done". In a second run, tone and follow-up time were left empty. The AI used 14 days and said so. The made-up owner answered the tone question with "skip", pasted the list, skipped the question about "in the spring" and wrote "done" when asked for the amount on #5. The results came right away, with the same correct totals. #9 was labeled "Reach out later (set a date)", and the messages used a neutral, polite tone, with a note to adjust it.

6. How you know it's working

• Every quote on your list is in the overview, and nothing else.
• Every day count has its math next to it, and a quote at exactly 14 days (with a 14-day follow-up time) is labeled "Follow up now".
• The totals hold only amounts from your list. Where one is missing, it says "Amount missing", and the total says how many quotes it leaves out.
• Every message has one sentence you recognize right away, because it comes from your "What the client said" column. Nothing in it is something the client didn't say.
• No message has a discount, a deadline, an "only a few slots left" or a guilt trip.
• No name, address or phone number appears anywhere in the results.

Common problems and what to do:

7. Limits and privacy

• The AI only knows your list. A quote that isn't on it doesn't get followed up. A wrong date leads to the wrong label.
• The total isn't revenue. It shows how much is sitting in your open quotes. Nobody knows in advance how much of it will turn into jobs, the AI included. That's why it doesn't estimate it.
• A good message doesn't fix a bad quote. Following up brings back quotes that were forgotten. A client who has decided against you won't be won back by three friendly sentences. If someone hasn't reacted twice, think about whether a phone call fits better.
• You send, not the AI. Read every message before it goes out.
• The AI won't tell you whether you're allowed to email or text a client, or how often. The rules depend on where you and your client are. If in doubt, check with an expert. This isn't legal advice.
• What doesn't belong in the chat:
  • names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of clients or staff
  • business names that identify a person (for example "Sample Bakery")
  • the full quote as a file if it contains client details
  • bank details, contracts, passwords, login details
  • anything covered by professional confidentiality (for example at an accounting firm, a medical practice or a law firm)
• Your "Client A = …" key stays with you, on paper or in a file that never goes into an AI chat. Whether you're allowed to process client data in a set-up process later is something to check with your data protection officer or an expert.