Who follows the HVAC estimate after the truck
A 5-touch ranking is not a desk. Name the person who texts after the PDF goes out, what they are allowed to ask, and when they stop.
The short answer: The HVAC estimate is not done when the tech drives off. Someone has to own the next message. Hatch, September 23, 2024, published an analysis of 163,212 HVAC estimate follow-up campaigns on its own product: 2-day trigger after the estimate, campaigns needed a floor of 100 launches and 100 responses, and the thing they scored was response rate, not close rate. Average 60%. Best 90.06%. Worst 17.82%. The best campaign in that set was 7 messages (5 texts, 2 emails) over 7 days with 2 pause days. The worst sent almost as many messages, over 10 days, with a 434-character first text. That is a vendor dataset on Hatch campaigns. It is not “8–12 touches close 80% of HVAC jobs.” Do not import that line. Your job is narrower: a named holder, one question, STOP, a human on the reply. Booking rate — booked appointments over leads you actually received — already has its own page. Do not rebuild it here.
Why this is not another sequence ranking
The live Blueprint URL the-follow-up-system is a 7-minute overview with unsourced “most sales happen after multiple follow-ups” and a landscaper quote. This page does not replace that URL until that body is actually rebuilt. This page is the HVAC desk: who holds the PDF after the truck leaves.
The missed-call playbook is the unpublished ring. The 8-minute page is no-heat. A quote follow-up is a person who already let you in the house. Do not paste “sorry we missed your call” onto an estimate they are holding.
What Hatch actually counted
Hatch’s September 23, 2024 post is the only HVAC-estimate dataset on this SERP that prints a method.
- What: 163,212 estimate follow-up campaign launches for HVAC businesses using Hatch, over the prior 6 months.
- Floor: at least 100 campaign launches and 100 campaign responses.
- Clock: the campaign triggered two days after the estimate. Not five minutes. Not “while they are still in the driveway.”
- Score: response rate. Not booked jobs. Not close rate. Not revenue.
- Spread: best 90.06%, worst 17.82%, average 60%. 22,429 campaigns at 70%+ response. 1,229 at 80%+.
- Best in that set: 7 messages, 5 texts + 2 emails, 7 days, 2 pause days, first text 200 characters, first email 134 characters.
- Worst in that set: 6 messages, 2 texts + 2 emails + 2 voicemails, 10 days, first text 434 characters, first email 484 characters.
Hatch also writes that it takes 8–12 touches to close 80% of deals, and links that sentence to an IRC Sales Solutions page. That is not the 163k method. Do not put 8–12 on this page as HVAC fact. Do not put 80% close next to Hatch’s 60% *response*.
John Wilson (The Wilson Companies), quoted in that same post, said Hatch let them follow up every estimate and that an inside sales team that did not exist the prior year was contributing nearly $400,000 a month. That is one plumbing-and-heating company, self-reported, on Hatch. Label it.
Sam Allsopp, Neal Roofing, on the April 12, 2025 OWNR OPS interview, said booking rate was “70% right now, call it,” on 15 to 20 appointments a day. One roofing company, rounding his own desk. The booking-rate page already treats that line correctly. Link it. Do not reprint 70% as an HVAC estimate-close number.
The quote-desk owner sheet
Fill this before you buy a sequence tool.
Fields
- Estimate number and the PDF or link that left the house.
- Job type. Repair vs replacement. Those are different clocks. A capacitor can wait overnight. A $12,000 change-out is the first-three-quotes window, not a 14-day nurture.
- Named holder. One person. CSR, owner, or the tech — pick. “Whoever remembers” is how PDFs die.
- Channel. The shop number they already have, not a new short code that looks like spam.
- First question. One. “Any questions on the options?” beats a paragraph.
- Stop rules. They said no. They hired someone else. They replied STOP / quit / end / revoke / opt out / cancel / unsubscribe. They named a date — pause until that date, then one check.
- Human on the reply. Under a minute is the shop rule we already teach on first touch. The sequence does not get to keep talking once they answer.
- Log. Time sent, who sent, reply, outcome, stop reason.
Sequence (HVAC, not a B2B nurture)
Do not run this from the missed-call product. A missed ring and a PDF you already delivered are different events. Mixing them is how you text “sorry we missed you” to someone who spent 90 minutes with your tech.
First text (replacement)
“Hi [First], this is [Name] at [Shop]. Estimate for the [tonnage / system] is in your inbox. Want me to walk through the options, or are you comparing another quote? Reply STOP to opt out.”
The second clause is the job. First-three-quotes means they are still in the window. Ask which it is. Do not pretend you are the only PDF on the table.
First text (repair)
“Hi [First], [Name] at [Shop] — estimate for the [part / repair] is in. Want us to pull the part, or do you want to think on it? Reply STOP to opt out.”
One fork. Pull the part or wait. Not a newsletter.
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Scan my businessCharge for the estimate? That is a shop rule, not a drip
“Should contractors charge for estimates” is an owner question. “Are HVAC estimates free” is a homeowner question. This page answers the first.
Write the rule on the coverage sheet and on the profile:
- Diagnostic / service call that turns into a repair quote is usually a paid visit. Say the number before you roll.
- Replacement estimate is often credited if they buy. If you charge for it, say so before you schedule the comfort advisor.
- Follow-up does not change the price. Do not “waive the estimate fee” in a day-7 text as a fake discount. That is marketing. It has a different consent bar.
“What is HVAC estimating” is takeoff plus your labor and overhead, written so another adult in the house can compare scope. If two PDFs cannot be compared, you will lose on price you did not actually match. “How to quote an HVAC job” is: same line items every time, good/better/best if you use it, validity date, what is excluded. The follow-up cannot fix a PDF that hides the coil.
Common misconception
Hatch measured *response* on Hatch campaigns that started two days after the estimate, with a 100/100 floor, and the best campaign in that pile was short, text-heavy, and 200 characters on the first text. The worst was longer copy and more email/voicemail. That is not a close-rate study. The 8–12 / 80% sentence on that same URL is a different citation. Allsopp’s 70% is a booking rate at one roofing company, flagged as “call it.”
What a two-truck HVAC shop can actually run: a named human, one question, 48 hours, STOP, and a person on the reply. A 7-message, 7-day machine is a department. If you do not have the department, do not buy the cadence and then ignore STOP because “the sequence isn’t done.”
The bottom line
The estimate is a job on the board until it is won, lost, or stopped. Name the holder. Text from the shop they already called. Ask one thing. Stop when they say stop. Measure booking rate on the other page, not “we sent 12 touches.” When you want the missed-ring protocol, use the 8-minute piece. When you want the SMS consent sheet, use the legal page. This page is who owns the PDF.
Your Blueprint scans your real Google presence in 60 seconds and shows the exact fixes worth the most — no card, no call.
The estimate is a job on the board until it is won, lost, or stopped. Name the holder. Text from the shop they already called. Ask one thing. Stop when they say stop. Measure booking rate on the other page, not “we sent 12 touches.” When you want the missed-ring protocol, use the 8-minute piece. When you want the SMS consent sheet, use the legal page. This page is who owns the PDF.
Common questions
Write *your* rule and say it before you roll. A paid diagnostic that becomes a repair quote is normal. A replacement visit that is free until they buy is also normal. The follow-up text does not get to change the fee as a gimmick.
Scope, equipment, labor, and what is excluded, on a page another adult can compare. If the homeowner cannot line your PDF up against the next one, you will lose on a number you did not actually match.
Same line items every time. Validity date. Good/better/best only if you will actually sell the middle. Then a named person follows the file. The quote is not done when the truck leaves.
For repair: same day, plus one at 48 hours if silent, then the board. For replacement: same day, 48 hours, day 7, then stop. Hatch’s best campaign in a 163k *response* study was 7 messages over 7 days on Hatch. That is a department, scored on replies, not closes.