When you’re running a utility contracting business, you’re probably knee-deep (hopefully not literally) in pipes, wrenches, and a thousand other things demanding your attention. Following up on estimates? Emailing your current customer base? That’s something you think about when you’re trying to catch your breath in between jobs, if at all, right?

But if you’re not following up on open estimates and keeping in touch with your regular customers, you’re flushing money down the drain.

The dreaded nightmare: slow season

Maybe you’ve been there before — the phone stops ringing, your calendar looks like a ghost town, and you start wondering if your services are somehow less desirable than a leaky faucet keeping you up at night. The solution? Follow up and keep in touch. And not just once, but over and over again, like that one song on the radio that you can’t get out of your head. We want your customers and potential customers to remember you when the need arrives. That’s with the jobs pending today and the ones that will be there in the future.

A “slow season” doesn’t have to be the norm. Keep those jobs flowing. How? By doing the work, giving out the estimates, and then actually following up on those open estimates and staying in front of customers and prospects all year long.

You might be thinking, who has the time? We’ll get to that.

“If they want it, they’ll call me.”

There’s a myth that customers who want the work done will pick up the phone and call you back. Spoiler alert: They won’t.

Customers are busy, maybe even overwhelmed, and likely juggling a few other quotes. Sometimes they need a little nudge (or a friendly tap on the shoulder with a wrench) to make that final decision and, when they make it, we want it to be your company they decide on.

Your customer might have sticker shock from your estimate because, well, no one plans for their pipes to burst. By keeping in touch or following up on that estimate, you’re not just staying in front of them; you’re also giving them the chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and, more importantly, see the value in choosing your business over the competition. Especially when they have to decide quickly.

The question: is it OK to bug them?

When do you follow up? Right after the estimate? A week later? After the next full moon? Timing is crucial.

The key is consistency is better than perfection. If your customer isn’t ready to pull the trigger right away, a well-timed follow-up could be the gentle push they need when the time is right. Maybe they need to wait till payday, or perhaps their HOA finally approved their plans. Without that communication and follow-up, you might miss out when they’re ready to say yes, and they could end up calling another contractor who just happened to follow up at the right moment.

Setting up for success

Communication and following up might sound like extra work, but it doesn’t have to be. Think of it as an investment in your business’s future — a future where the phone keeps ringing and your calendar stays full.

The good news is you’ve got options here. Some keep it old school with a manual email or text follow-up system — a sticky note here, a calendar reminder there. Others just wing it, following up and emailing whenever they remember (or when they have a few minutes in between jobs). But the smart ones? They set up automated systems that do this hard work for them.

Imagine this: You send out an estimate, and your system automatically schedules a follow-up email or text a few days later, then another one a week later, and so on. They should be personalized messages so it doesn’t feel like a robot is hounding your customers. And if you need to adjust things manually along the way, you can. The best part? It’s one less thing for you to worry about while you’re busy being the superhero your customers need.

And the people in your current database? You want to stay in front of them with non-sales messages so when they need a contractor, you will be the one they call. Why? Because you’re the one who’s thought of them and wished them a Merry Christmas, Happy 4th of July, etc. throughout the year. No one else has cared to do that. But you did.

Seize the day

Following up might not be the most glamorous part of running your business, but it’s one of the most crucial. Think of it as the secret ingredient that turns an OK year into a blockbuster. So get out there, follow up, keep in touch, and watch those jobs roll in. After all, you wouldn’t leave a leaky pipe unattended, would you? So why leave potential jobs hanging?

About the authors: Carter Harkins and Taylor Hill are the authors of Blue Collar Proud: 10 Principles for Building a Kickass Business You Love and co-owners of FutureNow Marketing, a "home services marketing company specializing in human-centered AI that will optimize your business and generate leads." They’re trusted thought leaders in the industries they serve, which is why you’ll find them regularly speaking at service industry trade shows and conferences and writing for trade magazines. Visit www.futurenowmarketing.com.