Table of Contents
You sent 10 submissions this month. How many were successful?
If the answer is 2 or 3, take 30 seconds to do the math. Multiply the number of quotes you send each month by the average value of one of your contracts. Now imagine getting 2 or 3 of those contracts back per month, not by working harder or lowering your prices, but simply by calling back faster and relaunching at the right time.
You don't necessarily have a visibility problem. You probably have a tracking problem.
The majority of building contractors and landscapers in Quebec receive enough requests to fill their notebooks properly. They lose contracts because they don't call back fast enough, not often enough, and not at the right time. This guide explains why it's happening, what you can do yourself this week, and when an automated system becomes the next logical step.
The problem starts in the first few minutes
A study by InsideSales.com, taken up by Harvard Business Review, found that responding to a prospect within the first five minutes increases the chances of qualifying them by a factor of 21, compared to responding after thirty minutes. The study looked at general B2B contexts, but the mechanism applies directly to construction: when a client is looking for a contractor, they often call two or three at the same time. The one who responds first gets a head start that the others rarely get back.
The problem: You're on a rooftop, mowing a lawn, or in a meeting with an existing customer. The phone rings. You can't pick up. The potential customer hangs up, and in most cases, they don't leave a message.
It's not a problem of will. It's a problem of the system.
The Journey of a Lost Business Opportunity
Most contracts don't get lost because of price. They get lost at specific points in the sales journey, often without you knowing it.
- Incoming Demand
- First call (answered or missed)
- Submission sent
- Reminder (made or forgotten)
- Customer Decision
- Contract signed or lost
- Post-project follow-up
- References and future feedback
Every arrow in this journey is a place where you can lose a business opportunity. And in the vast majority of cases, it's not the quality of your work that's at issue, it's the lack of a signal from you at the right time.
At the first missed call
You saw the notification two hours later. You thought you'd call back in the evening. In the evening, you were stuck somewhere else. The next morning, an emergency on a construction site or on a lot. When you finally called back, the customer told you that they had already found someone.
This prospect was ready to have a conversation. They had chosen you for the first call. They left not because of your price or reputation, but because of a delay.
After submitting the submission
You've done the work: visit, measure, calculate, write. You email the quote. And then... silence. A week passes. You wait. Maybe the client is waiting for a sign that you're really interested in getting the contract. No one says anything. The contract goes to someone else.
Many customers who don't respond to a quote are not lost customers. They hesitate, compare, or simply need to be given a signal again. A simple 48-72 hour reminder often changes the outcome.
When you have no record of who called
You have active requests in your head, numbers on a post-it, notes in your phone. A client calls to get news of their submission. You search. You can't find it. You say you're going to call back. You forget.
Expert tip: the first contact is not used to sell. It is used to reserve the place. A simple message — "Hello, I received your request, I'll call you back tonight to discuss your project" — is often enough to distinguish you from those who don't give a sign of life.
What you can do yourself this week
Before talking about automated systems, here are 3 concrete actions you can take without a paid tool.
1. Create a simple watchlist. A Google Sheet with 5 columns: name of the prospect, date of first contact, date of submission sent, date of last follow-up, status. Nothing more. The goal is to never lose track of an active request.
2. Set up a reminder for each submission sent. As soon as you send a quote, set a reminder in your phone for 48 hours later. A single short message: "Hi [first name], I wanted to make sure you received our quote and if you had any questions." That's enough to restart a conversation.
3. Prepare an out-of-office message for your missed calls. If you can't pick up, make sure your voicemail gives the prospect a reason to wait for you rather than calling the next one. Something simple: "You've reached [name]. I'm in the field right now. Leave your name and number, I'll call you back before 6 p.m."
These 3 elements do not replace a system, but they already change a lot of things for an entrepreneur who manages 3 to 5 active requests at the same time.
How long should I wait before restarting a submission?
This is the question almost every entrepreneur asks, and the short answer is: less than you think.
The first reminder should go out 48 to 72 hours after it has been sent. Not to exert pressure, but because this is the moment when the customer has had time to read the quote and the decision is still fresh in his mind. A simple message is enough: check that the quote has been received, ask if there are any questions.
If you still don't have an answer after a week, a second follow-up is appropriate. Then a third around the tenth day, formulated as an open-ended question rather than a direct follow-up: "Is your project still relevant? We have availability from [date]. »
Beyond three well-spaced reminders, the return on investment of each attempt decreases sharply.
Why these manual solutions have their limitations
These actions work well when you have 3 or 4 active requests. When you have 15 in the middle of the season, while you are managing an overflowing construction site, a piece of land to be delivered at the end of the week, and a subcontractor who does not show up, the reminders in the phone and the columns in the Google Sheet systematically go last.
Manual tracking depends on your availability and memory. Both are limited resources in a job like yours.
This is where the contractors who close the most bids are not necessarily more disciplined or more motivated. They simply have a system in place that does this work for them, regardless of their availability at the time.
Here's what it changes in concrete terms:
| Situation | Without system | With system |
|---|---|---|
| Missed call to the site | Lost opportunity if no quick | callbackRequest captured, customer confirmed in minutes |
| Submission without response | Forgotten if no manual | reminderAutomatically relaunched on D+2, D+7, D+10 |
| Client of a past | projectLost to follow-up after the construction site | Reactivated automatically at 3 and 6 months |
| 15 active requests at the same time | Impossible to manage from the head | Visible in a clear pipeline |
A concrete example
A landscaping contractor in Laval received about ten requests a week in the middle of the season. His main problem was simple: he often called back the next day, sometimes the day after, because he was in the field all day. He knew he was losing business opportunities, but he didn't have the time to manage it any other way.
After setting up an automatic call capture system and a sequence of reminders for his submissions, he no longer had to wonder which customers to call back or when. Follow-ups were done without him thinking about it. His notebook filled up more regularly, even outside of seasonal peaks.
No miracle numbers to promise here. Just less time spent managing mental lists, and fewer contracts lost to forgetfulness. This is the approach that Everia documents on its About page if you want to understand how we work with contractors in Quebec.
Frequently asked questions about tracking construction and landscaping bids
Why are my customers not responding to my submissions?
There are several possible reasons: they are comparing with other contractors or landscapers, they are waiting for confirmation of their budget, or they simply need a signal from you to move forward. In many cases, a simple reminder after 48-72 hours is enough to restart the conversation. The absence of a response is not always a refusal.
Is a CRM really necessary for a small construction contractor or landscaper?
Not necessarily from the start. A well-structured Google Sheet can get the job done when you have a moderate volume of requests. Tools like Jobber also include basic reminder features that can be a good place to start. The full CRM becomes relevant when the volume increases and business opportunities start to fall through the cracks despite your manual efforts.
What is the difference between a CRM and what Everia offers?
A CRM is a tool. Everia is an operational partner. We don't sell you software that you have to learn how to set up and use. We install, configure and operate the system for you, depending on your industry and the way you work. You continue to do your job on the construction site.
How long does it take to set up?
The system is usually up and running within a few days. We take care of the configuration, integrations and getting started. You don't have to learn a new tool or change the way you work on a daily basis.
Does Everia work for landscapers as well as construction contractors?
Yes. The challenges are similar in both sectors: missed calls in the middle of the season, unanswered quotes, existing customers lost to follow-up. If you have questions specific to your situation, our contact page is the best place to start. We serve entrepreneurs in Montreal, Laval and the Laurentians, as well as the entire province.
What happens if you don't change a thing
The business opportunities you lose today don't disappear. They sign with an entrepreneur who called back faster, contacted again at the right time, or simply kept in touch.
Your order book continues to depend on good months and word-of-mouth. In the high season, everything is fine. In the low season, you look for contracts.
A well-established tracking system works for you in July and November. It doesn't depend on your memory or availability. And it starts producing its effects silently, long before you notice it in your numbers.
The 3 actions described above are a good place to start. If you want to go further, this is what Everia is doing for construction and landscaping contractors in Quebec. You can also take a look at our homepage to see how the system works.