The customer likes the price but has not confirmed the indoor unit, controller or outdoor-unit position. A vague air conditioning quote follow up will not fix that. Reopen the quote, lock down the equipment and get the right revision accepted before you order anything.
Treat the follow-up as a pre-order check. Not a sales nudge. The decision, equipment and installation scope must match before the job moves to purchasing.
Reopen the current quote before contacting the customer
Start with the document already in front of the customer. Do not work from memory, an old email or a supplier message.
Check the customer name, site address, quote number and revision. Confirm who can approve the work. A tenant, site contact or builder may discuss the system without having authority to accept the quote.
If the original scope needs rebuilding, return to the air conditioning replacement quote guide before contacting the customer. Fix the source document first.
Check the equipment named in the quote
Read every equipment line. Look for a clear indoor and outdoor model pairing, rated capacity, controller and included accessories.
A family name is not enough. A broad description such as split system or ducted unit does not tell purchasing which equipment to order. Record the model identifiers supplied for the quoted system.
Check whether the quote names:
- the indoor unit
- the outdoor unit
- the rated capacity
- the controller or thermostat
- sensors, pumps, grilles or other accessories
- optional equipment not included in the total
- customer-supplied equipment
Mark missing details before you call. The customer cannot approve equipment that the quote does not identify.
Recheck availability without promising stock
Ask the supplier whether the quoted model is still available. Record the answer and when it was checked. Do not tell the customer that equipment is secured unless it has actually been allocated or ordered under your purchasing process.
Availability can change between quoting and acceptance. That does not make a proposed substitute automatically suitable. It means the equipment decision needs another check.
Mark assumptions that may have gone stale
Read the site notes beside the quote. Check the proposed unit positions, pipe route, condensate route, cable route, access and removal work.
Look for assumptions based on information the customer supplied. Renovation work may have moved. A cupboard may now be built. The preferred outdoor position may no longer be available. Another trade may have changed the penetration or power arrangements.
Write down each assumption that needs confirmation. That list gives the follow-up a purpose.
Give the air conditioning quote follow up a specific purpose
Follow up when you need a decision that moves the job forward. Do not rely on a fixed number of days. Use the quote expiry, supplier availability, the customer’s program of works and your booking capacity to decide when contact is useful.
Open with the quote number and site. Then ask which decision is holding the job:
- equipment selection
- installation scope
- requested changes
- timing
- written approval
This is better than asking whether the customer has had a chance to look. It exposes the work still required.
Separate the sales question from the technical check
An HVAC sales follow-up asks whether the customer wants to proceed. A technical confirmation asks what equipment and scope they are approving. They are related, but they are not the same question.
A customer may accept the general price while still choosing between controllers or outdoor-unit positions. Do not treat that interest as authority to order a particular model.
If price is the concern, discuss the quoted scope. If equipment is the concern, reopen the equipment schedule. If the customer requests a change, stop the acceptance process and revise the quote.
A clean replacement quote follow-up ends with a defined decision. Proceed with the current revision, revise it or close it. Do not leave the job sitting between versions.
Confirm the exact equipment before asking for approval
Equipment approval needs a list the customer, office and supplier can all read the same way. Keep each component separate.
Record the indoor unit and outdoor unit as a matched pair. Include the rated capacity stated for the proposed system. Name the controller and every included accessory that affects ordering or installation.
Do not bury equipment inside a paragraph about the whole job. A short schedule makes omissions visible.
Separate included, optional and customer-supplied items
Put included equipment under the accepted scope. Put optional items on separate lines with a clear decision required. Do not show an optional controller in the equipment description if its price and installation are not included.
Customer-supplied equipment needs a hard boundary. State who arranges delivery, who checks compatibility and who deals with missing parts or transit damage. Record what your quote covers if the supplied equipment cannot be installed as presented.
Do not promise warranty handling that is not part of your scope. Write the boundary into the quote before acceptance.
Turn the HVAC equipment estimate into an approval schedule
The equipment section of an HVAC equipment estimate should become the purchasing schedule after approval. That only works if the description is complete.
Use fields such as:
- equipment type
- manufacturer and model identifier
- indoor or outdoor designation
- rated capacity
- controller
- included accessories
- optional items accepted or declined
- customer-supplied items and boundaries
Ask the customer to approve that schedule with the quote revision. Do not collect a loose yes against an email containing several options.
Reconfirm the installation scope around the selected system
The selected equipment does not stand alone. Its position and connections create the work.
Confirm the indoor and outdoor unit positions. Check the pipe route, cable route, condensate discharge point and required penetrations. Record roof, ceiling, wall and plant-area access.
If the customer asks to move the outdoor unit, stop. Check the revised route and access before agreeing. More distance can affect labour, materials, supports, penetrations and making good. The new position may also raise a technical issue that needs assessment before quoting.
State who handles each part of the installation
Name the party responsible for electrical work, supports, penetrations, removal, disposal and making good. Do not rely on the customer remembering a site conversation.
If another trade must complete work first, record that customer responsibility. State what must be ready before your crew arrives. Put unresolved work on hold rather than hiding it in the booking notes.
Check the proposed work against the licence scope held by the people and business doing it. Customer acceptance does not expand that scope.
Keep the exclusions attached to the accepted scope
Repeat the exclusions that could turn into extra work on site. Common pressure points include concealed services, difficult access, extra electrical work, unpriced building work and making good.
Do not remove an exclusion because the customer says the job looks straightforward. The exclusion belongs to the scope until you inspect and price the work it covers.
The Oak Street house example is electrical, but the scope lesson carries across trades. R. Chen’s quote Q-1847 at 14 Oak Street was 1,105 sample currency units for a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights. The ceiling was lined, and chasing was excluded. Extra cable and chasing became an approved 160 variation, so invoice INV-1847 was 1,265. The exclusion stopped the extra work from disappearing into the original quote. These figures are a worked example, not a rate card.
Put requested changes through the quote
A customer request is not a site instruction until you have checked its effect and documented it. This applies to another model, added controls, a new unit position or customer-supplied equipment.
Start with the changed work. Then check the labour, materials, access and supplier effect. Apply your normal markup to the changed cost when building the revised price. Do not add an arbitrary amount because the request sounds small.
Markup is added to cost to set a price. Margin is the profit left as a share of that price. Use the markup versus margin guide if those figures are being mixed in the revision.
Issue a revised quote when the decision changes
Issue a revised quote if the equipment, price, installation scope, exclusions or customer responsibilities change. Give the revision its own identifier and date. State what changed.
Follow a consistent process for writing the revised quote. Keep the description concrete enough for purchasing and the crew, not just the customer.
Withdraw or close the old revision in your records. Mark it as replaced. Do not leave two versions open for acceptance.
An email saying that the customer prefers another controller is useful correspondence. It is not a replacement for a revised quote when that controller changes equipment, labour or price.
Control substitutions when quoted equipment is unavailable
A supplier may propose another unit when the quoted model is unavailable. Treat it as a new equipment check, not an automatic swap.
Compare the substitute with the approved schedule. Check dimensions, weight, rated capacity, electrical requirements, connections, controls and included accessories. Then check the work around it.
A different casing can alter brackets or clearances. Different connection points can alter pipework and cable. A different controller can add wiring, setup or commissioning work. A changed outdoor unit can affect access and lifting.
Do not call equipment equivalent until you have checked the actual unit and installation effect.
Present the substitution as a decision
Tell the customer that the quoted model is unavailable. Name the proposed replacement and explain any equipment, scope, timing or price change that needs approval.
If nothing in the accepted scope or price changes, still record equipment approval for the substitute. Purchasing and the crew need to know which model replaced the original selection.
If the substitute changes the quote, issue another revision. Close the superseded version. Get acceptance before placing the order.
Capture acceptance of the exact quote revision
A verbal statement that the customer wants to proceed is not a clear instruction to order a named system. Collect written acceptance against the quote number and current revision.
The acceptance record should confirm:
- the customer and site
- the quote number and revision
- the approved indoor and outdoor equipment
- the controller and included accessories
- the installation scope
- exclusions and customer responsibilities
- accepted optional items
- the person giving approval
Keep the acceptance with the quote. Do not leave it in a tradie’s private messages where purchasing cannot find it.
Use a copy-ready confirmation record
Customer: [customer name] Site: [site address] Quote number: [quote number] Current revision: [revision identifier] Approved indoor equipment: [model and rated capacity] Approved outdoor equipment: [model] Approved controller: [controller] Included accessories: [list] Accepted optional items: [list or none] Customer-supplied items: [list and responsibility boundary] Confirmed indoor-unit position: [location] Confirmed outdoor-unit position: [location] Pipe and cable route: [route] Condensate discharge: [location] Access requirements: [details] Exclusions: [list] Customer responsibilities before attendance: [list] Unresolved site checks: [list or none] Accepted by: [name and authority] Acceptance method: [signed quote or written approval] Acceptance date: [date] Purchasing release status: [hold or released] Crew booking status: [hold or released]
Do not mark purchasing as released while an equipment choice or site check remains unresolved.
Check licence scope if the revised work changes
A different system or installation method may change who must perform part of the work. If the revision adds work outside the scope you first checked, ask your state or territory licensing regulator which licence class covers it and write down the answer.
For a job in New South Wales, direct that licensing question to NSW Fair Trading (opens in a new tab). Use the regulator for the state or territory where the work will be done. Do not use customer approval as a substitute for the licence check.
Move the accepted quote into purchasing and job setup
Order only the approved model and listed accessories. Match the purchase record to the accepted quote revision. If the supplier confirmation names different equipment, stop the order and resolve the mismatch.
Put the accepted quote, equipment schedule, site notes and customer acceptance on the job. The crew should not have to reconstruct the agreement from an email chain.
Brief the crew on unit positions, routes, access, exclusions and customer responsibilities. Flag any site check that still must happen before installation starts. A note such as confirm route on arrival is not permission to perform unpriced extra work.
Record the actual labour, equipment, materials and call-backs against the finished job. The air conditioning job-costing process shows how to compare the accepted scope with what the job consumed. An unrecorded accessory or substitution will otherwise vanish from the result.
Your air conditioning quote follow up is finished only when the accepted revision matches the equipment order and crew record. Interest is not the finish line. A usable instruction is.
Yes Foreman can keep the accepted quote revision, equipment schedule and site notes attached to the same job. That follows the work: quote first, approval next, then purchasing and crew handover.
Open the oldest pending replacement quote now. Mark the equipment decision, scope question or approval that is blocking it, then contact the customer about that one decision.