Put an expiry date on every quote—or keep working as a free advisor

Quotes without an end date train clients to treat your evenings as free inventory. Politeness without a deadline is not professionalism—it is unpaid advisory on infinite loop.

Write three footer lines before you send any price. First: a concrete start and end date, not “sometime soon.” Second: the expiry action—void, re-quote, or a paid hold fee that can later credit the project. Third: what you will not do while they wait—no silent revisions, no new scope, no free strategy calls.

When someone says “can we keep it open,” translate the sentence into inventory language. Keeping it open means you reserve sellable hours without payment. If they need a placeholder, sell a hold fee with a written end date. If they refuse, let the quote expire and stop editing.

After two expired quotes from the same buyer with no hold fee, freeze that thread for two weeks. Freezing is not spite; it is how you stop teaching the market that waiting is free. On the freeze day, send one calm note: this batch is closed; reopen with a new scope sheet if needed.

Practical week: patch every open quote with the three-line footer, set a calendar alert the day before expiry, and use the template reply once. Evidence is the footer screenshot plus the sent reply. Soft pointer: Idea2Wealth / 搞钱网 case notes at https://aifafa.com.cn. Learning reference only—no income promises.