Quotes that win, and what to put in front of a customer
Two firms quote the same job at roughly the same price. One sends a number in a text message that evening. The other sends a clear document the next morning listing what is included, what it costs, and when they can start. The second one wins most of the time, and not because of the price.
A quote is the only sample of your work a customer sees before they commit. If it is vague, they assume the work will be too.
Speed matters more than polish
The firm that quotes first wins a disproportionate share of jobs. Not because customers are impatient, but because the first clear quote sets what all the others are compared against.
A same-day quote that is good is worth more than a perfect quote three days later. If you cannot do the full quote that day, send the price and a note saying the detail follows tomorrow - and then send it.
Say what is included, and what is not
The single biggest source of disputes is the thing nobody mentioned. Write down both sides.
- What you are doing, in plain terms
- What is not included: making good, disposal, fittings the customer supplies, parking, anything behind a wall you cannot see yet
- What happens if you find something unexpected, and how that gets priced
That last line is worth more than anything else in the document. It converts a future argument into an agreed process. "If we open it up and find the joists need replacing, we stop, tell you what it costs, and you decide" is a sentence that prevents most callbacks turning bad.
Give them options
A single price is a yes or no. Three options is a choice about what to buy from you.
Good, better, best works because it moves the conversation from whether to hire you to which one to take. It also lets a customer who wants the cheap version buy the cheap version from you rather than from somebody else.
Keep it to three. More than that and people postpone deciding.
Put the price where they can see it
Burying the number at the end of two pages reads as embarrassment. The customer is going to look for the number first anyway. Put it where they can find it, and put the detail underneath for the ones who read.
Make it easy to say yes
A quote that requires a phone call to accept loses jobs to one that has a button. Whatever method you use, it should be possible to accept without effort - and the moment they accept, they should get a confirmation with what happens next and when.
The gap between "yes" and "someone turned up" is where a surprising number of jobs quietly die.
Follow up once, properly
Most quotes get no response at all, and most firms never ask why. One follow-up three or four days later, asking whether they have any questions, recovers a meaningful share. Not a chase - a question.
If they went elsewhere, ask what decided it. You will hear "they could start sooner" far more often than "they were cheaper", and that is useful information.
What to include, end to end
- The customer's name and the address of the job
- What you are going to do, in their words rather than trade terms
- Options, if there are sensible ones
- The price, visible without scrolling
- What is not included
- What happens if something unexpected turns up
- When you can start and how long it takes
- How to accept