How to write a quote that wins the work
Most quotes are lost for reasons that have nothing to do with price. They arrive four days late, they are a number in a text message, or they are so vague that the customer cannot tell what they are actually buying. Fix those three things and you will win work you are currently losing to someone cheaper.
Speed beats polish
The trade that quotes first is very often the trade that gets the job, not because the customer is impatient, but because the first credible quote sets what "normal" costs, and everyone after it is compared against it. A same-day quote that is merely good will beat a beautiful one that lands on Friday.
The practical version of this: quote from the ute before you drive away, while the job is still in your head. Every hour you wait, the detail fades and the odds drop.
What belongs on it
- Your business name, ABN and licence number. The licence number matters more than people think, for licensed trades it is the difference between a professional and a bloke with a van, and in some states it must appear on advertising and quotes anyway.
- What you are actually doing, in the customer's language. "Supply and install 6 x LED downlights in the kitchen ceiling, existing wiring reused where serviceable" tells them what they are buying. "Lighting works. $1,400" does not.
- What is not included. This single line prevents most disputes. Patching and painting, scaffolding, asbestos, rectifying pre-existing defects, switchboard upgrades if the board turns out to be full. Say so now, in writing, when it is a sentence, rather than later when it is an argument.
- The price, and whether GST is in it. Ambiguity here reads as a 10% price rise the moment the invoice arrives.
- How long the price holds. Materials move. Thirty days is a common and defensible window; without one, you are quietly agreeing to today's price forever.
- What happens if there is a variation. One line. Extra work is priced and approved in writing before it starts. Will save you the worst conversation in the trade.
Assumptions are not weakness. Quoting "assumes existing switchboard has spare capacity; if not, upgrade quoted separately" does not lose you the job. It wins you the trust of anyone who has been burned before, and it protects your margin when the board turns out to be full, which, on an older house, it usually is.
Give them three prices, not one
A single price is a yes-or-no decision, and the easy answer to a yes-or-no question is to get another quote. Three options change the question from "should I use this bloke" to "which of these do I want", which is a much better question to be arguing about.
- Good. Does the job properly, nothing extra.
- Better. The sensible upgrade you would pick for your own house, and say why in one line.
- Best. Everything, priced honestly.
Most people take the middle one. That is the point: the middle option is usually worth more than the single price you would have quoted, and the customer feels like they chose it rather than being sold it.
Deposits
For anything with real material cost, ask for a deposit. It funds the gear so you are not banking the job, and, more usefully, it filters. A customer who will not pay a deposit on a $9,000 job is telling you something about how the final invoice is going to go.
Keep it proportionate to what you actually have to outlay, say clearly what it covers, and invoice it properly rather than taking cash on a promise. Note that some states cap deposits for residential building work under home-building legislation, so check what applies where you work.
Then chase it
A quote that is never followed up is a quote you paid to produce and threw away. Two touches is plenty: a short message a few days later asking whether they have any questions, and one more before it expires letting them know the price is about to lapse. Both are easier when you can see, at a glance, which quotes are still open.
Jobdeck does the mechanical parts. Quote from your phone on site, with your logo, ABN and licence number already on it; offer Good/Better/Best options and let the customer pick; set how long the price holds; take a deposit; and let them accept it online with their name typed as a signature, which turns it into a job in your schedule the moment they do. It will also chase the ones that go quiet, so you do not have to remember.
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