quoting mistakes
8 Common Quoting Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Right then. I've been on the tools for over fifteen years now, and I've sent out hundreds of quotes in that time. Some won me good work; plenty taught me lessons the hard way. The truth is that most jobs aren't lost on price alone, they're lost on the quote itself, the bit of paper (or email) that tells a customer whether you're worth trusting.
So here are the quoting mistakes I see again and again, including a few I've made myself. Get these right and you'll win more work, get paid properly, and sleep a bit easier of an evening.
1. Underpricing and forgetting your costs
This is the big one, no two ways about it. You eyeball a job, knock off a round number, and only later realise you forgot the parking, the trips to the merchant, the waste disposal, and the two hours you'll spend chasing materials. Then there's your own time on top of the labour, the admin and the travel that never quite makes it onto the page.
Price the whole job, not just the obvious graft. Build yourself a little checklist of cost lines so nothing slips through. Markup on materials is fair and normal too, mind you, you're carrying the risk and the warranty, not the merchant.
- Labour at a rate that actually covers your business, not just your wage
- Materials plus a sensible markup
- Travel, parking and merchant runs
- Waste removal and any hire kit
- A bit of contingency for the surprises behind the plasterboard
2. Vague scope that comes back to bite you
If your quote just says 'rewire kitchen' you're asking for trouble. The customer pictures one thing, you've priced another, and when it doesn't match you're the one out of pocket or stuck in an awkward conversation. Spell out exactly what's included and, just as importantly, what isn't. Making good plaster? Lifting carpets? Disposing of the old consumer unit? Say so.
3. Being too slow to send it
Fair play, when you're flat out the quote is the easiest thing to put off. But a customer ringing round for a sparky usually goes with whoever replies first and looks professional. Leave it three days and you've often lost the job to someone who got back within the hour. Speed wins work, simple as that.
4. No written terms
A quote isn't just a number, it's the start of an agreement. Without written terms you've nothing to lean on when someone disputes the bill or adds 'just one more thing' for free. Put your payment terms, your validity period (say 30 days), and your variation policy in writing. Protects you and them, and it looks proper professional.
5. Forgetting VAT or CIS
If you're VAT registered, make it crystal clear whether your figure includes VAT or not. Quoting 2,000 and then adding 400 on the invoice is a quick way to a furious customer. And if you're working as a subcontractor under the Construction Industry Scheme, remember the contractor will deduct CIS (commonly 20 percent if you're registered) from your labour, so factor that into your cashflow before you commit.
6. No follow-up
You sent the quote, heard nothing, and assumed it was a no. More often than not the customer just got busy. A polite nudge a few days later, 'just checking you got my quote, happy to talk anything through', wins a surprising number of jobs that would otherwise drift off. To my mind it's the single cheapest bit of marketing going.
7. Guessing instead of measuring
Eyeballing cable runs and socket counts feels quicker, but a guess that's twenty percent out either loses you the job or loses you money on it. Measure properly, count the points, photograph the awkward bits. Five minutes with a tape saves you a world of grief later.
8. Not asking for a deposit
On any job with real materials cost, asking for a deposit is normal and sensible. It covers your outlay, it weeds out the time-wasters, and a customer happy to pay a deposit is usually a customer happy to pay the rest. Don't be shy about it, a clear staged-payment line on the quote does the asking for you.
None of this is complicated. It's mostly about being thorough and being quick, and a tidy quoting setup makes both far easier. These days I let Quotato handle the tidy, consistent side of mine so I can spend less time at the kitchen table and more time on the tools. Get the quote right and the rest of the job tends to follow.