how fast to send a quote
How Fast Should You Send a Quote?
You measured up, said you'd 'get something over', and now it's three days later and the job's gone cold. Sound familiar? Here's the truth after fifteen years on the tools: the fastest decent quote usually wins, not the cheapest. Customers ring two or three trades and go with whoever gets back to them first and looks on the ball.
Aim to send every quote within 24 hours - same day if you can. That one habit will win you more work than dropping your prices ever will.
Why speed beats price
When someone asks for a quote, they're keen right then. They've got a tripping board or a dodgy socket and they want it sorted. Leave it three days and that keenness has cooled, and two other sparkies have already been round. The first proper quote through the door sets the tone and answers the worries before anyone else gets a look in.
A fast reply quietly tells the customer a load of good things about you, before they've read a single price.
What a quick quote signals
- You're organised and you'll probably turn up on time
- You actually want the work
- You'll answer the phone if something goes wrong later
- You respect their time - and they remember that
Slowness says the opposite, whether it's fair or not. By the time the third trade replies, the job's frequently booked. You don't even find out you lost - you just hear nothing.
Your same-day quoting system
Being quick isn't about scribbling a number on the back of your hand. It's about having a system so the quote nearly writes itself. Sort the groundwork once and every quote after is faster and tidier. Run this checklist on every enquiry:
- ✓ Acknowledge the enquiry within the hour - even just 'thanks, quote over by tomorrow'
- ✓ On site, photograph the awkward bits and count the points before you leave
- ✓ Save standard wording for your scope and exclusions, then tweak per job
- ✓ Keep a price list of common jobs so you're never starting from a blank page
- ✓ Build your terms, VAT line and validity period into a template once
- ✓ Set a hard rule: every quote goes out same day or first thing next morning
Where new tradies get this wrong
Speed's simple in theory, but here's where lads just starting out trip themselves up:
- Waiting until you're 'in the mood' to do paperwork. The quote sat in your head all week is the one the customer gave to someone else. Do it while the job's fresh and they still care.
- Going fast and sloppy. A quick quote that's underpriced is worse than a slow one - you'll either lose money or have an awkward chat later. Remove the faff, not the care.
- Saying nothing while you 'work it out'. Even if the full price takes a day, a one-line acknowledgement within the hour puts you ahead of half your competition.
Quote from the van, before you pull off the drive
This is exactly why I quote from my phone these days. Quotato lets you talk through a job, snap a photo, or type a few lines and it builds a tidy, itemised quote for you - same day, from the van. Your rates, your terms and the VAT are already baked in, so the only thing you're thinking about is the job in front of you.
That means speed stops being a trade-off against quality. You can be the fastest trade back and the most thorough, which is the combination that actually books the work.
So next time someone asks for a quote, don't 'get round to it'. Get it out the same day and watch how many more turn into booked jobs.
Quote from the van the same day and win the jobs your rivals are still 'getting round to'.
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