quote a job without seeing it
Is It Safe to Quote a Job Without Seeing It First?
Customer wants a price but they're an hour away, or you're slammed, and they're asking 'can you just quote it over the phone?'. Tempting. Risky. The honest answer: you can quote without seeing it, but only with good photos, real measurements, and clear caveats in writing. Quote blind off a vague description and you'll get burned, usually on the job that loses you money.
There's a safe version of remote quoting and a reckless one. Let's make sure you're doing the safe one.
When remote quoting is fine
Plenty of jobs price perfectly well off photos and measurements, especially if you've done a hundred like them. The clearer and more standard the job, the safer it is to quote from the sofa.
- Standard, repeatable jobs you know inside out
- Where the customer can send clear photos AND measurements
- Small, well-defined work with little to hide behind walls
- When you can caveat anything you can't see
When you must see it first
Some jobs you simply cannot price honestly down a phone line. If guessing wrong could cost you hundreds, or there's a safety angle, get in the van.
- Anything behind walls, under floors, or in lofts you can't inspect
- Older properties where nothing is ever as simple as it looks
- Big-money jobs where a wrong guess wipes your profit
- Anything with a safety or compliance angle you need to verify yourself
A script to get photos and measurements
Remote quoting lives or dies on what the customer sends you. 'A photo of the wall' won't cut it. Tell them exactly what you need and make it easy. Copy this and fire it over.
Happy to quote this remotely to save us both time. To price it properly and fairly, could you send me: 1) A wide photo of the whole area, so I can see the context 2) Close-up photos of the actual problem / work area 3) Photos of anything nearby it might affect (pipes, sockets, units) 4) Rough measurements: width, height, length, or the size of the space 5) Any photos of existing setup, like the consumer unit / boiler / pipework 6) Anything you already know about the property's age or past work The more I can see, the more accurate your price. I'll quote off what you send, and just flag that anything I can't see may need a revised price once I'm on site.
Where new tradies get this wrong
- Quoting off a description alone. 'It's just a small leak' has cost more tradesmen money than almost anything. Words are not measurements. Get the photos.
- Forgetting the caveat. No written get-out clause and you're stuck honouring a price for a job that turned out twice the size. One sentence protects you.
- Treating remote quotes as final. A remote price is a starting point, not a blood oath. Make clear it firms up on site if there's anything you couldn't see.
Make remote quoting actually work
The hassle with remote quoting is usually the back-and-forth: chasing blurry photos, no measurements, a dozen WhatsApp messages. Quotato's client photo-upload lets the customer send their photos straight in for you to quote from, so it's all in one place instead of scattered across texts. Pair that with a quote that bakes in your caveat and you can price jobs from anywhere without the risk of a nasty surprise on site.
So yes, you can quote without seeing it, on the right jobs. Demand photos and measurements, caveat what you can't see, and know which jobs are worth the drive. Do that and remote quoting saves you hours without costing you money.
Let customers send photos straight in for remote quotes.
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