How to write a quote that wins the job

A customer comparing three quotes is almost never comparing three prices. They are trying to work out which of you will turn up, do it properly and not surprise them with a bigger bill. Most quotes answer none of that — they are a number in an email — which is why the job frequently goes to a business that is not cheaper, just clearer.

Speed is part of the quote

The quote that arrives first is read most carefully, and it sets the standard the others are measured against. It is also the first evidence of what working with you is like: someone who quotes in a day reads as someone who turns up on the day.

A same-day rough quote followed by a detailed one beats a perfect quote four days later. If you genuinely cannot price it yet, say when you will — a specific promise, kept, does most of the work of a fast quote.

What a quote has to contain

1. What you are going to do, in plain terms and in the order it will happen. This is the part most quotes skip and the part customers most want.
2. What is included. Materials, disposal, making good, cleaning up. If it is in the price, say so — otherwise they assume it is not.
3. What is not included, stated plainly. Naming the exclusions is what makes the inclusions believable.
4. The price, with VAT treatment obvious. A customer who has to work out whether VAT is on top has already had a small unpleasant experience.
5. How long it takes, and roughly when you could start.
6. Payment terms. Deposit, stages, when the balance is due.
7. How long the price stands. A date, not "subject to change".
8. What happens if something unexpected is found, and how you would handle it.

That last one is the single highest-value line in most quotes, because the customer's real fear is not your price — it is the bill they cannot predict.

Itemise enough to be understood, not enough to be picked apart

A single lump sum invites suspicion; a line-by-line breakdown invites negotiation on individual lines and turns your quote into a shopping list. The middle is usually right: two to four meaningful sections, each with what it covers.

Where materials are a large share, separating them is genuinely helpful — it shows what is your labour and what is simply cost passed on, which makes the whole thing easier to trust.

Options beat a single number

One price is a yes-or-no question. Two or three make it a "which one", which is easier to answer positively and tells you what the customer actually values.

Keep it to a basic version, the one you expect them to take, and a fuller one. Do not build six. And do not create a cheap option you would be unhappy delivering — you will be held to it.

Write it for someone who does not know your trade

Trade shorthand is not precision to a customer; it is fog. Anything they cannot picture, they cannot value, and anything they cannot value looks like padding.

The test: could the person who asked for this read it and explain to their partner what they are getting and why it costs that? If not, the quote will lose to one that could — regardless of which is better work.

Follow up once

Silence after a quote is usually not rejection. People get busy, the money moves, the decision gets postponed and then forgotten entirely.

One short message a few days later — still available, price stands until the date on it, happy to talk anything through — recovers a meaningful share of jobs. Once, not three times. And if they went elsewhere, ask why: it is the cheapest market research you will ever get, and the answer is usually not price.

Small things that make a disproportionate difference

• Use their words. If they said "the back bedroom", call it the back bedroom.
• Reference the visit. One line proving you paid attention — the awkward corner, the thing they were worried about.
• Attach a photo of similar work you have done. Evidence at exactly the moment they are deciding.
• Make it easy to say yes. "Reply yes and I'll book you in" converts better than "let me know your thoughts".
• Send a PDF, not a message. It survives being forwarded to whoever else is deciding — and there is usually someone else deciding.

Do not drop the price to win it

If they say it is too expensive, find out what they are comparing against before touching the number. Frequently the cheaper quote excludes something yours includes, and saying so wins the job at full price.

If the budget is genuinely lower, reduce the scope rather than the rate — do less for less. Cutting the price for the same work teaches this customer, and everyone they tell, that your first number was optional. How to price your work covers the arithmetic underneath.

The bottom line

Quote fast, say what you will do and in what order, name what is excluded as clearly as what is included, put a date on the price, and explain what happens if something unexpected turns up. Then follow up once. Most quotes are a number; a quote that answers the customer's actual worries wins work without being the cheapest. See also handling enquiries.