How to write quotes that get approved without endless back-and-forth

Back-and-forth is not the customer being awkward. It is the customer trying to fill a gap you left.

"Does that include the materials?" "When could you start?" "Is that with VAT?" Every one of those is a line that was missing from the quote.

Answer them before they are asked and most quotes need one reply: yes.

• Get photos and measurements before you put a number on anything.
• Split the price into labour, materials and anything that depends on access.
• Say what is not included.
• Put an expiry date on it.
• End with one clear way to accept.

A quote is a fixed price for a fixed job. An estimate is your best guess, and the final bill can move.

Customers hear both words as "the price", so say which one you are giving and write it at the top.

If you cannot fix the price until you have opened something up, give an estimate as a range and say what would push it to the top end.

• The job, in plain words: which room, which item, what the finished result is.
• Labour: your price for the work.
• Materials: what you are supplying and what it costs. Say so if the customer is supplying anything.
• Access and extras: parking, scaffolding, waste removal, anything that changes the price if it changes.
• What is not included: making good, decorating, moving furniture.
• VAT: say whether the price includes it, or that you are not VAT registered.
• Start date or lead time, and how long the job takes.
• Payment: deposit, when the balance is due and how to pay.
• Expiry: the date the price holds until.

Material prices move and your diary fills. A quote with no end date is a promise you may not be able to keep in three months.

14 or 30 days is normal. Pick one and use it on every quote.

It also gives you an honest reason to follow up: "your quote runs out on Friday, do you want me to hold the date?"

Compare two quotes for the same job.

The first says: "Replace bathroom extractor fan, £180."

The second says: "Replace bathroom extractor fan. Labour £110, fan and ducting £55, waste removal £15. Total £180. Not included: redecorating around the new fan. Price held until 30 April. Reply YES to book and I will send two dates."

Same price. The first invites three questions. The second answers them and tells the customer what to do next.

• Pull your last five quotes and count the questions each one got back. Those questions are your missing lines.
• Build one template with the headings above and use it every time.
• Add an expiry date to every open quote that does not have one.
• Follow up any quote older than three days with one short message.

Asking for details before you quote:

Thanks for getting in touch. So I can give you a firm price and not a guess, could you send two or three photos of [the area], rough measurements and your postcode? Let me know about parking and access too.

Following up:

Hi [name], just checking you got the quote for [job]. The price holds until [date]. If you would like to go ahead, reply YES and I will send two dates.