The difference between a good and a bad quotation

Editor’s Note: A contractor emailed me the other day looking for advice on quotation software, and on quotations in general. It reminded me of this terrific little article by Renovatage’s Mike Draper, which we ran about the third month this website was up and running, just over two years ago.

Here it is again.

By Mike Draper

Homeowners doing a renovation want a formal quotation. That sounds simple enough, but I have seen some very bad quotations. Jobs are often won or lost in the presentation of the quotation. We all know that price is a very important part of a homeowner’s decision process. What you might not realize is that they also want to know the detailed scope of the work you are going to do.

Supplying a short form quotation with a high level scope of work and a one line price isn’t enough. I know that you don’t want to give all of your secrets away so that a homeowner can go shop your quote or pick apart your pricing, but you have to give them enough information so that they can make a decision. You have to provide the homeowner with a detailed scope of work so that they know exactly what you are providing and that you are doing what they want done. If you don’t provide enough detail, the homeowner will be unsure about what you are including, thereby lowering your chances of winning the job. Even if you do win, you run the risk of having problems down the road because you don’t have a clear and complete scope of work.

In addition to documenting what is included, it is just as important to provide the details on what is not included.

With all of the quoting software available today, there should be no reason not to include the detail.  Quoting software provides the detail without you having to spend hours writing it all up. In fact, one of our Certified Renovantage Contractors told me that by using quoting software on a complicated quotation, instead of taking him close to 10 hours, it took him less than 3 hours and the quotation was far more professional.

I know he will never go back to manual quoting.