5 Tips to Get Your Next Quote Approved
Being a builder can be frustrating at times, especially when you spend a lot of time creating quotes only to see a potential client pick someone else. Your mobile phone may be ringing all day, but none of the quotes translate to actual work. Regrettably, for tradies, not all quotes are approved. However, with the right approach and some helpful steps, tradespeople can strike a higher success rate.
Quoting on lots of jobs is important for small business, especially if you are a sole trader. Developing these basic quoting skills will help you win more customers, extend brand awareness and trust – so even if you don’t win a job, you want to leave a lasting impression on potential clients for future business or even referrals. Here are a few tips on how to make your quote stand out from the rest.
1. Screen clients before you quote them
Often disregarded, but, hugely important – it is unlikely that you are going to win most of your quotes if you keep quoting the wrong people. Make sure to weed out clients that are not fit for your services or people wanting to steal your ideas. This approach involves coming up with the ideal customer profile, including a person that is asking for a service, time range and quality/price you can provide. If the client fits your ideal buyer profile, then you have passed the first stage.
Make sure to ask about their budget, time frame of completion, and aspects of the job. These are simple questions that can help you narrow down to your ideal customer.
2. Arrange a physical meet up with suitable clients
For tradies to successfully convert quotes into business, face to face contact is essential when meeting potential customers. Most businesses thrive on social interaction to grow. The purpose of the physical meet up is to allow you to say more than is written on the paper, while allowing the customer to ask as many questions as they would like.
Make sure you are always polite, presentable and punctual when meeting. Make sure to mention your qualifications, experience, and your license details (these should always be on hand). Meeting potential clients allows you to sell yourself and your services and might possibly give you the edge over other tradies.
Meeting clients and visiting the job site gives you the opportunity to understand in detail the project scope. This info helps you avoid over quoting hence risk losing the job, or underquoting and having to go back to your pocket resulting in a loss.
3. Fill Your Quotes with All the Necessary Information
At this phase, it is important to put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Ask yourself what information do they need to know before they approve or decline this quote. For instance, your business information, a detailed description of the job including images and clear, fair pricing. With its unique step-by-step process, QuoteUp is able to help you structure a quote, and include all the details your client needs to make a decision.
Similarly, make sure you mention any warranties you offer as a business. This aspect helps you gain trust from customers and assurance, especially if they are interacting with you for the first time. Remeber to explain and offer any discounts or deals available to the client. This element helps create a sense of urgency and can tip the customer to give you the job in a sea of other tradies offering similar terms.
4. Do not over itemise your quote
Tradies make this mistake all the time. This error is a sure way for customers to want to do some aspects of the job by themselves. Other clients will tell you to cut out some things in order to save some money. You can be detailed and straight to the point without over itemising. If required, talk to your client or pay the site another visit to go over fine details.
QuoteUp can help you by providing clients straight forward pricing. It allows you to add pricing for materials and services, as well as attaching markups when required, while the client will only see the total price.
Once you have completed the quote, send it off to your client, immediately! Don’t let all the hard work go to waste.
5. Make Proper and Consistent Follow-Ups
Making sure you follow up on quotes either immediately or in the near future, will give you a significant likelihood of securing jobs. After all, you put all this effort into making the quote in the first place. Communication is a core aspect of running any successful business venture. And if you make it a habit of consistently getting in touch with clients, your quote approval rate will go up.
Preferably, a tradie should make a follow up with the client within two days of the site visit or quote. Spending a few minutes sending an SMS, email or preferably a phone call is a small gesture and will significantly increases your chances of closing that deal.
It is crucial at this stage to avoid being pushy and irritating to the customer to the point they start avoiding your calls. A quick email or SMS that reminds them of your visit and quote is a good start.
A thorough quote is key at winning your next job
So don’t rush over your quote. It is a document that should take you some time to complete. Produce a report that is thorough, reasonable, and this should considerably increase your chances of conversion. Using QuoteUp makes it easy to create detailed, professional quotes that will help you score your next job with ease!