How to write a quote that wins the job
Most customers get three quotes. They rarely pick the cheapest — they pick the one they trust. Here’s what separates a quote that wins from one that gets ignored.
1. Send it fast
The quote that arrives while the customer still remembers you standing in their kitchen has a big head start. Two days later you’re competing with everyone they’ve spoken to since. Aim to send within 24 hours — same day if you can.
2. Itemise it
“Bathroom refit — £4,800” gives the customer nothing to say yes to. Break it down: strip-out, first fix, tiling, second fix, making good. They can see where the money goes, they can see you’ve thought it through, and if the budget’s tight you’ve got lines to discuss instead of a wall.
3. Put your real prices in
Round numbers look guessed. £4,800 reads as a finger in the air; £4,760 reads as someone who costed it. Use your actual day rates and real materials prices and let the total land where it lands.
4. Make it look like a business
Your logo, your VAT number if you’re registered, your terms, a quote number, a date. A tidy PDF next to a rival’s text message does a lot of the selling for you. It signals that the paperwork side of the job — guarantees, invoices, snags — will be handled too.
5. Spell out what’s in and what isn’t
“Includes making good to a paintable finish. Does not include decoration.” Every exclusion you write down now is an argument you don’t have on site later — and customers respect the clarity.
6. Give them terms, not surprises
Deposit, payment schedule, how long the quote’s valid, guarantee period. Standard stuff — but having it there, the same on every quote, makes you look established and heads off the “you never said” conversation.
Scoped turns a spoken description of the job into an itemised quote priced from your own rates, formats it as a branded PDF with your terms, and gets it out before you’ve left the drive.
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