Write Quotes People Say Yes To: What Every Small Business Quote Needs
Most owners I talk to think they lose jobs because they didn’t follow up. Sometimes that’s true. But a lot of the time the job was already lost the second the quote landed in the customer’s inbox.
It’s one number at the bottom of a PDF. The scope is three vague lines. There’s no option to go smaller or bigger, no date it expires, and no clue what the customer is supposed to do next. So they do what anyone would do with a confusing number: they sit on it, compare it to a cheaper confusing number, and go quiet.
I’ve written about following up on quotes before. This one is about the quote itself, because a better quote makes the follow-up a hell of a lot easier.
Why a bad quote kills a good lead
By the time you send a quote, you’ve done the hard part. They called you, you showed up or got on the phone, you figured out what they need. Then the quote throws all of that away and reduces you to a price.
When the only thing on the page is a number, the only thing they can compare is the number. That’s how a better business loses to a cheaper one. Not because the customer is cheap, but because you didn’t give them anything else to weigh.
The rule I runFrom the floorA quote isn’t a bill. It’s the last sales conversation you have before they decide. Write it like you’re still in the room.
What every quote should carry
You don’t need fancy software for this. You need the same handful of things on every quote, every time.
1. Scope in plain English
Write what you’re going to do the way you’d say it out loud. Not “Install per spec, 1 unit.” More like:
If your customer can’t read it to their spouse and have it make sense, rewrite it.
2. What’s NOT included
This is the line most people skip, and it’s the one that saves you the most headaches. “Doesn’t include drywall repair” or “Permit fees billed at cost if required” stops the argument before it starts. It also makes your quote easier to compare honestly against a competitor’s quote that quietly left the same things out.
3. Two or three options
One price is a yes-or-no question. Two or three options turn it into “which one?” Here’s an example for a roofer:
- Repair: fix the damaged section and reseal the flashing.
- Partial replacement: replace the worst slope and repair the rest.
- Full replacement: new roof, with your warranty explained in one sentence.
Don’t pad it with junk options to make the middle look good. Each option should be something you’d honestly recommend to the right customer.
4. An expiry date
“This quote is good through December 15.” That’s it. It’s not a pressure tactic. Your material costs and your schedule change, and an expiry date is just honest about that. It also gives you a natural reason to check in before it runs out.
5. One clear next step
Tell them exactly what happens if they want to move forward. “Reply YES to this email or call me at the number below and I’ll get you on the schedule.” One step. Not three ways to maybe contact somebody.
6. Who they’re dealing with
Your name, your direct number, and one line on why you. Licensed and insured, how long you’ve been doing it, or a short line from a happy customer if you have their permission to use it. People hire people.
Walk them through it. Don’t just hit send.
Here’s the habit that matters more than anything on the page. When the quote goes out, call and walk them through it. Five minutes.
I run a calling floor day to day, and we’d never send a proposal and pray. You talk through it, you answer the questions they won’t bother emailing you, and you hear the real objection while you can still do something about it. A cleaning company that calls to explain the difference between a weekly and biweekly plan is going to beat the one that sent a price list and waited.
If they don’t pick up, leave a short voicemail, send a quick text if they’ve agreed to hear from you by text, and set a task to try again.
Track every quote like it matters
A quote that isn’t tracked is a quote you’ll forget. At minimum, write down for every quote:
- Who it went to and the date it was sent
- Which options you gave and the amounts
- The expiry date
- When you walked them through it, and what they said
- The next step and who owns it
Do that for a month and patterns show up fast. Maybe everybody picks the middle option. Maybe a certain kind of job always stalls. That’s information you can actually use.
Where Straton fits
This is exactly why I built Straton the way I did. It brings your contacts, calling, messaging, tasks, pipeline and reporting into one workspace, and you can set up your own fields and pipeline stages. So you can add a “Quote sent” stage, fields for the options and expiry date, a task for the walk-through call, and see every open quote in one place instead of digging through your sent folder. Straton doesn’t write the quote for you. It just makes sure no quote goes out and gets forgotten.
Grab the One-Page Quote Checklist
I put everything above on one page: the six things every quote needs, the walk-through call script, and the tracking fields. Keep it next to you the next time you write a quote.
Download the One-Page Quote Checklist
Ready to stop losing jobs at the quote?
Take the next quote you send and run it through the checklist before it goes out. Then pick up the phone and walk them through it. Genesis from $49.99/mo with unlimited contacts, so every lead, quote and follow-up lives together.
Want to see how this would fit your business? Book a walkthrough and I’ll map it with you.
Related reading:
- CRM Quote Follow-Up for Small Business: What to Track
- Small Business Sales Pipeline Stages
- Why Did You Lose That Deal? Track Lost Reasons
— Dan Hanna, founder, SB Help Group