Cost of doing extensive quotes

[sunshinesam]

I do 2 kinds of quotes. One is straight forward and take little time. The second is me coming up with creative solutions for an end product. This quote can take 1-4 hours (usually closer to 3-4) as I brainstorm solutions, find material pricing, etc. It’s even worse when the client comes back and asks for another solution/idea (AKA another quote). Part of me feels it’s the cost of doing business (the hours are factored into the quote if I get the job). Another thinks I need to clean up this process to cover the time.

It’s not standard practice in my industry to charge an estimate fee (e.g. home repair people who need to come see your house may charge a fee). Some people have a minimum cost for these types of projects. I’d like to do that, but it’s hard to define the project and amount since I do a broader range than most.

My potential solutions (open to other suggestions) is doing a soft estimate only- describe the solution and say pricing starts at X. If they like the solution and price point, get a more accurate quote. I’m torn if that sounds lazy not to send a formal price quote, but I could include a proposal packet with photos of the ideas.

 

[mlshelton1975]

@sunshinesam What kind of service is it? That's a big part to this question. The more context the more creative the community can be. You don't need to be specific, but you can provide generalized details. What field/Industry is it in? Technology? Salesforce developer quotes? Plumbing quotes? What are we talking about here?

 

[digitalchaos]

@sunshinesam Hi, I can only advise as a customer. Please don't charge an estimate fee. Your clients who are comparing quotes won't even get an estimate from you if they can call other places and get free quotes, unless what you're offering is extremely specialized and there isn't competition. I usually choose contractors who offer detailed, itemized quotes because I like seeing where my money is going.

Taking the time to meet with clients is just the cost of doing business, but it also sounds like it's taking more time than it should. Or maybe you just need to charge more for custom projects to make up for the extensive quoting process. I hope someone who has experience quoting projects like yours can chime in on how to make the process more efficient.

 

[bkimmerz]

@sunshinesam Never charge for estimates, always charge for deliverables.

 

[billysurya91]

@sunshinesam We have a similar situation. I own a sign company and if you call and simply need a couple signs, we have estimating software that we put dimensions and materials into and it calculates labor, markup, overhead, etc. and gives us prices. Simple and easy to use. We also have quotes for entire buildings or apartment communities and those can take hours, but we also earn a lot of the jobs that we quote. We build the time to do quotes into our overhead as a sales expense. Where it gets dicey is that artwork is billed to the actual job, but some jobs can’t be won without artwork, so we also have x hours of artwork baked into our sales overhead number and then if we get the job, it’s paid for by that job and if not, it’s spread amongst our other jobs like the water bill. Good luck!

 

[crteague]

@sunshinesam Could you maybe have a standard itemised price list that goes at the back of the quote and has items like: Bar table $150-$300 ea. Custom stand $500 - $1000 ea. LED light $2500-$3000 ea. Floral arrangement $100-$130 ea. Bunting $20 ea.

Then your quote says for this project we recommend 2x bar tables, 1x custom stand and 3x floral arrangements. Final price TBC upon final approved design.

That way you're not locking yourself into any kind of set price but it gives the customer a ballpark.

 

[abnormal2001]

@sunshinesam I haven’t come across this exact scenario, but we work with companies that have to produce prototypes of products for a client to sign off pre order, these are usually charged upfront but then deducted from the overall bill, so the quote is still free but other work needed prior to the order is charged if the order doesn’t go ahead

 

[maxveritas]

@sunshinesam That sounds like a lot of time spent on quotes! Sorry to hear.

It would help to know which industry you are in. Is your quoting process all manual? Do you have templates for your quotes? If yes, are they static or dynamic?

It sounds to me that you could automate this task (or at least a big part of it). It should be easily doable. It would fit well with your suggested solution, which is definitely not lazy.

Happy to help, I do that stuff for a living.

Cheers.