How to quote faster without quoting cheaper

Quoting faster is mostly about not starting from a blank page. Keep a price list of the items you sell most, have one template for each kind of job you do, collect the same measurements at every site visit, and send the quote the same day, ideally before you leave the site. None of that lowers your price. It lowers the hours you spend at the kitchen table at night typing quotes.

The full process, from enquiry form to site visit to signature, is in the job quoting process, and what a quote must contain is in how to write a quote. This article is only about speed.

Speed wins jobs

Homeowners and small businesses usually ask more than one tradie for a quote. The first clear, complete quote to arrive becomes the reference point for the rest. A quote that arrives a week later is compared against one the customer has already been thinking about for days.

Speed also says something about how you work. A quote sent the same afternoon suggests a job that will start on time and a tradie who answers the phone. That impression is worth money, and it costs nothing but preparation.

A price list first

Most trade quotes reuse the same dozen items: a call-out fee, labour by the hour, common parts, a few standard upgrades. Writing their descriptions and prices fresh each time is where the hours go.

Build a price list once and keep it current. For each item, record:

• a name a customer understands
• a one line description of what is included
• the unit: per hour, per metre, per square metre, per item, per visit
• your current price, and whether it includes GST

Review it every quarter, or whenever a supplier changes prices. A quote is only as fast as the price list behind it is up to date.

One template per job type

A template is a price list arranged for a particular job. The six quote templates in OneCraft Proposals show the shape. A trades call-out quote carries a call-out fee, labour by the hour, parts, and one optional extra, a safety switch upgrade. A landscaping quote carries site preparation, paving by the square metre, garden beds and planting, turf by the square metre, and irrigation as the extra. Each sets a validity, mostly 14 days, and a deposit where materials are bought up front.

Make one template for each job you quote often: a hot water replacement, a switchboard upgrade, a bathroom tiling job, a fence. When the enquiry comes in, open the matching template and change the quantities. That is minutes, not an hour.

If you would rather describe the job than fill in a template, an AI quote generator can draft the quote from a few lines. In OneCraft, you type the job, the customer and your prices; every price you give becomes a line item at exactly that amount, and the quote comes back with its scope and terms written. The AI quote generator page shows how.

Collect what changes the price

A slow quote is often a quote waiting on a missing measurement. Use the same checklist at every site visit so you never have to go back:

• measurements for anything priced by length or area
• access: stairs, parking, distance from the truck
• existing condition: what has to be removed or repaired first
• the customer’s budget, if they will say it
• the start date they need
• photos of anything unusual

If customers send enquiries through a form, ask for the same things there. How to write a quote request form covers which questions save a site visit altogether.

Send from the site

The fastest quote is the one sent before you drive away. With your price list and templates in a tool that works on a phone, you can enter the measurements, check the total and send a link while the customer is still at the door. They can ask questions while you are there, and you can answer them while the job is fresh in both your minds.

A link also tells you something an emailed PDF cannot: when the customer opened it. That turns the follow up from a guess into a decision.

Get GST right the first time

If you are registered for GST, show it on the quote. The invoices that follow will be tax invoices, and the ATO’s list of what a tax invoice must show includes the GST amount or a statement that the total includes GST. A quote that hid GST makes the first invoice look like a price rise. Do quotes need to include GST covers the details, including when you are not registered.

Follow up and convert

A fast quote still needs a follow up. Call or message two working days after the customer opens it, with one specific question, such as whether to leave the optional extra in. Mention the date the quote is valid to, since a deadline gives the customer a reason to decide. Timing for each follow up is in when to follow up on a quote.

When the customer accepts, the faster you invoice the deposit, the faster you can order materials. business.gov.au’s advice on payment terms is to make them clear from the start; putting the deposit and the payment terms in the quote means acceptance agrees to them, and the deposit invoice can go out immediately.

A worked example

Brightwater Electrical gets an enquiry for a kitchen rewire. At the site visit, the electrician uses the checklist: circuit count, eight downlights, switchboard condition, access through the ceiling. Sitting in the van, they open the call-out template, set labour at six hours, parts at $640, eight downlights, and leave the safety switch upgrade as an unticked extra. The quote reaches the customer twenty minutes after the visit. It is opened that evening and accepted two days later.

The quotation example shows a finished quote laid out the same way.