Eight estimate mistakes that lose jobs
None of these are about the price. All of them are fixable on the next estimate you send.
Ask a homeowner why they picked the other contractor and the answer is rarely "cheaper." It is "he got back to me," "I understood what I was getting," or "it was easy to say yes." Every one of those is an estimate mistake on the losing side. Here are the eight that come up most.
1. Sending a price with no scope
"$2,400 for the water heater" is a number, not an estimate. The customer cannot tell what is included, so they compare it to a cheaper number that includes less, and the cheaper number wins. Fix: a scope list, one line per task. How to write one.
2. Sending it late
Two days after the visit, the customer has moved on or heard from someone faster. Fix: write it on your phone before you leave. How.
3. No way to say yes
If accepting means print, sign, scan, email, it goes on the weekend list and dies there. Fix: a link they open on their phone and accept with their name.
4. No deposit, or the deposit asked for separately
A job with no deposit is easy to cancel. A deposit requested after the yes is a second decision. Fix: the deposit on the estimate, paid at acceptance. How much.
5. No valid-through date
Three weeks later, materials are up and the customer accepts the old price. Fix: "Price good for 30 days," on every estimate.
6. Leaving out what is not included
Everything you did not list is something the customer may assume is included. Fix: two lines of exclusions under the scope.
7. Never following up
Most unsigned estimates are not rejections. They are customers who got busy. Fix: day 3, day 7, once before it expires, then stop. The words.
8. Making it look like a text message
No company name, no license, no terms, no date. It reads as a guess and nobody pays a deposit on a guess. Fix: it needs your name, the scope, the price, the terms, and the date. Not fancy. Complete.
A tool that does all eight from a rough note is cheaper than losing one job a month to any of them. Finished examples by trade show what the fixed version looks like.
Free, no account: job price calculator, markup vs margin, hourly rate, and 84 sample estimates.
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