Get More Building Work

Why building quotes get turned down

Because of what happens after you leave.

You visit, you talk it through, it goes well. Then you send a figure and hear nothing for two weeks. In that time the customer is comparing your quote against two others, and they are struggling, because the three describe different scopes, exclude different things, and one of them is £8,000 cheaper for reasons nobody has explained.

At that point they are not choosing the best builder. They are choosing the quote they understand.

The second factor is duration. A four-month project means paying a large sum to someone who will be in their house for a third of the year. That is a different decision from booking a bathroom, and it makes people hesitate in ways they do not always explain.

What the customer is actually weighing

Whether you will finish. Whether the price will hold. Whether they can live with you.

Price matters, but on large jobs it is rarely the decider. The middle quote wins more often than the lowest, because the lowest triggers suspicion about what has been left out.

Where the work comes from

Referrals, overwhelmingly. Slow, high-converting, and not something you can turn up when the diary is thin.

Architects and designers with clients needing a builder. The most valuable relationship in this trade, and the most under-worked.

Repeat customers. A kitchen this year, an extension in three. Staying in touch costs nothing.

Search, for people at the start of a project with no personal recommendation.

What separates you from the quote below yours

An itemised quote with explicit exclusions. Most builders list what is included. Listing what is not, such as making good, decoration, flooring and fittings, reads as honesty and it makes yours the quote the customer can actually use to compare.

Named allowances. If you have assumed a figure for kitchen units, say what it assumes. It prevents the argument later and it demonstrates you have thought it through.

A programme, not a finish date. Showing the sequence tells the customer you have planned it.

A rate for the unknowns. Foundation depth is the classic. An assumed depth and a rate beyond it converts an open-ended fear into a number.

Making the money conversation easy

Long projects are where payment structure matters most, and it works in your favour: eight or more stages means you never need a large deposit. Around 10% is reasonable even on a substantial build, because the milestones carry the cash flow.

That is a strong position to quote from. A builder asking 10% up front on a £60,000 job, with stages tied to foundations, plate height, watertight and first fix, looks completely different from one asking 30%.

Getting started

Free to register, three working days to vet, none if you are already accredited.

The value on long projects is that the payment schedule is agreed and visible before anyone starts, which is the conversation that otherwise happens badly at week six.