Pricing and quoting, 29 October 2026
How to quote faster as a tradesperson: from voice note to sent quote
To quote faster, stop pricing each job from scratch. Fix your rates, margins and standard lines once in a rate card, describe each job in a voice note while you're still on site, and draft the quote from a template the same day. One heating firm we work with cut air conditioning quotes from four or five hours each to about 20 to 25 minutes.
Where does quoting time go?
Mostly on three things: chasing material prices, working the same sums again, and typing the same wording into a new document. The judgement part, deciding how long a job will take and what could go wrong, takes minutes.
4 to 5 hours per air con quotenowabout 20 to 25 minutes
I've got 22 aircon quotes to do this weekend… I'll be here all weekend.
What does slow quoting cost you?
Your evenings, and some of the work. Here's what a weekend of air conditioning quotes costs at 4 to 5 hours each, against 20 to 25 minutes.
22 air conditioning quotes: before and after
For example, a heating firm with a weekend backlog of 22 air con quotes.
| Time per quote beforemidpoint of 4 to 5 hours | 4.5 hrs |
| Time for the backlog before22 × 4.5 hours | 99 hrs |
| Time per quote aftermidpoint of 20 to 25 minutes | 22.5 min |
| Time for the backlog after22 × 22.5 minutes | 8.25 hrs |
| Hours given back99 − 8.25 | 90.75 hrs |
The other cost is jobs lost to whoever replied first. A homeowner with three quotes coming tends to pick from the ones that arrive. If you want a figure for your own admin time, put your hours into the calculator in growing without an office manager.
Step by step: from voice note to sent quote
- Build your rate card once.
Your cost per man-day (see overheads per man-day), material prices from your last merchant invoices, your margin, and the lines you always write: access, waste, making good, exclusions. This is the work that makes every later quote quick.
- Capture the job on site.
Before you leave the drive, record a two-minute voice note: what's there, what they want, measurements, access, anything odd. Take photos of the boiler plate, the consumer unit, the roof from each side. A voice note made on site beats notes typed at 10pm. A voice to text app turns it into text.
- Draft from a template.
Pick the closest past quote or a standard template, swap in the measurements, and let the rate card fill the prices. For per-m² work, use your converted day rate.
- Check three numbers.
Days on site, materials total, and the margin on the whole job. If the margin is off, fix the price, not the margin. See markup vs margin if the numbers look odd.
- Send it the same day, with one way to say yes.
Reply-to-accept or a single button. If the client wants choices, use quotes with options so you don't send one scary total.
What goes in a rate card?
Everything you'd otherwise look up per job. Keep it in one place, on your phone.
The prices in it go stale. When a supplier invoice comes in higher than your card, update the card the same day.
How does a voice note become a quote?
Either you type it up, or something drafts it for you. The point is that the voice note holds everything you'd otherwise have to remember.
A voice note from the drive becomes a draft quote to check.
What do you have to get right on price?
The price a homeowner sees should be the total they'll pay. If you're VAT registered, include VAT and any unavoidable charges in the headline figure: hiding charges until later is drip pricing, which the CMA can fine for.
Speed shouldn't cost accuracy. A quote is a promise the client can rely on, so check measurements and exclusions before it goes. For the costs that most often get left out, see how to price a job.
Where Nexley fits
Nexley is the AI back office for UK trade firms: five AI assistants run your tenders, quotes, buying, scheduling and invoicing. It connects to the tools you already work in, you run it all from WhatsApp, and you approve everything. £799 a month.
For quoting, Nexley keeps your rate card, merchant prices and margin, and turns a voice note or site photos into a branded draft quote over WhatsApp. You check the price and approve it before it goes; the client accepts with one reply. Unaccepted quotes get followed up at the times you set.
Common questions
How long should a quote take?
For a routine domestic job with a rate card in place, minutes rather than hours. Larger jobs with drawings or tenders take longer, but most of that time should be measuring and judgement, not looking up prices.
Should I quote on site or later?
Price small, standard jobs on site if your rate card is on your phone. For anything bigger, capture everything on site and send the quote the same day, once you've checked the numbers.
Can I use ChatGPT to write quotes?
It can tidy wording, but it doesn't know your rates, your merchant prices or your margin unless you give it them each time, and it can get sums wrong. Check every figure. The live guide on AI tender pricing checks lists what to verify.
How fast should I reply to an enquiry?
As fast as you can manage. Even if the full quote takes a day, acknowledge the enquiry the same day and say when the price will arrive.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Price transparency (CMA209), summary
- Business Companion: Supplying services
- WhatsApp Business: built-in business tools
Every rule, rate and date above was checked against these sources on the date shown at the top.
Topic: Pricing and quoting
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