Your quote acceptance rate: measure it, then double it
The number that tells you where your business leaks
Acceptance rate = accepted quotes ÷ quotes sent
Most solo tradespeople sit somewhere between 30 % and 50 %. Above 60 % usually means you're priced too low. Below 25 % means something is broken — and it's almost never the price.
The reason this number matters: raising it costs nothing. If you send 20 quotes a month and go from 30 % to 45 %, that's three extra jobs — with no extra leads, no extra marketing, no extra travel.
Lever 1 — speed (the biggest by far)
Across home services, the first quote to arrive wins a disproportionate share, often before the second even lands. Quoting the same day is good; quoting before you leave the driveway is decisive — the client is still standing in front of the problem, and your professionalism is what they just experienced, not a memory.
Lever 2 — the quote itself
A vague quote invites comparison on price alone. A detailed one invites comparison on value:
- Itemize. "Bathroom: $4,800" competes only on the number. Line items justify it.
- Separate labour from materials — it shows where the money goes.
- State what's excluded. It reads as honesty and prevents the argument later.
- Add the validity date and payment terms. Structure signals a business, not a bloke with a van.
Lever 3 — follow up (most people never do)
Half of unanswered quotes aren't refusals — they're "not yet". A three-touch sequence over two weeks converts a meaningful share of them, and almost nobody does it. The exact sequence.
Lever 4 — give options instead of a number
One price is a yes/no. Three options change the question to "which one" — and a solid share of clients don't pick the cheapest. How to build good/better/best.
Then look at why you lose
Track the reason on every refusal — price, timing, went with someone else, project cancelled. After twenty quotes the pattern is obvious, and it's usually not price. "Too slow" and "never followed up" are far more common, and both are free to fix.
Measure it without a spreadsheet
You can't improve what you don't see. Pro Speak Artisan tracks every estimate through draft → sent → accepted/declined and shows the breakdown by status, plus what's still awaiting a decision — your acceptance rate, visible without any extra bookkeeping.