The Questions to Ask Before You Drive Out to Quote

Free site visits are the largest marketing expense most trade businesses never put on paper. An hour of driving, half an hour on site and half an hour writing it up is a good chunk of a day gone, for a job that may have been never going to happen. The fix is not to stop quoting in person. It is to spend five minutes on the phone first, so the visits you do make are worth making.

Work out what a site visit really costs

Add up the travel, the time on site, the time writing the quote and what you would otherwise have been earning during those hours. For most trades, a quote requiring a site visit costs a meaningful part of a chargeable day. Once that figure is in your head, a five-minute qualifying call stops feeling like an imposition and starts looking like basic scheduling.

The things worth knowing before you commit

Five pieces of information sort most enquiries.

• What the job actually is. Not "a bathroom", but what is being changed, what stays, and whether anyone has looked at it before.
• Where it is. Distance and access change whether a job is worth doing at all.
• When they want it done. Someone who needs it next week and someone thinking about next winter are both fine, but they do not need the same appointment this week.
• Whether they are getting other quotes, and how many. Asking directly is not rude, and the answer tells you what you are walking into.
• Whether they have a budget in mind. You do not need a precise number. You need to know whether their expectation is in the same postcode as reality.

Ask about budget without making it awkward

Most tradespeople avoid this question because it feels like asking what someone earns. Framed as a range, it is easier for everyone. Offer to tell them roughly where jobs like theirs usually land depending on fittings and access, then ask whether that matches what they had in mind. The customer can agree, disagree, or explain their thinking, and you have saved you both a site visit if the gap is unbridgeable.

If you genuinely cannot give a range without seeing it, say what the main variables are and what tends to push a job up.

Keep it a conversation, not an interrogation

The point is not to screen people out. Most enquiries are genuine, and a short conversation makes the eventual visit more productive, because you arrive knowing what you are looking at and carrying the right gear. Work the questions naturally into the call and finish with a clear next step either way.

Do this on the phone. Trying to qualify by email turns five minutes into three days, and plenty of people go elsewhere in the meantime.

Have a decent answer for the ones you turn down

Some enquiries are not for you. Too far, too small, wrong trade, or expectations nowhere near the price. Saying so quickly and politely is better for everyone than a vague "I will get back to you" that never happens. Where you can, point them somewhere useful: another trade, a different approach, or a rough sense of what the work usually involves so they are better informed on the next call.

People remember being dealt with straight. Some of them ring back later with a job that does fit, and some mention you to a neighbour.

Consider charging for the visit on the right jobs

For detailed design work, reports or long assessments, a quoting fee is normal in some trades and worth considering, credited against the job if they proceed. It filters out the genuinely uncommitted and puts a value on the work of scoping properly. It does not suit every trade or every job, but it is worth deciding deliberately rather than defaulting to free for everything.

Write the answers down where you will see them

The qualifying call is wasted if the detail lives in your memory until the visit. Recording the answers against the lead, in a CRM or at minimum a consistent note, means you turn up prepared, your quote reflects what was discussed, and your follow-up can reference the actual conversation rather than a generic reminder.

The short version

• Work out what an unqualified site visit costs you, including the write-up
• Ask what the job is, where it is, when they want it, how many other quotes, and their budget expectation
• Frame budget as a range so it is comfortable to answer
• Do it on the phone, not by email
• Decline the wrong-fit jobs quickly and helpfully
• Consider a quoting fee for detailed assessments, credited against the job
• Record the answers so the visit and the follow-up build on them

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it rude to ask a customer's budget before quoting?

Not if it is framed as a range rather than a demand for a number. Most customers would rather find out early that expectations do not match than have you drive out for nothing.

Should I still do free quotes?

For most straightforward jobs, yes, because it is what customers expect. The case for charging is strongest where quoting involves detailed assessment or design work, and the fee is usually credited against the job if it proceeds.

What if someone will not answer the qualifying questions?

That is information too. Some people are simply busy, so offer to call back. But consistent reluctance to discuss scope, timing or budget often predicts how the rest of the job will go.