A client ripped my proposal apart. Changed everything I do now.

Last year a guy in Seattle told me my quotes were way too vague. He said "I need to know exactly what I'm paying for, not just a number." So I started breaking down every line item with prices. Labor. Materials. Travel. Even a $25 disposal fee. Now I list everything and clients actually trust me more. Has anyone else had to totally redo their pricing format after one bad experience?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_cameron20h agoMost Upvoted

Man, I had a buddy who painted houses and one client made him rewrite his whole contract because he didn't list "moving furniture back after painting" as a separate cost. He grumbled about it for weeks but now every single quote has that line item and nobody questions him anymore. Sometimes one critical customer is all it takes to see your own blind spots.

mitchell.avery18h ago

The funny thing about those wake up calls is they force you to actually think through every step of what you do, not just the big obvious parts. Your buddy probably saved himself a ton of headaches down the road because now he's got a system that covers everything, including the little stuff most people forget until they're standing there with a couch in the middle of the room wondering why they didn't charge for putting it back.

sanchez.julia22h ago

Oh come on, you didn't totally redo your whole pricing format because of one guy. That's just good business sense kicking in after a wake up call. Lots of people start with vague quotes because they're scared to seem too nitpicky, but the truth is most clients hate surprises more than they hate seeing a $25 fee broken out. You probably would have figured that out eventually anyway, that guy just sped up the process. Also a $25 disposal fee is honestly pretty low, I'd double check that you're not eating costs there. But yeah, itemized pricing works way better for trust, you just made it sound like one dude in Seattle rewired your whole brain.