Increasing Quote Prices
Sat, 24 June, 2006 – 8:52 am
This time last year my business was quite quiet. I had enough to keep me going plus my contract job, so I wasn't too fussed, quite happily living a slow quiet life. I had a few sites come in for quotes. One I felt I'd quoted quite well on, another was a custom built shop but I knew the guy quite well and felt I had to cut my price down a little for him. I used to have prices in my head for various sections, X amount for the design, X amount for slicing the design up and putting it into CSS/XHTML etc.
However since the end of last year I realised my quotes were too low so I pretty much doubled them. Unfortunately 2 of the sites are still dragging on almost a year later due to client delays. And because it's been a year since the sites were started they've had a change of mind over various parts too. It is very true that the less you quote on a job the more hassle and work you end up having!
Now I've learnt to not be afraid to quote higher. If people have come to me through word of mouth, which 99% of the time they have, then they'll have been told that my prices are worth it and most often will still accept the price I give them. Of course some of my older, original clients aren't so impressed having to pay more than they first did, but then I've come a long way in knowledge since then. Also if you double your quote prices (or bring them up to a standard price similar to that of the industry) then providing you get 1 in 2 quotes agreed on you should still be making similar money with half the work. However personally, I've only had 2 quotes not taken up, one due to lack of money and time to put into the site and one I never heard back from.
Don't work for less than you're worth.
2 Responses to “Increasing Quote Prices”
I've done the same recently. More than anything, I think it's just a matter of being confident in your ability and not being afraid to quote what you want, and not what you think the client will gleefully accept.
Another thing I've started doing is asking clients what their budget is, that way we both know straight away what sort of price we can agree on. There is nothing worse than finishing a job, looking back and thinking you undersold yourself.
By Stuart on Jun 24, 2006
Yeah that's the biggest issue, regretting it. Especially as now I'm finishing off jobs that have paid 3 times what the shop site will pay and they've been pretty easy sites.
Still, there's only 2 left, one of which is pretty much done - finally!!
By Sarah on Jun 24, 2006