The 7 Fatal Mistakes of Quoting – #6: Leaving Money on the Table

To quickly recap what we’ve discussed so far in this blog series on quoting mistakes, the moral of the story is that inefficiencies, redundancies and disorganization lead to money left on the table (if you need a more thorough refresher, click here to rewind back to fatal mistake #1).

Providing a quote that only accounts for the lead time a customer requests is a surefire way to leave money on the table. Buyers don’t always communicate what they want, or what is most valuable to them. They want their order on time, but it might be incredibly more valuable to them to receive it 3 days sooner.

Some buyers may tell you they need an expedited order, but that they want it at the same price as your standard lead time. They’re often able to maintain leverage because many shop owners are uncomfortable charging more out of fear of losing out on the job.

How to Avoid This

Establish expedite pricing standards. Whether you decide to charge only for speed, or add in other variables like job size or even the customer’s difficulty level, it’s important to establish standards for how you will charge for expedites. This ensures consistency and allows you to back up your argument if a customer questions your upcharge.

State your expedited charges upfront. When you send your quote to the customer, include pricing for expedited orders right on the quote. Buyers are used to seeing this in their personal life as consumers and won’t be shocked. Why not offer the same tiered pricing service as Amazon or their local dry cleaner? You might be surprised at how many people appreciate this information upfront and will choose to get their parts produced faster because – as we discussed throughout this blog series – buyer expectations have shifted and time to market has compressed. You could be the hero to your customer who needs something sooner, while simultaneously demonstrating that your time is valuable and enabling your business to generate additional revenue.

Example of a digital quote generated by Paperless Parts.

Start Building Up Your Defense Today

At Paperless Parts, we empower job shops by automating their quoting process through modern technology. Our geometry-driven quoting, secure file-viewing and sharing capabilities, online collaboration and CRM tools, interactive digital quotes generator, and so much more are helping manufacturers across the U.S. quote faster, win more work, and grow their business.

Ready to read about the 7th and final fatal quoting? Click here to check it out.