Your 80% Close Rate Means You're Too Cheap

Look, nobody likes leaving money on the table. But if you’re closing 8 out of 10 quotes, you’re practically begging customers to take advantage of you.

The Problem: Undercharging and Missed Profit

A high close rate sounds great on paper, right? But it screams one thing: your prices are too low. Think about it. If almost everyone you quote is saying yes, you're not pushing the envelope. You're leaving cash on the table. Every. Single. Time. You're essentially giving away your skills, your expertise, and your overhead for less than they’re worth. You're cutting corners on your potential profit margin, and that hurts your ability to grow, invest in better equipment, and pay your team what they deserve. You're working harder, not smarter, and that's a recipe for burnout.

The Strategy: Track, Analyze, and Adjust

The solution? Stop guessing and start tracking. You need a system -- a CRM, a spreadsheet, even a simple notebook -- to record every single quote you issue. Include these details:

• Date: When was the quote given?
• Customer: Who are you quoting?
• Service Type: What exactly are you quoting for? (Roof repair, HVAC install, leaky faucet, fence replacement, whatever)
• Quoted Price: The exact dollar amount.
• Outcome: Accepted or rejected. And if rejected, try to note why.

At the end of each month, crunch the numbers. Calculate your close rate for each service type. For example, maybe you have a 90% close rate on small plumbing repairs but only 50% on full HVAC replacements. That's valuable information. Dig deeper. Calculate your average ticket price: total revenue divided by number of jobs completed. Maybe you had a $4,200 average ticket last month.

Now, for the real gold: look at the jobs you won. Honestly ask yourself: could you have charged 5-10% more and still gotten the job? If you’re consistently winning bids where the customer barely blinked at the price, the answer is probably yes.

Here's the adjustment phase: Incrementally raise your prices. Start with the services where your close rate is highest. For example, if you're a concrete contractor and closing 85% of your patio installation quotes, bump the price by 5% on the next few quotes and see what happens. Monitor your close rate closely. If it dips drastically, dial it back a little. But don't be afraid to experiment.

The key is continuous monitoring and adjustment. This isn't a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. Track your close rates after every price adjustment and refine your strategy based on real-world customer acceptance data. Don't just guess -- know.

Quick Example: The Tree Service Scenario

Let's say you're running a tree service and you're getting 80% of your quotes accepted for tree removal. Your average ticket for removal is $800. You bump that price by 7% on your next 10 quotes. You still close 6 of them. You just made an extra $336 (6 jobs x $56 increase) and you only lost out on 2 jobs. You're now making more money without working significantly harder.

Bottom Line: High close rates mean you're underpricing -- raise your rates slowly and track the results.

Start tracking your numbers today and start making more money for the work you’re already doing. It's time to get paid what you're worth.