How much does a car cost? What should I pay for a holiday? I’d like to buy a house, what’s a good price? Without further context, there’s no way that you can answer these questions. Yet freelancers are asked a similar question on a regular basis. You see a job spec that comprises no more than one or two sentences, and a request for bids. Nobody should quote on that basis, it’s worthless.
I’m Just Looking For A Ballpark Figure
The job specification might look something like this;
“I’m looking for a website for my new shop. It needs to look stylish, have good SEO.
Please provide a link to your portfolio, and a ballpark price.”
What are you supposed to do? Every piece of advice on pitching for a job says it’s important to answer the questions in the job spec. That’s impossible here, because the spec is so worthless. The only useful piece of information is that the website is for a shop. That means you can make a guess that it’ll need e-commerce option. Stylish and with good SEO? Is there anyone out there requesting dated design and bad SEO?
You have no idea about the scope of the project. A small boutique store, or a large retail outlet? What are they selling? Do they want to sell directly online or use the site as a catalogue? What’s the target audience? There’s a myriad of questions that you need to have answered. There’s no way to provide a reasonable quote without a conversation with the potential client.
…But People Will Be Quoting
The problem is that you know that a lot of responses to that job post will provide a quote. That quote might be way too cheap, or massively expensive. Hell, it might even be spot on. But it’s really a number simply plucked out of the air.
The client may not know that though. They receive an email that says “Hi. We’re a great design company. We can make your site for $1,000.” They also receive your email, “Hi. We’re a great design company. We can’t give you a ballpark figure, we want to talk about things further.”
The first email answers the client’s demand. It directly refers to their job posting. Your email is already giving excuses and adding conditions. So the client chooses the first design company, and you’re left out in the cold.
If You Can’t Quote, Explain Why
Never tell a client who’s asked for a ballpark figure that you simply need to “discuss matters further”. Worse yet, don’t pitch without referring to their request price at all.
In your initial response, simply and quickly summarize why you aren’t giving a ballpark figure, and what you need to provide one. It can be a pretty fast summary; a ballpark figure would be unfair on the client, you want to refer specifically to their needs, you want them to get the most accurate quote possible. Pitch your explanation to their needs, not yours.
It’ll Still Screw You Sometimes
You’ll still miss out on work if you refuse to provide quotes without more information. I could give you some crap about not wanting to work with a client who asks for a quote so early. That’s not true though. Clients don’t want an inaccurate figure, they just don’t realize the factors necessary to give a realistic price.
Still, better to lose work than tie yourself into a quoted price and find out the project scope is far wider than you thought. The cowboys who throw out a figure to a client based on two sentences will always be there. They can afford to quote and find that the work is far more than they thought; if they’re cowboys then they’ll just leave the job unfinished or badly done.
Once again it’s a case of treating potential clients with respect. Help to educate them, give them the best service possible from first contact to last. Even if that means losing out on work. In the long run, the benefits to your reputation will outweigh those lost contracts.
