Most lost quotes are not lost on price. They are lost by being slow, vague, or so bare that the customer has nothing to compare except the total.
Speed is the biggest single factor
The first credible quote frames the decision. It sets the specification everyone else is judged against, and it signals that you are organised. A quote sent three days later arrives at a decision already halfway made.
If a same-day quote is not possible, send a same-day holding reply with a time: "I'll have this to you before 10am tomorrow." That still beats silence by a distance.
Quote one recommendation, not a menu
Give your recommendation, then two quantity options around it:
Recommended: 100 x mid-weight ring-spun tee, two-colour front. £7.50 each, £750, ten working days. At 50: £9.10 each. At 200: £6.40 each.
One clear answer plus a visible volume incentive. A page of alternatives makes the customer do your job, and slows the decision down.
Show what is included
This is what stops your number being compared against a cheaper quote for a worse job:
- Garment named, with weight and fabric.
- Print positions, and colours per position.
- Setup included or itemised.
- Lead time from artwork approval.
- Delivery or collection, and its cost.
- What a reorder would cost.
A quote listing these is not comparable to "£6 a shirt" in a text message, and the customer can see why.
Say what happens next
End with a single action and a consequence: "Approve and I'll book you into the week of the 14th." Quotes that end with "let me know" sit. See cutting approval time, which is the same problem one step later.
Follow up twice, then stop
A single chase at 48 hours and one at a week converts a meaningful share of quotes. Most shops never send either. Ask a question rather than repeating yourself: "Is the mid-October date still what you're working to?"
When you are the expensive one
Name the difference in plain terms:
"The lower quote is probably a lighter garment and a single-hit print. Mine is a 190gsm ring-spun with an underbase so the colour holds after washing. If budget is the constraint I can quote the lighter garment too."
That gives them a real choice, keeps your price intact, and often sells the better option. Dropping the number teaches the customer your first price was decoration.
Do not compete with shops making a mistake
Some quotes you lose to a shop that has not costed setup. That is not a market price, it is an error, and matching it just means two shops losing money instead of one. Know your floor from your pricing formula and let those go.
Printer's Friend builds quotes off your price matrix so the same job prices the same whoever quotes it, shows margin per line while you work, and chases automatically at 48 hours and a week. See the quoting feature.