In this solo episode of Sales Growth Made Simple, host Ben Wright, a veteran sales leader in the trade, construction, and industrial sectors, examines why sales quotes often receive a "let me think about it" response instead of a firm yes. Drawing on his experience with tens of thousands of quotes, Wright identifies three core weaknesses that cause quotes to stall: presentation, clarity, and value. He explains how bland, one‑page, black‑and‑white documents fail to engage prospects; how overly technical specifications written in industry jargon obscure the offer; and how a lack of storytelling prevents the quote from demonstrating real benefits and social proof. Wright then offers concrete, actionable fixes: expand the quote template beyond a single page to incorporate visual design and emotional cues; rewrite the quote in plain language aimed at a 12‑year‑old to ensure clarity; and embed value‑adding narratives, warranties, comparisons, and case examples that show how the solution meets the customer’s needs. He urges listeners to immediately revise their quote templates, focus on the customer’s desired outcomes, and use storytelling to differentiate their proposals. The episode closes with a call‑to‑action for a free quote audit and a reminder of the podcast’s regular publishing schedule.
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In this episode, we're going to unpack why your quotes might be getting a, let me think about it, rather than a hell yes, and how you can go about fixing it. Welcome to Sales Growth Made Simple, the show helping 7 to 8 figure trade, construction and industry sales and business leaders finally end the stress of inconsistent sales by simplifying your sales systems so your team can close more deals and grow faster. I'm your host, Ben Wright, a leader who has been building businesses and sales teams just like you for the last 20 years. Today we're going to deep dive into your quotes and why they might not be converting at a rate that is as high as you'd like, i.e., we're not closing enough sales. And from there, have a look across 3 areas where you might be able to fix it. And those 3 areas being presentation, clarity, and value. So let's jump straight in. We really have quite a strong focus around the quoting process at the moment. For me, it's the area that's the easiest to change and can make the biggest impact to teams, hence why we're spending a little bit more time than we normally would on this. I really hope it's adding some great value for you. At the very least, you should be hearing some similar messages, not the same, but similar messages across these episodes that's really reinforcing where you might be able to go and get to work in your business to grow it. Okay, so I want you to picture you go to site, you do a quote, you think you nail it, right? You rock up to site, you're happy, you're smiling, you build a relationship, the customer's happy, be it a home, be it a workplace, it doesn't matter. You talk through what they're looking for, what they want. You then very clearly say, we can do this and that, and everyone's getting excited and you talk in detail. You go and get a quote out to them and then bang, it's quieter than a beach on a cold and rainy day. You don't get a yes, you don't get a no, but you get the let me think about it response, right? The dreaded I'm not sure, the dreaded my quote's gonna go into inertia, my pipeline status open, I've worked hard but I don't get a result type of process. Really common. It's happened to me, I was gonna say dozens of times, it's happened to me hundreds of times, hundreds and hundreds of times I'd say over the tens of thousands of quotes that I've been involved with. But the good news is there are ways to really significantly reduce that let me think about it response. I won't say you get rid of them forever because there are absolutely people that are out there just inquiring and who are just interested. But certainly my experience with working with so many hundreds and close to thousands of salespeople now is that you can absolutely reduce those numbers. So let's have a look into the 3 areas where quotes don't necessarily engage well enough with customers and some things you can do to fix it. So today we're gonna structure these around presentation, clarity, and value. 3 areas of quotes where I see a lot of businesses, but particularly businesses that deal in the building and construction industries and trades, where they really don't get this right. So number 1 is presentation. So that's all about whether or not your quote, and yes, it does make an impact, and that's whether or not your quote is visually appealing. So when people open it up, and you'll know in this camp, I've done it, we've all been here, but when people open up your quote, do they see a zero printout or a myOB printout or an Ascora or ServiceMate, right? Just a very basic one page for a quote that says your name, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12 line items, payment terms, thank you for your business, we're excited to work with you, and that's it. A one page quote. Writing black and white text on a page does nothing to engage someone, does nothing to engage the eyes, does nothing to get the brain running with curiosity or excitement. Right? Like you did when you're in that meeting with them. So the number one area where we see quotes getting a let me think about it is that they haven't taken the time to build that accounting software or their project management software one-page dump into something that is going to engage with the customer. That's number one. Number two is that the quotes don't align with the product or the service that the customer actually wanted. So an example here, is if we are, and I'll use the painter from Wednesday. I do often defer to painting, but I think it's a very good industry to use as an example, you know, for pillars of how we can do things differently. So I'll use a painting example. The customer and the painter are talking in the house. They are looking at painting some outdoor walls and the painter talks about how it's really important to have a paint that's going to last, right? We want a paint that's on those walls. You're not going to have to worry about it again. Quote comes through and it says, I'm using Dulux Weathershield Maxion Ultimate Sun Protection Paint. Great, technical. It's probably, in fact, it's probably not in my example specifically like the product's named, but certainly in the quote, it will be the product that is very specifically applied to that scenario. But what's missing here is things like 10-year warranty, is things like, or whatever the warranty period is, gonna protect your house for a long period of time so you don't have to paint it again, is super easy to clean, you get bird poo on there, you can just wipe it off, right? Is resistant to mold, whatever it may be, it's missing the actual context around what the product is. So quotes, when I talk about clarity, they will talk about specs of a product, specs of a piece of machinery, specs of a piece of equipment, specs of a service, specs of the architectural plans in terms that are very technical. Town planning approvals or certifier approvals that are just too hard for a person who doesn't have experience in that area to understand. So that's the second area, right? Number one is presentation. They engage in black and white text and that's it. So they don't do anything else to tell stories and engage people into the value or the journey you can take them on. Number two is clarity. So they put technical specifications in or things that are hard to understand. Rather than writing words that people understand. Look, a really good example here is to pitch your words at a 12-year-old. What can a 12-year-old understand? Now, some people will say third grader, some people will say 9-year-old, right? The point is that it's pitch your words with a level of vocabulary, right? Or use types of words that people who are 12 years old can understand. Okay, and last but not least is value. So the quotes aren't delivered in a way that adds value. And I think what I really mean here is there's no storytelling across that quote that says, Hey, you're not alone. Someone else has done this. You're going to build your house a meter off the ground. Here's some examples as to what other people have done and why they've done it. We're going to insulate your house using this type of product, Rockwool, instead of a different synthetic option. And here's some other people who've done it and the benefits they've had. We're going to re-roof your house and use titanium screws instead of stainless steel because of the area that you live in. And here is why some other people have done it. Now roofers, don't shoot me if you don't use titanium steel or titanium bolts. I've just bought a really old Defender 90 series, or it's 15 years old. It's amazing, having so much fun, but I'm changing all those rusted stainless steel bolts to titanium. So there you go. It's top of mind for me at the moment. But the point here is that the quote's not adding enough value through storytelling. So 3 areas. Presentation is in engaging the customer. Clarity, the quote doesn't actually talk in a language they understand, and value, it's not showing the customer, hey, you can do this, others have done it, here's how we're going to make it happen. So what do you do about this? It's all well and good to say here are the problems, but what do you do about it? In two very short and sharp areas, I'd encourage you to think about when you're building out your quote templates, number one is to make it more than just one page. Fill out that quote template so that you can tell a story. Fill out that quote template so that you can engage more than just the very black and white, here's the product, read it, try and comprehend it, but engage things like emotions, engage aspirations, and think of ways you can get the customer involved through more than just that one-page bit of paper. So storytelling absolutely is a key here. And certainly I can absolutely expand on what a great quote looks like. In fact, we'll do an episode on that coming up, but it's very much a big focus of what we do throughout our Sold Out Sales Teams Academy is to get that quote right. All right, second thing is to make sure in that quote that you have a page that spells out exactly what the customer wants. Be really clear. Here's what you want. Here's what we're doing. Here's what you asked for. Here's what I'm going to propose. Here's what a great result looks like for you. Here's how we're going to make it happen. So they would be the two areas that I would start to focus on now. They will spread across presentation, clarity, and value that we spoke about, but expand your quote to be more than just one page and get really clear in there around what the customer wants and how you are addressing it. So that's today's episode. What we spoke about was that for me, having worked with a large number of people in the trade, construction, and building industries, that so many times their quotes get a let me think about it. It's not a no, it's not a yes, but they sit there in inertia and in the end no one actually does anything about them and they stay as an open quote forever. Generally comes down to 3 areas: presentation, clarity, and value. And for me, if you're looking to improve this in your business and you started to have some ideas that came out of today, I'd really focus on expanding your quote template to be more than one page. And getting really clear on spelling out how you're going to add value to the customer by matching what you're offering to what they're looking for. So from today, as you're driving, as you're in the gym, as you're walking your dog, what I'm hopeful is that you had a little spark in your head go off that says, and for me, I think the most likely one is that no, my quotes are just not expansive enough. They're not telling a story, right? And you've had a little bit of sparkle in your head that goes, right, I need to go out and get that done. So out of today, what I'm hopeful is that you can go and work with somebody in your business and your team, or if you use virtual resources or if you're on your own, to go and start making improvements to that quote template. We're dropping episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Generally, they're going to be in the mornings if you're in Australia and the afternoons in the US. Our business works globally, so hopefully we're accounting for most audiences. Please keep that focus up on being 1% better each and every day. It does make a difference and really look forward to seeing you in our next episode. That's it for today. Bye for now. Are you frustrated spending hours of wasted time on sales quotes that you keep losing? Without changing something now, you'll continue to get these same stressful results over and over again. My free quote audit will pinpoint exactly why you're not winning more jobs and what you need to do to increase your close rates quickly. Click the free quote audit link in the show notes to get started now.
