“A videographer, a yoga instructor, and a mechanic walk into a bar…”

No, this isn’t the beginning to a bad joke. Rather, it is the beginning to a valuable evening at LJS & Associate’s monthly networking mixer.
Once a month, LJS & Associates gathers about 20 business professionals to connect, learn, and engage. The evening provides a friendly and informal atmosphere where attendees can foster relationships with other business community members.

One of our regular attendees remarked, “These mixers are an excellent learning experience for me, and I’m looking forward to going to the next one.”
This month, attendees had the opportunity to participate in a round robin style discussion on the topic of quoting. Using each other as sounding boards, guests shared their experience, both good and bad, and the techniques that have helped them quote more quickly, confidently, and successfully.

Major takeaways of the evening include:

Present Your Worth

In a new business, owners may struggle to know if they should quote less due to lack of experience or because the client is a friend or family. To avoid trapping yourself with low prices and struggling to raise them, one business owner recommends, as much as possible, having an established price sheet available to present to clients. Maybe this price sheet is inflated beyond what you currently expect to charge, but as was shared to the group, “Giving a discount is easy; raising your prices is impossible.”

Tracking Quotes and Following Up

“You don’t learn from the quotes you win,” one of our attendees noted when explaining how he ensures to track his quotes, especially the ones that didn’t turn into jobs. He also recommends following up with customers about why they didn’t select your business. Any feedback they provide will be valuable for moving forward.

Getting a Second Opinion

Leigh Sherry, President of LJS & Associates recommended that while you’re probably used to getting things done yourself, you don’t want to skip this important step with quoting. The feedback from partners, employees, or trusted third parties can provide valuable insight. The second set of eyes can point out things you may not have considered the first time like additional material or labour considerations. Additionally, they can let you know if your pricing structure is in line with local and industry averages.

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