Building a price list a quote form can work from

Why generic pricing tools get mocked

Owners on sign forums are not fans of pricing tools. They have seen too many of them.

One wrote, "Quoting software is stupid and such low hanging fruit. It's basic algebra with a UI." Another, about asking an AI for prices: "There are so many variables involved in a job that AI can never give anything accurate."

They have a point. A generic tool does not know your material costs, your labor rate, your overhead or the way you handle an install in a tight alley. It guesses, and a wrong guess on a custom job costs money.

Another owner described the opposite experience: "When you give it the right information, it will do a lot of math based on profit and margin and can do a good job getting you closer to the final number faster." The difference between the two views is what the tool was given.

So the lesson is to write down your own numbers first. A quote form, a spreadsheet or a new hire can only be as good as the list behind it. If the list is in your head, the form has nothing to work from.

Writing your price list is useful even if you never automate anything. It makes quotes faster and more consistent, and it shows you where you have been guessing.

Structure your own price list

Start by splitting your work into two piles: standard and custom. Standard products have fixed sizes and materials, and a price list can handle them. Custom products depend on the site, and they need a person.

For each standard product, write one row. Give it a name and the material. Then set out the ways the price changes.

• Size: either steps (small, medium, large) or a rule per square foot.
• Quantity: whether a larger order lowers the unit price, and where.
• Finishing: hems, grommets, laminate, mounting hardware, each as its own line.
• Setup or art handling, if you charge for it.
• Minimum charge for the product.
• Rush and its rule.
• Install or delivery, if offered.

A spreadsheet works. One row per product, one column per option, and a notes column for anything that makes it not standard.

Behind each row sits the cost build-up: materials, labor, overhead, profit. Be honest about labor. Owners on sign forums use the phrase "fully burdened," which means the real hourly cost once you include everything the shop spends to keep that person working. If you price off a bare wage, your list will leave out most of your costs.

Put the date on the list. Material costs change, and a list from last year may be out of date.

What stays off the list

Custom work does not fit a formula, and the list should say so.

Lit letters, monuments, anything that needs a permit, a lift, an engineer or a landlord's approval: write "custom" in the price column and decide what happens next. It might be a site visit, a call with you, or a range after the customer sends photos. A quote form should send these straight to you, with all the details gathered.

Decide how you handle ballparks. Owners disagree. Some give a range and only prepare a full quote if the customer is comfortable with it. One wrote, "I give ball parks and tell them if they want to move forward with a firm quote to call me back." Another says, "Never give a ballpark price, what's the sense." Either policy works if you choose it and stay consistent.

Write down your rules next to the list: your minimum order, your rush policy, and how long your quotes are good for.

Then you have a list that can run a quote form. The customer picks a standard item, the form reads your row, and the price comes from your numbers. Custom work routes to you.

Winton Consulting's quoting automation works from the price list you give it. It drafts quotes for standard products, and custom work comes to you as a full summary to price yourself. You check every quote before it goes out.