Your quote conversion rate: how to calculate it, and how to read it

You send quotes all week, and you have a feel for which ones get signed. A feel, not a number. Yet that number is what tells you whether your problem is finding clients, or closing with the ones who already asked for a price.

The short answer: signed quotes divided by quotes sent, over the same period. The useful answer means knowing which quotes to count, and how to break the result down.

The calculation, by count and by value#

The conversion rate can be calculated two ways, and you need both.

• By count: signed quotes ÷ quotes sent × 100. It tells you how many clients say yes.
• By value: total value of signed quotes ÷ total value of quotes sent × 100. It tells you what share of the amount you quoted turns into signed work.

Take a renovation contractor that sent 60 quotes in a quarter. The amounts are assumptions:

The two figures tell different stories. One client in three signs, but only one euro in four of what was quoted. Large quotes convert less well than small ones. The rate by count alone would have hidden that.

The three mistakes that skew the figure#

Counting quotes that are still pending#

A quote sent last week is neither won nor lost. Count it as lost and the rate drops for no reason. The simple rule: only count quotes whose answer is known, or whose usual response time has passed. If your clients usually reply within three weeks, a quote older than three weeks with no answer counts as not signed.

Counting every version of the same quote#

A client asks for an alternative, then a second one. Three quotes have gone out, but there is only one job at stake. Count all three and the rate falls artificially. Count one deal, with its latest version.

Measuring over too short a period#

Over one month, three signed quotes more or less move the rate by ten points. Measure over a quarter at least, and compare quarter to quarter.

Breaking the rate down so it helps you decide#

An overall rate tells you whether the year is going well. It doesn't tell you what to change. The breakdown does. Four cuts are enough for most project-based businesses:

1. By type of work. A full bathroom refit doesn't sell like a repair call. A low rate on one type of work raises a question about price, or about whether to keep answering those requests.
2. By client source. A client sent by a referral partner, a returning client, a request from your website: the rates are rarely the same. The figure tells you where to spend your time.
3. By quote size. This is where the gap between the rate by count and the rate by value shows up.
4. By the person who wrote the quote. Not to rank people, but to understand what the person who signs the most does differently.

One figure is missing from this table: time. Also measure the delay between the client's request and the quote going out. When that delay grows, the rate often falls a few weeks later.

What the figure tells you, and what it doesn't#

A low rate isn't always bad news. It may come from a fair price against competitors who undercut, or from requests that were never serious. The figure raises the question. The answer comes from calling back a few clients who didn't sign.

Then there are the quotes that are neither signed nor refused, just forgotten. We put a figure on them in our article on quotes nobody follows up: in a renovation business of fewer than ten people, €24,000 of margin a year, counting only one quote in six. Before deciding your prices are too high, check that every quote was actually followed up.

We thought the quotes with no answer were clients who just weren't interested.

What changes with an application built for your business#

In a spreadsheet, the calculation is easy. What costs is keeping the list: logging every quote sent, its version, its outcome, its source. The first busy week, the list falls behind and the rate becomes wrong.

When quotes are produced in the company's own application, the list keeps itself:

• every quote sent is recorded with its amount, type of work, source and author;
• a new version replaces the previous one, so the deal is never counted twice;
• the status changes when the client signs, and a quote left unanswered too long moves up the follow-up list;
• the rate is on a screen, by count and by value, broken down however you like.

What we build for quotes is described on the quotes and follow-ups page.

Quote conversion rate: the key takeaways#

Calculate the rate by count and by value, over a quarter at least, counting only quotes whose outcome is known and one version per deal. The gap between the two rates already says a lot about which quotes you are losing.

The overall figure tracks the trend. The breakdown by type of work, source and size is what helps you decide. And before touching your prices, check that every quote was followed up.