Skip to content
Not enough quote requests
as a contractor?
You deliver good work, your clients are happy and still next quarter's schedule stays empty. At most construction companies that is not about craftsmanship but about six leaks between the first search and the signed quote. Here they are, with what you can do yourself.
Search for yourself the way a client does
Open Google on your phone and search your trade plus your town, for example "roofer Lier" or "renovation Mechelen". Look at the map at the top, not at the ads.
If you are not in the top three on the map, most searchers never see you. If you are there but with two reviews and no photos, the client picks the neighbour with forty reviews and ten projects. That one search tells you which part of this page applies to you first.
Clients cannot find you, or are not convinced
A building project almost always starts with a search. Three leaks sit in that very first minute.
1. Your Google Business Profile is empty
For local searches the profile on Google Maps weighs more than your website. List every service separately, add new site photos every month and ask for a review after every handover. Ten recent reviews do more than a hundred old ones.
2. Your website shows no projects
A homeowner having a bathroom or roof done wants to see work like his own, preferably nearby. Show each project with before and after photos, the town, the duration and a short explanation. Those are also the pages that get you found in Google for your region.
3. You are invisible beyond your regulars
Word of mouth works until the regular clients run out. If you are not visible on Google, Maps and social media, you fall back on platforms where every request goes to five contractors at once. Then you only compete on price.
Requests come in but do not become projects
Then the leak is after first contact. That is usually the cheapest part to fix.
4. You reply too slowly
A request that comes in at night and gets an answer two days later has often gone to a competitor. Reply the same day, even if it is only a confirmation and a proposal for a site visit. A fixed reply template or automatic follow up makes that doable between two jobs.
5. Quotes are not followed up
Many quotes are not rejected but forgotten. Call or mail after three to five working days with a concrete question: does the planning work, is anything in the price unclear. Whoever follows up often wins from whoever was cheaper but stayed silent.
6. Your quote only tells a price
A quote with only lines and amounts invites comparison on the total. Add what the client does not see: approach, planning, warranty, who is on site and two similar projects. Then he compares approach instead of price.
Good work sells itself, but only to people who have already seen it.
Everything above you can fix yourself, without an agency. It mostly takes discipline: photograph every job, ask every client for a review and follow up every quote. If that does not fit next to the work, you can outsource it.
Your checklist for this week
| Check | Where | What you want to see |
|---|---|---|
| Map position | Google, trade plus town | Top three on Maps |
| Reviews | Google Business Profile | At least one new review per month |
| Site photos | Profile and website | Recent projects with the town listed |
| Response time | Your inbox and phone | Every request answered the same day |
| Follow up | Your list of open quotes | Every quote called after 3 to 5 working days |
| Quote | Your last three quotes | Approach, planning and warranty included |
Want to see how other construction companies handle this? Read how we work for the construction sector, or how speed to lead answers every request within minutes.
More requests as a construction company
Does Facebook advertising work for a construction company?
Yes, for visible work such as renovations, bathrooms, facades and landscaping. Before and after images and short videos from a site perform well there. For urgent work such as a leaking roof people search on Google, so a Google campaign on your region works better.
What does marketing cost for a construction company?
Doing it yourself mostly costs time. If you outsource it, Marketing on Demand with us starts from €450 per month for one marketing day, excl. VAT. Ad budget comes on top: for a local contractor €300 to €800 per month on Google is a workable start.
How fast should I reply to a request?
Ideally within the hour and certainly the same day. People who send a request often contact several contractors at once, and the first one to call has a head start on the site visit.
Do I need marketing if word of mouth brings enough work?
Not to survive today, but to be able to choose. With a steady flow of requests you can take the jobs that pay best and fit best, instead of accepting everything to fill the schedule.
Let us review your requests
A free 30 minute analysis. We look at your visibility on Google and Maps, your website and how you follow up requests, and tell you what we would fix first.
Read more: Marketing on Demand · Google Ads · Results by sector