Including Your Design Process In Your Price Quotes and Contracts

Writing a value- based price quote and contract requires its own set of skills and finesse. The terms and conditions within the agreement is at the heart of your relationship with any client.

When marketing or selling any of your services (i.e interior design, home remodeling service, website management, content writing services, etc), it’s especially important to include your design process in your price quotes as well as your service contracts so your customer understands what you will providing. By adhering to a design process you provide a roadmap for both yourself and your clients when completing a project, ensuring that they understand exactly what to expect at every phase and how it will be executed during each phase of the project.

These six steps that can help guide you:

1) Specify a date range for the product

The customer will always want to have their projects completed in a timely manner, but their expectations may be different from what you can deliver. Before you begin writing your contract, make sure you and the client both understand the estimated time of completion (ETA) for the job proposal once the client has explained to you what they want and how they want it done. This will also help bring into focus the cost of labor and the materials involved, giving your client a more accurate price quote prior to the completion of a contract.

2) Itemize each phase of the project

While every contract will include the total cost of the job and the services or products to be delivered, it is advisable to further break down each aspect of the job into a series of logical steps, or phases. Break down your project into a sequential series of steps that will ensure that you complete the job in an orderly and timely fashion, as well as allow your client to understand exactly what to expect at every step of the way.

3) Include your process

Delineate every aspect of the job as though you are solving a problem. Include each task so the customer is aware of what it will take in order to complete the project and how long it will take in hours. The break down helps you as a business owner understand the time needed for each project and manage your time wisely. In addition, the customer understands the nature of what you are providing and the see the value in your expertise. Often times, the customer may not understand what is involved in doing something and it’s important to manage a customer’s expectations.

With the proper breakdown of the process and tasks, there is an unspoken mutual respect for the work being provided. This way, there are no misunderstandings as to what each party can expect in every step of the process.

4) Include the pricing for each phase

This includes, but is not limited to, the initial consultation, cost of materials, labor, transportation and shipping of goods. By breaking down the cost for each phase of the project from the first outlines to the final touches both you and the client will understand what to expect from each part of the process. This will also facilitate negotiation and adjustments that can be applied to just one part of the project as opposed to changing the whole thing at once. It gives the process greater visibility along with the right expectations.

5) Attach designs in a centralized area of your contract

This is important in any job to include what the current state is of a project and what it will look like after it’s completed or a rough draft of what a customer should expect. Attaching images and pictures of your design plan will let the client know what you are agreeing to. If there are changes, then there needs to be a modification to the original contract

This is commonly done with architect firms – if you read their design proposals, they include various computer renderings and photographs of what the completed project is going to look like. In the contract, they include details of the contracts and include designs. This gives your client the opportunity to make any adjustments or changes before the actual work begins, potentially saving a lot of time and hassle down the road.

6) Offer a simple way for clients to pay

Make it easy to be a customer. Condense all of your fees and billings into one simple payment, along with any additional terms and conditions that might be offered. Payment for services should be a simple and hassle-free process, as making the client’s last interaction with you a poor one can leave a bad aftertaste, potentially discouraging them from renewing their contracts with you in the future.

Source: Including Your Design Process In Your Price Quotes and Contracts

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more articles like this, check out our small business blog:

• Reasons Why You Should Go Paperless

• Value-Based Quotes that Win More business

About Mosspaper

With Mosspaper anyone can create, sign, track and accept quotes and contracts anywhere. Mosspaper provides a streamlined paperless quote and contract renewal SaaS solution from creation to sales renewals, allowing users to monitor and track work.  The company offers a quote creator tool, paperless approval process, centralized customer communications, e-signature, payment integration, real-time notifications, and data analytics for small businesses.

To learn more more information about Mosspaper and how Mosspaper works, please visit our website.