How much does it cost to quote glazing jobs the old way
8/26/20263 min read
How Much Does It Actually Cost to Quote Glazing Jobs the Old Way?
You already know quoting takes time. But have you ever sat down and worked out what that time actually costs you?
Most glaziers we speak to are quoting the same way they have for years: visit the job, scribble measurements on a notepad, drive home, pull up a spreadsheet (or a scrap of paper), work out the glass sizes, price up the materials, type it into a quote, and email it off — usually after dinner, usually the next day, sometimes two days later.
It feels free because you're not paying for software. But you're paying alright — in time, in fuel, in lost jobs, and in conversions that slip away while your quote sits in a queue.
Let's break it down.
The Real Cost of a Manual Glazing Quote
Take a typical single replacement glass job — a cracked pane in a residential front room. Here's what the old way actually costs you:
1. The Return Visit
You measured it on site, but you didn't price it there and then. So either you go back to measure again (because your notes weren't great), or you wing it from memory and risk underquoting. Return visits cost fuel, time, and schedule disruption — easily £15–£30 per trip in fuel and lost earning time.
2. The Evening Paperwork
After a full day on the road, you're sitting at the kitchen table working out glass sizes, checking material prices, and typing up a quote. A straightforward single-pane quote takes 20–30 minutes when you factor in the maths, the materials lookup, and the formatting. At a modest tradesperson's rate of £35/hour, that's £12–£17 per quote in labour time alone.
3. The Lost Quote
Here's the big one. A quote that arrives 24–48 hours after the initial visit gives the customer time to phone someone else. They're not being disloyal — they just need the job done. Studies show that quote conversion drops significantly after 24 hours, and quotes delivered while the tradesperson is still on site convert at a far higher rate. Every lost job isn't just lost revenue — it's also the time you already spent measuring and quoting it.
4. The Forgotten Follow-Up
You sent the quote. Did you chase it? If you're using a spreadsheet or a paper system, following up means scrolling through your sent folder or checking your notebook. Most glaziers admit they rarely follow up — not because they don't want to, but because the system doesn't remind them. Every unchased quote is a maybe that quietly becomes a no.
Adding It Up: Cost Per Quote
For a single replacement glass job quoted the old way, a conservative estimate looks like this:
Return visit (fuel + time): £20
Evening quoting time: £15
Lost conversion (1 in 5 jobs lost to slow quoting): £40+ per quote in lost revenue
Unchased follow-ups: impossible to quantify, but easily 10–20% more lost work
That's £75+ per quote in hidden costs before you've even won the job. Do five quotes a week? You're burning £375 a week — nearly £20,000 a year — in time, fuel, and lost work that you could avoid.
The GlassEst Way: Quote On Site, Email Before You Leave
Now imagine standing in front of that cracked pane, phone in hand. You measure it, tap the dimensions into GlassEst, and the app calculates the glass size, prices the materials, and generates a professional quote — right there, in seconds.
You email it to the customer before you've left the house. They've got the quote in front of them while you're still shaking hands. No return visit. No evening paperwork. No scribbled notes. No lost job to the faster competitor down the road.
And because the quote landed while you were still in front of the customer, they're far more likely to say yes there and then — or at minimum, to remember you when they compare quotes the next day.
What GlassEst Actually Does
Create & email quotes from your phone or tablet, on site, in seconds
Automatically calculate glass rates from your measurements — no maths, no spreadsheets
Raise purchase orders in a click, direct from the quote
Track quotes so you know what's been sent, opened, accepted, or needs chasing
Get paid faster with integrated invoicing
All from the job, not the kitchen table.
The Maths Is Simple
GlassEst starts at £29/month + VAT — that's less than the cost of a single return visit and an hour of evening quoting time. If it saves you one lost job a month, it's paid for itself ten times over.
Stop quoting the hard way. Start quoting on site, closing more deals, and getting your evenings back.
Start Your Free Trial
14-day free trial. No card required. Founder pricing from £29/month + VAT, fixed for life.
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