A customer describes a straightforward job. Forty metres of fence, flat garden, easy access. The quote is given over the phone and accepted.
The garden drops a metre and a half across its length, the only access is through the house, and the old fence is concreted into a bed of rubble. Nothing about that price is achievable.
Ask about slope first
Whether the ground is level, which way it falls and roughly how much. Customers say flat because it looks flat from the back door, and the answer changes the labour substantially.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a fencing or decking business might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Customer: I need about forty metres of fencing, how much? Assistant: The pricing page gives ranges by panel type and height, and the final figure depends on the ground and the access. Could you send photographs along the whole run, tell me whether the ground slopes and let me know how we would get materials into the garden?
Customer: How much for decking about four by five metres? Assistant: The decking page explains how quotes are built up, including the frame and the ground preparation. Could you tell me what is there now, whether the ground is level and how far it would be from where a van can park? Photographs of the area and the access route would let the team price it properly.
Customer: The access is fine, there is a side gate. Assistant: That helps. Could you tell me the width of the gate and whether there are steps or a narrow path? Some materials come in long lengths, so the team need to know what can physically be carried through.
Ask what is there now
An existing fence, a deck, a patio, a shed base or a hedge. Removal, disposal and what is found underneath are real costs that never appear in a phone quote.
Ask how posts will be set
Whether previous posts were concreted, whether there is rubble, tree roots, a concrete base or a known service run. It is the single biggest cause of a job overrunning.
Ask about access specifically
Gate width, path width, steps, how far from the parking and whether anything must go through the house. Long boards and panels do not bend around corners.
Ask about the ground itself
Waterlogged, sandy, solid clay or recently disturbed. It affects how posts hold and what preparation a deck frame needs, which is the material conversation in materials questions before choosing a deck or fence.
Ask about boundaries and neighbours
Which side the fence belongs to, whether the neighbour is contributing and whether access from their side is possible. Getting this wrong creates a dispute rather than a job.
Ask about levels for decking
Whether it meets a door threshold, how high it sits and whether steps or a balustrade are needed. Height changes both cost and what is involved considerably.
Ask for photographs, always
Along the whole run, at both ends, of the access route and of anything unusual. Three minutes of the customer's time replaces a wasted visit.
Publish what you need to quote
A short list on the pricing page. Customers who know what to send, send it, and the enquiries arrive complete.
Give a range with the conditions
An honest range with the specific things that would move it. Customers accept it, and it protects both sides when the ground turns out to be what it always was.
Gates arrive with most fencing jobs
Width, hanging and hardware, which is the ground in gates and access questions alongside fencing jobs.
The same capture discipline applies everywhere
Getting the decisive facts before quoting is the pattern in headcount and menu questions before a catering quote and proactive support answering questions before customers ask.
Getting started
Publish what you need to quote and capture slope, access, existing structures and photographs at any hour. SpideyChat for contractors answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.