The £2,000 message: why how you write costs you jobs

The message that lost a £2,000 job

A plumber we spoke to — Mike, based in Croydon — lost a bathroom refit worth £2,000 last year. He knew he had lost it because the customer told him when she called to say she was going with someone else.

"Your price was actually the best," she said. "But your email looked a bit rough. The other guy sent a proper quote."

The other guy charged £200 more.

She paid it.

What Mike sent

"hi the bathroom job would be around 2000 for everything including tiles labour all in let me know cheers"

Sent from his phone at 9pm.

What he should have sent

"Dear Mrs Clarke, Thank you for getting in touch regarding your bathroom renovation at 42 Thornton Road. I am pleased to provide the following quotation: Full bathroom strip out and removal, supply and fitting of new suite (bath, WC, basin), floor and wall tiling up to 10sqm, all plumbing works and connections. Total: £1,950 including labour and materials, VAT not applicable. This quote is valid for 30 days. I would be happy to start in the next two to three weeks subject to agreement. Please feel free to call or email with any questions. Kind regards, Mike Johnson, MJ Plumbing, Gas Safe Reg 123456"

Same person. Same job. Same price (roughly). Completely different outcome.

Why this keeps happening

Tradespeople are not bad writers. They are busy. They are on the road, on a job, under a sink. They dash off a message on their phone and move on.

The customer does not see a busy tradesperson. They see someone who does not take the job seriously enough to write properly.

It is unfair. But it is reality.

The fix

You do not need to become a better writer. You need a tool that does the writing for you.

That is exactly what Drafted is. Tell it the rough details — customer, job, price — and it produces a professional message in seconds.

Mike now uses Drafted for every quote. He has not lost a job to a better-written competitor since.