How to quote more jobs without driving to more sites
A solo roofer who quotes 15 jobs a month spends roughly 22 hours just on pre-quote site visits. Here's how to cut that to under 5.
A contractor quoting 15 jobs per month, spending 90 minutes per site visit just to measure, burns through 22 hours of drive-and-measure time before writing a single number.
That's more than half a workweek — every month — spent on measurements alone.
The old workflow
- Prospect calls, wants a quote.
- Schedule a site visit (often a day or two out).
- Drive to the site, measure the roof and walls.
- Drive back, write up the estimate.
- Send it — sometimes 3 days after the call.
By then, the fast contractor has already closed the job.
The new workflow
- Prospect calls, wants a quote.
- Ask them to send one photo, or pull up the address on your phone.
- Take one photo, get measurements in under 30 seconds.
- Quote on the call, or send it within the hour.
Speed wins bids. The contractor who can say "I can have a number to you by end of day" wins more jobs than the one scheduling a site visit for Thursday.
What about accuracy?
For an initial quote — which is what most contractors are doing at this stage — a good estimate from a photo is accurate enough to bid competitively. You're not ordering materials yet; you're getting in the door. Final measurements for material orders follow after the contract is signed.
Keep reading
Wall area, roof pitch, waste factors, and the small calculation errors that quietly inflate material costs on every job.
Rural jobs, new builds, and tree canopy — the three situations where every satellite-based estimating tool leaves you empty-handed.