Free estimates or a paid site visit, and when each one wins for a concrete company
Free estimates fill your truck with tire kickers. A paid visit scares off real buyers. When each one wins for a concrete contractor, and how to market it.
You drove 40 minutes each way last Tuesday to measure a patio for someone who wanted it for $1,500 and had three other bids already. That is four hours of your week gone on a job you never had a chance at. So you are wondering whether to start charging for estimates.
Some concrete contractors swear by it. Others say it kills their phone. Both are right, depending on the job and the market. Here is how to decide.
Option one: free estimates
This is the default in the trade. Customers expect it, and most of your competitors offer it.
When it wins:
- Your average job is small to mid-size. Sidewalks, patios, small driveways, steps. A customer will not pay $100 to find out what a $3,000 patio costs.
- You are new or your Google profile is thin. The median concrete company in our data has 7 reviews, and 57.9% have fewer than 10. If you are in that group, "free estimate" is one of the few reasons a stranger has to call you over someone else.
- Your area is tight. If most jobs are within 15 minutes, a wasted estimate costs you an hour, not half a day.
The cost: tire kickers, price shoppers, and people collecting a third bid for their brother-in-law. The fix is not to charge. It is to qualify on the phone before you drive.
Option two: a paid site visit
Some contractors charge $75 to $250 for an on-site visit and credit it back if the customer hires them.
When it wins:
- Your jobs are large or technical. Stamped and colored work, full driveway tear-outs, retaining walls, foundations. A customer spending $12,000 or more expects to pay for real expertise and will often respect you more for charging.
- You are booked out. If your calendar is full for six weeks, a fee filters for people serious enough to wait.
- You cover a big area. Rural jobs an hour away cost real fuel and time. A fee covers it.
- Your reviews are strong. A paid visit is easier to sell when your profile already proves you are worth it.
The cost: fewer calls, and some good customers who would have hired you will call someone free instead. You need to be willing to lose them.
The middle path most companies end up on
Most concrete contractors who try both settle somewhere in between:
- Free price ranges by phone or text. "A standard 10 by 12 patio, broom finish, usually runs $X to $Y in our area." Many shoppers drop off here, which is the point.
- Free estimates on photos. Ask for three photos and rough measurements by text. You can quote most simple jobs without driving.
- Free site visits for qualified jobs. Once the customer accepts the range and the job fits your schedule, go measure.
- A paid visit only for complex work like foundations, drainage problems or walls, credited to the job.
This keeps the "free estimate" in your marketing while protecting your time. The pricing guide covers how to present ranges and the good-better-best quote that follows.
How to market each one
If you offer free estimates, say so everywhere and make it easy:
- Google profile: add "Free estimates" to your description and a post.
- Website: a short form asking for photos and the size, plus your phone number. The website guide lists what that page needs.
- Answer fast. A free-estimate shopper calls three companies and books the first one who calls back. The missed calls guide covers how fast is fast enough.
If you charge, explain why in one line and make the credit obvious:
"Site visits are $125, credited in full when you book. We charge because we measure, check grade and drainage, and give you a written quote you can hold us to."
That last sentence does the selling. People pay for a written quote they can hold you to.
What to watch either way
Track three numbers for 60 days: estimates done, jobs booked, and hours spent driving to estimates. If you book fewer than one in four free estimates, tighten your phone qualifying before you start charging. If you book more than half of paid visits, your fee may be too low.
Also watch your reviews. A contractor who shows up on time for a free estimate and sends a clear written quote earns reviews even from customers who do not hire them. Concrete companies with a website in our data have a median of 10 reviews, against 2 for those without one. The benchmark report shows where you sit, and the calculator shows what a missed estimate call costs you.
The short version
Small jobs and thin reviews: keep estimates free but qualify by phone and photos first. Large, technical jobs and a full calendar: charge a credited site visit and explain why. Most companies do both, by job type.
If you want photo-quote intake and fast follow-up set up for you, the free 14-day trial covers any one service, no card: text or call (385) 832-6924.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, concrete contractors among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor