Pricing and quoting concrete work: per square foot, good better best, deposits
How to publish per square foot pricing without getting undercut, three-tier quotes that raise average job size, deposit terms, and what it does to ad budgets.
Concrete pricing is public whether you publish it or not. Homeowners type "concrete driveway cost per square foot" into Google, get a national-average article written by somebody who has never run a screed, and arrive at your estimate holding a number like $6 that does not exist in your market. Then your $11 looks like a markup instead of a price.
That single dynamic causes more lost bids in this trade than any other. It is also entirely fixable, and fixing it changes what your marketing costs.
Publish ranges, and publish the drivers
Put a pricing page on your website with per square foot ranges for your market and, more importantly, the six variables that move a job inside those ranges.
A structure that works:
- Broom finish flatwork, $8 to $14 per square foot
- Exposed aggregate, $12 to $18
- Stamped and colored, $15 to $25
- Tear-out and haul-off of an existing slab, add $2 to $6
- Steps and landings, priced per riser
- Small jobs under 200 square feet, a minimum charge that covers the truck
Then the drivers, in one sentence each: thickness and reinforcement (four inch with fiber versus five or six inch with rebar), subgrade and base condition, demolition scope, truck access and pump requirement, finish type, and color and pattern selection.
The objection is always the same: competitors will undercut me. They already can. What the page actually does is disqualify the shopper who wanted $6 concrete before he takes two hours of your estimating time, and it makes you the source of the number the homeowner is using. It also gets quoted by AI assistants answering cost questions, which is free visibility explained in the AI search guide.
Quote in three tiers, not one number
A single number invites a yes or a no, and a comparison against two other single numbers. Three tiers invite a choice about scope, and the conversation moves off price.
For a 700 square foot driveway replacement:
Good, $8,900. Remove and haul the existing slab, compacted base, four inch pour, 4000 PSI mix, fiber reinforcement, broom finish, saw cut control joints at ten foot spacing, one year workmanship warranty.
Better, $10,400. Everything above, plus five inch pour with number four rebar on 18 inch centers, thickened edges, one penetrating sealer application, and apron tie-in.
Best, $13,200. Everything above, plus integral color or a stamped border, second sealer coat at 30 days, and a two year workmanship warranty.
Two things happen when you present it this way. Most customers pick the middle, which is often above what you would have quoted as your single number. And the ones who pick Good have chosen it themselves, so they are not asking you to shave 8% off.
Put the three tiers on one page, in a table, in that order. Do not email a PDF that requires pinching to read on a phone.
Never lead with the total
Lead with what is included, then the number. A homeowner who reads "remove the old slab, haul it away, compact and grade the base, pour four inches at 4000 PSI with fiber, cut joints within 24 hours, and clean the site" before seeing $8,900 has a completely different reaction than one who sees $8,900 first.
Specify the things the low bidder is leaving out and do not name the low bidder. Base preparation, joint spacing, reinforcement, slab thickness, mix PSI, and cure and sealing schedule. A homeowner comparing your written specification to a competitor's handwritten "driveway, $6,800" has been handed the reason to pay more without you saying a word about the other guy.
Deposits and scheduling
Take a deposit at signing, the same day. A signed quote with no deposit is a maybe, and a maybe will cancel on a Sunday night after you have ordered material and blocked the truck.
Standard and defensible is 25% to 35%, or a figure equal to materials plus removal cost. Explain what it buys, because that removes almost all of the friction: it holds the pour date, orders the base material and the concrete, and covers the permit.
Then be specific about scheduling, including the weather. "We are booking into the second week of October. Your pour will be scheduled on a Tuesday or Wednesday, and if the forecast shows rain or overnight lows under 40 degrees we move you to the next open slot rather than pour in bad conditions." Homeowners accept weather delays easily when they are warned in advance and resent them bitterly when they are not.
Take the final payment on completion, not 30 days out, and take cards. The 3% fee is cheaper than chasing a $9,000 check.
What pricing does to your marketing
This is the part most owners do not connect.
If your average job is $6,500 and you close one in three qualified leads, you can afford $150 to $250 per lead and still spend under 10% of revenue on acquisition. If you have talked yourself into competing at $7 per square foot and your average job is $4,200 at a 6% margin, you can afford almost nothing, and every marketing channel will look like it does not work.
The same is true of tiering. A company whose average sale is $10,400 because most people pick the middle option can outbid a company whose average sale is $8,900 on every click, every lead, every channel. Pricing strategy is a marketing budget decision wearing different clothes.
It also changes which leads you want. Once you publish ranges and quote in tiers, the Google Ads copy should carry a starting price. Fewer clicks, better calls, lower cost per booked job.
Competing against unlicensed crews
The $6 per square foot bid usually comes from a crew with no license, no general liability, no workers compensation, and no intention of being reachable in 18 months when the slab spalls.
Do not argue about price. Make the difference concrete, on paper, every time:
- License number and state, printed on the quote.
- General liability certificate, with the amount, attached to the quote as a PDF.
- Workers compensation status, stated plainly. On a homeowner's property, an uninsured injury becomes the homeowner's problem, and most people have never thought about that.
- Written specification with thickness, PSI, reinforcement and joint plan.
- A workmanship warranty with a term and what it covers, including what it does not, because hairline cracking at joints is normal and saying so up front builds more trust than a vague promise.
Across 80,873 listings the median concrete company has 7 reviews, so the low bidder usually has almost none. A quote packet with 60 reviews and an insurance certificate next to a napkin number wins more often than owners expect, at a 30% premium.
Frequently asked
Should I give a price over the phone? Give a range and a reason for the range. "Driveways that size usually run $9,000 to $12,000 depending on the base and whether we are tearing out. I can text you a firm number after I see a photo." Refusing to talk numbers reads as evasive.
What about a fuel or material surcharge? Price it into the number instead. Line-item surcharges read as bait and switch to homeowners, even when they are honest.
How do I raise prices without losing volume? Raise the middle tier first and leave Good where it is. Watch the mix for a month. Most concrete companies find the middle tier still takes the majority.
Pricing pages, quote templates and the three-tier setup come with the website service in the free 14-day trial. Text or call (385) 832-6175.