๐ฅ
1d โข The Weekly Stack
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐: ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ช๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ
Grab your coffee fam (because it is too early for anything else), This is a long one.
The most expensive hour you worked this week went into a document nobody paid you for.
The custom proposal.
Not the big one. If a franchise with 40 service pages wants a number, go write the custom scope. That job earns the paperwork.
I am talking about the fifth proposal this quarter for a five page site for a local contractor. Same pages. Same timeline. Same two rounds of revisions. Same price, give or take a couple hundred dollars you made up on the spot.
You started from a blank page anyway.
Count how many of these came out of your mouth in the last 30 days.
"Every client is different."
"Let me put something together for you."
"I need to scope it before I can give you a number."
"I will get that over to you by Friday."
"It depends what you want on it."
"Let me work up a few options."
"I just need to check a couple of things first."
"Give me until Monday and I will send pricing."
Every one of those sounds like craftsmanship.
Read the list again. Not one of them is about the client's business. Every single one is you asking for more time to decide something you already decided four jobs ago.
๐ฅ๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น๐
Say your typical small build sells for $1,500. Swap your own number in if that is low for you.
Now walk one proposal through honestly. Discovery call, one hour. Notes and scoping after the call, one hour. Writing the thing, picking the price, formatting it so it does not look like a ransom note, two hours. Then the follow up, the revision, the "can we do it without the blog" email. One more hour.
Five hours. Per proposal.
Now your close rate. Say you win one in three, which is healthy for a warm local lead.
That is 15 hours of proposal work for one $1,500 sale. Before you have built a single page.
At a $150 hourly rate, you just spent $2,250 of your own time to sell $1,500 of work.
Now run the menu version. The prospect picks Simple Build off a page that already exists. Five pages, two rounds of changes, three weeks, $1,500, deposit link at the bottom. Your job is a 20 minute call and a link.
Same $1,500. Same three prospects. About an hour of your time instead of fifteen.
The ratio does not improve as your prices go up. It usually gets worse, because bigger proposals take longer to write and sit in inboxes longer before they get a yes or a no.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ
That is not a pricing problem. That is a packaging problem.
A custom proposal is not a sales document. It is an invoice you write to yourself and never send.
And here is the thing. Nobody who ever hired you said the 11 page proposal is what sold them. They bought because they understood what they were getting and what it cost. Everything else was the delay between those two facts.
๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น
The custom work does not get created in the document. It gets created on the call, about four minutes in, when you say this:
"So what are you looking for?"
Reasonable question. Expensive one.
A contractor who has never bought marketing in his life now gets to design your service. He names features. You write them down. Now you are holding a feature list nobody can price, including you, so you go home and build a custom scope out of a guess.
Flip the order and the problem disappears. Ask what outcome he wants. Then you tell him which of your three things gets him there.
You are the one who knows what the work takes. Act like it.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ญ. ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐
Pull your last ten invoices. Next to each one write what you actually delivered, not what the proposal called it.
You are looking for the same job wearing a different logo. Most agency owners find six or seven of ten.
The rule: if you have delivered close to the same thing three times, it is not custom work. It is a product you have not written down.
๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐
Four lines for each item. No more.
- What is included, listed as deliverables and not as effort
- What is excluded, named out loud
- How many rounds of changes
- How long it takes, start to handoff
Exclusions do the heavy lifting here. Inclusions sell the job. Exclusions are what keep the job profitable in week three when he asks about the online store.
The rule: if you cannot say what is not in it, you have not productized it. You have given something a name.
๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฏ. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐
๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Most owners price the package on the smoothest job they ever ran. Then every client who asks a lot of questions eats the margin, and inside three months the package feels broken and goes back to being custom.
Price it on the typical job. Then check it against your most demanding client and see if it still works. If it does not, the box is drawn too wide.
The rule: a fixed price has to survive your highest maintenance client, not your easiest one.
๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฐ. ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐
A menu does not mean you stop doing custom work. It means custom is a lane with a gate on it, and you decide in advance what opens the gate.
Write your triggers down. Page count over your standard. Custom functionality. A migration off a platform you do not host. A deadline inside two weeks. Anything on that list gets a real scope and a real quote.
The rule: custom pricing is for work that is actually custom, and you call that on the phone, not after you have already eaten four hours.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐
Here is my own catalog, so you can see the line I am drawing.
Citations cleanup is $297. Site speed optimization is $597. A brand kit is $497. WordPress recovery is $500 for the first four hours, then $150 an hour after that.
None of those four get a proposal. They get a price and a start date.
The one that still gets a custom scope is a complex build, because page count, functionality, and plugin load genuinely move the number. That work earns its paperwork.
That is the whole test. Does the job change enough, client to client, to change the price? If the answer is no, it belongs on the menu.
๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ: ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐
Dale runs a three truck HVAC company. He calls you and says he wants "a new website, nothing fancy, and maybe some of that Google stuff."
Here is the old way.
Free consult runs 90 minutes. Somewhere in there he mentions a booking form, a blog, photo galleries for each service, and "can it text me when somebody fills it out." You write it all down because you are being thorough. Four hours later you have a proposal covering everything he named, at a price you partly guessed. He opens page one, sees $4,200, and asks if you can do it for $2,000.
Now here is the menu way.
You ask one question. "When somebody in your area has no AC at 9 PM on a Saturday, what do you want to happen?"
He says he wants his phone to ring.
That is all you needed. Now you know which items on your menu apply, and you say this:
"Then you want two things from me. The Simple Build gets you five pages, your services, your service area, and a form that texts you the second it is filled out. That is $1,500, three weeks, two rounds of changes. Then Google Business Profile management keeps your profile working so you actually show up on the map at 9 PM on a Saturday. That is $497 a month with a $497 setup. The blog and the galleries are not going to make his phone ring in month one, so I would leave them off until the phone is already ringing."
Dale either buys or he does not. Either way you found out in 20 minutes instead of ten days, and you did not write a document to find out.
That second part is the one people miss. The menu does not just save you proposal hours. It kills the slow no.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด
These two get confused constantly, and the difference is the whole game.
Templating is saving your proposal as a reusable file. You still write a fresh scope and pick a fresh price every time. You saved 40 minutes of typing and kept 100 percent of the decisions. That is a faster version of the same problem.
Productizing is making the scope and the price decisions once, before the prospect ever calls. The only decision left on the call is which item he wants and whether he wants it now.
A template speeds up the document. A product removes the document.
Here is how to tell which one you have. Could somebody else on your team quote your main service today, correctly, without texting you to ask what to charge? If not, you have a template with good formatting.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐
Three situations, and the exact words.
When he asks for something that is not on the menu.
"That is not in the Simple Build, but I can add it. It is $X and it adds a week. Do you want it in now, or do you want to start without it and add it once the site is live?"
When he wants the package pulled apart for a lower price.
"The price works because the package works together. I cannot pull the form out and keep the number honest. What I can do is start you on the smaller item this month and move you up once it is paying for itself."
When the job genuinely is custom.
"This one is bigger than my standard build, so I am not going to price it on this call. Give me two days and I will send you a scope. Three things drive the number: your page count, the booking system, and moving you off your current host. Everything else is standard."
That third script is the only place the delay is earned. If you are using it on a job you have done three times before, you are not scoping anything.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐
"Let me put something together for you."
It sounds like service. It is a delay with your name on it.
Every time you say it, you take a decision the client was ready to make today and move it into a document you will write at 11 PM on Thursday.
๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐. ๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฑ.
1. Can you name your three most sold services and their prices without opening a file?
2. Of your last ten jobs, how many were the same job with a different logo?
3. How many hours went into the last proposal you lost?
4. Can you state what is excluded from your main service?
5. How many rounds of changes are included, and is that written anywhere a client can see it?
6. Does a prospect have to wait for a document to find out what you charge?
7. Could a team member quote your main service correctly today, without you?
8. What exactly moves a job out of the menu and into a custom quote?
If you could not answer 1, 4, or 8, you do not have offers. You have habits.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐
They are not. Their businesses are different.
The work is close to identical, and you know it, because you have been running the same checklist on it for two years. The restaurant and the roofer need the same five pages, the same contact form, the same profile categories filled out, the same handful of fixes. The copy changes. The logo changes. The process does not.
And if the work really is different every single time, that is worth knowing too, and this one is going to sting a little. It means you are not running an agency yet. You are freelancing with better branding.
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ
If you have sold it three times, it is not custom. It is a menu item you have not written down.
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ
Pull your last ten invoices and find the repeat. Take one of them and draw the box: included, excluded, rounds of changes, timeline. Put a price on it that survives your most demanding client.
One item. Not a catalog. You are not rebuilding your whole offer suite this weekend.
Then the next time somebody asks what you would charge, you get to answer the question.
Because "let me put something together for you" was never service. It was you buying time to decide something you had already decided four jobs ago.
Drop a comment: what is the one service you have sold at least three times that still gets a custom proposal every time? Name it, name the price you would put on it, and name the one thing you would exclude. If the box is drawn too wide, I will tell you.
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๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐: ๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ช๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ
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