Cut Down on Paperwork as a Decorator

I’ve been a decorator for roughly 20 years, 10 of which were spent self-employed. I used to always email a full quote over after seeing a job. I’d type every detail, name every surface in every room, talk through the prep, the products and the process. I’d then type a full list of materials and give my price.

How to Cut the Paperwork

This is good practice and in an ideal world I’d still be supplying quotes like this for all my jobs. The problem is the time it all takes. I go to see a job, talk through everything with them, come back, type the quote up, then send it off. You’re looking at 2-hours or more for each one!! I work on domestic jobs which are often only a couple of days long. I sometimes have to provide three or four quotes every week!! I decided there needed to be a way I could cut down on paperwork as a decorator!

Did I really need to type a detailed specification for each quote? Surly it’s the professional thing to do? The other issue is I’m cr*p at keeping up with my paperwork, so I ended up keeping potential clients waiting for their price anyway.

So, I changed how I work. When I go to see a job, I talk through the work in detail anyway. I leave a client knowing exactly which products I would use and why. I make sure they know the preparation process and how I’m going to carry out the work. They even know how long it’s going to take me and roughly when I can fit them in. They don’t need paperwork to prove any of that that.

Before I leave, I ask them if they’d mind if I text the price over, offering to email a spce if they’d prefer. Nine times out of ten a text is all they need, so that’s what I do. I jump in my van, work out the price, type it all out on WhatsApp, including a mini spec, then send it to them the next morning.

I don’t win or lose more jobs doing it this way and it dramatically cuts down on paperwork.

Final Thoughts

My “texting a quote” method isn’t the best process on some occasions. We all like to chase the better paid work, and often we need to show how professional our process is. Plus, typing up a full quote gives us chance to email our terms and conditions over and explain how we need to be paid, or how we need the room preparing for us.

But, cutting down on paperwork as a decorator will give you your evening and weekends back. It’ll take the pressure off, so you can focus on other things. Your work/life balance will be restored.