A common request: "can you just send me a quote?"
Our answer: "no, but we can do a 30-minute call and then send you a quote, and the quote will be right."
The reaction is usually annoyance. They want a number. They want it now. They've talked to three other agencies who sent them numbers. Why are we being difficult?
Here's why.
Numbers without context are wrong
When an agency sends a quote off a written brief alone, one of two things happened:
- They priced it at the high end so they're covered no matter what the project actually turns into.
- They priced it at the low end to win the work, knowing they'll change-order the rest in.
Neither is honest. Both end with the client annoyed.
A 30-minute call costs us 30 minutes and gives us enough signal to send a number that's actually the number.
What the call surfaces that the brief doesn't
Tone of voice. Whether the prospect is the decision maker or a layer below them. Whether they've actually used software like the thing they're describing, or only seen demos. Whether the deadline is a real deadline or an aspirational one. Whether the budget number they wrote is the budget number, or a hopeful first offer.
None of this is in the written brief. All of it changes the quote.
The smaller the project, the more this matters
Counter-intuitive, I know. Surely a $5k project doesn't need a discovery call?
It needs it more. Big projects have enough budget to absorb scope drift. Small projects don't. Get the scope wrong on a $5k engagement and you've eaten the entire margin within a week.
The 30-minute call is what stops a $5k project from becoming a $12k project that the client refuses to pay for.
What we don't do on the call
We don't pitch. We don't talk about ourselves. We don't show case studies unless asked.
We ask questions. We listen. We push back when something doesn't add up. By the end, we either know how to scope and price the work — or we know that we're not the right fit, in which case we say that.
The cost of a 30-minute call where we say "we're not the right team for this" is much, much lower than the cost of a three-month engagement where we should have said it.
The shape of a good first call
10 minutes — them telling us what they think the project is. 10 minutes — us asking the questions that change what they think the project is. 10 minutes — us aligning on what the actual project is, and what the next step looks like.
That's it. By the time we end the call, you'll know whether we should be working together. So will we.