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What's your approach to pricing complex or uncertain jobs?

Keiko Tanaka

We're seeing an increase in jobs where the full scope isn't clear until we're on-site—older systems, hidden damage, customer uncertainty about what they actually need. This creates tension between wanting to win the work and protecting margin.

I'm interested in how your teams structure pricing for this scenario. Specifically:

  • Do you lead with time-and-materials, or do you find ways to cap exposure while still quoting?
  • How do you communicate uncertainty to customers without undermining confidence?
  • What percentage of your revenue now sits in this "discovery" category?

Our current approach is creating friction between sales and operations. Sales wants to commit; operations wants contingency. I'd like to understand how others have resolved this tension.

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  • Another way to think about this is separating the pricing conversation from the trust conversation. We've found that customers who push back hardest on open-ended pricing are often the ones who've been burned by other contractors.

    We address this with transparency tools: live photo sharing from the diagnostic, video walkthroughs of the problem, and clear documentation of why the scope changed. The investment in communication pays for itself in reduced disputes.

    From a governance perspective, we now require documented customer acknowledgment of pricing methodology before any work begins. This has streamlined our collections process considerably.

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  • Another way to think about this is separating the pricing conversation from the trust conversation. We've found that customers who push back hardest on open-ended pricing are often the ones who've been burned by other contractors.

    We address this with transparency tools: live photo sharing from the diagnostic, video walkthroughs of the problem, and clear documentation of why the scope changed. The investment in communication pays for itself in reduced disputes.

    From a governance perspective, we now require documented customer acknowledgment of pricing methodology before any work begins. This has streamlined our collections process considerably.

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