You spend hours putting together a quote, double-checking everything, trying to make it sound perfect.
Then you hit send…
and nothing.
No reply.
No feedback.
Just silence.
You start overthinking.
Was the price too high?
Did I say something wrong?
Should I have reduced it a bit?
But here’s the part nobody tells you: you didn’t lose them because of the price. You lost them because of how you sent it.
When you send a number especially something like $5,000 to $50,000 without context, it sounds like a guess.
To you, it feels like flexibility.
To the client, it feels like confusion.
They start wondering:
“Why is the range so wide?”
“Does this person even understand what I need?”
“Are they just throwing numbers to see what sticks?”
And because people hate uncertainty, they do the easiest thing possible — they ghost you.
When a client says, “Just send me a quote,” they’re not just being lazy.
They’re testing you.
They want to see if you’re a pro who diagnoses before prescribing —
or just another freelancer desperate to please.
If you skip the discovery step and drop a number, you fail that test.
You look like everyone else.
And that’s when they disappear.
I learned this the hard way.
I used to send quotes immediately, thinking speed made me look sharp.
All it did was make me look cheap.
One day I flipped the script.
A client asked, “Can you send me a quote?”
And I said:
“I’d love to, but I don’t want to overcharge or under-deliver. Let’s have a 10–15 minute call to understand what you actually need.”
That was it.
No begging. No long explanation.
Just calm confidence.
The client booked the call within the hour.
Why?
Because clarity attracts trust.
And trust converts faster than discounts ever will.
Don’t play their game.
Don’t send a big bracket like $5k–$50k trying to cover yourself.
That screams uncertainty.
Instead, draw a line:
“Projects like yours usually start at around $3,500. If we’re not sure yet, we can begin with a $250 discovery session to map the scope and final cost.”
Boom.
Now you’ve done two things:
You’ve filtered out the unserious ones.
You’ve positioned yourself as a professional, not a guesser.
The clients who pay that discovery fee? They’re the ones who respect your time — and usually end up paying 10x more later.
A vendor reacts.
A professional leads.
If a client won’t spend ten minutes explaining their vision, they were never going to spend $5,000 with you anyway.
You need to stop chasing approval and start setting standards.
When you lead with clarity, you stop being “another option.”
You become the option.
And funny enough — once you stop trying to please everyone, you’ll start attracting better clients who value your process.
People don’t buy websites.
They buy what the website will do for them.
If you talk about design, they’ll compare you with cheaper designers.
If you talk about outcomes — growth, leads, conversions — they’ll see you as an investment.
That’s why you never send a quote cold.
You diagnose first.
You tie your price to a clear result.
You lead.
I’m a WordPress web designer and developer in Cameroon, working remotely with clients locally and internationally. If you need a website that actually works for your business, or even just a question, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m here to help.