Priced by the metre, held by a deposit.

Lengths and access, known upfront

Pricing a fence depends on three things: the length, the ground and the access for materials. Without them the visit is what discovers them — and you drive out for a two thousand euro quote the customer turns down.

The online enquiry asks for the rough length, the type of fence they want, the ground and two photos. You give a range before you drive out, and the visit is only there to confirm it.

• Length, type of installation and ground asked upfront
• Photos of the ground and the access attached
• Range given before you drive out

The deposit that buys materials

On these jobs the materials are a large part of the quote. With no deposit, you're fronting several thousand euros for a customer who can still change their mind.

The quote is signed online, the 30% deposit is paid at signature and holds the date. The balance is called in at the end of the job, with an automatic chaser if it's late.

Short jobs back to back, no gaps

Fitting a fence or laying decking takes one to three days. The risk isn't being overloaded, it's the two-day hole between two jobs because a quote wasn't signed in time.

Jobs are booked in days, and you can see how full you are over the coming weeks. Outstanding quotes are chased automatically, which keeps the last-minute holes down.

• Jobs blocked out in whole days
• Outstanding quotes chased automatically
• A view of how full the next weeks are

Good work is seen from the road

A new fence is visible to the whole street: this is the trade where word of mouth works best. The photos and the reviews simply have to exist online.

Every finished job feeds the website and the Google listing, with the town and the type of installation. The review request goes out the day after the job ends.