- Estimates per sale = 1 ÷ close rate, measured on estimates you actually ran.
- Kitchens, baths, and additions each need their own number.
- Multiply by hours per estimate to see the real cost in estimator time.
- Count by the month the estimate ran, and wait out the sales cycle.
The math is one line. The counting is the work.
Estimates per sale is 1 ÷ close rate. Close 25% and it takes 4 estimates to sign a job. Close 40% and it takes 2.5.
The hard part is counting honestly. Use estimates where you met the homeowner and gave, or are preparing, a price. Leave out no-shows and phone ballparks. Count signed jobs from that same group of estimates, even the ones that sign two months later.
Why remodelers need a number per project type
A hall bath and a full kitchen are different sales. The kitchen has more decisions, more design back-and-forth, a bigger check, and often a second or third meeting. It can take more estimates to sign, and each one takes longer.
Blend them and the average hides both. Your bath numbers look slow, and your kitchen numbers look better than they are.
Worked example (example numbers, not a benchmark)
You close 22% of kitchen estimates and 40% of bathroom estimates. That’s about 4.5 estimates per signed kitchen (1 ÷ 22%) and 2.5 per signed bath (1 ÷ 40%).
Now add time. A kitchen estimate, counting the drive, walk-through, measurements, design time, and proposal, takes about 6 hours. A bath takes about 3. One signed kitchen costs about 27 hours of estimator time (4.5 × 6). One signed bath costs about 7.5 (2.5 × 3).
If your estimator has 30 hours a week for sales, that’s roughly one signed kitchen a week, or about four signed baths. Same person, very different output.
Turn it into the estimates you need to book
To sign 2 kitchens a month at that 22% close rate, you need about 9 kitchen estimates held (2 ÷ 22%). If 90% of booked estimates actually happen, book about 10 (9.1 ÷ 90%). The calculator below runs the full chain back to leads.
How to need fewer estimates per sale
Every estimate you don’t have to run gives your estimator hours back. None of these touch the ads.
- Show a price range by finish level before the homeowner books
- Confirm budget range, timeline, and ownership before the visit
- Ask that every decision-maker attend the first meeting
- Send a written scope and price within a day or two of the visit
- Follow up on open proposals for weeks, not days
- For large projects, consider a paid design agreement and track its close rate on its own
Don’t call the number too early
Remodels sign late. Calculate in the same month the estimates ran and most will still be open, so the ratio looks worse than it is. Give each month’s estimates time to reach a decision, mark each one signed, lost, or open, and update the count as late contracts land.
