Handling "how much is it?" on the phone
It is the first question on a large share of calls and the one most businesses are least prepared for, because the honest answer is usually "it depends" and nobody wants to say that to somebody who is comparing you against two other numbers.
Why dodging it loses the call
"I would need to check" or "somebody will call you back" is heard as evasion, and evasion on price is heard as expensive. The caller does not wait to be proved wrong — they ring the next number, where somebody says "from ninety pounds", and that business now has the booking regardless of who was actually cheaper.
A range beats a refusal, every time
"Between one-twenty and one-eighty depending on length" is a genuinely useful answer. It lets people who cannot afford it leave politely, which saves you both an appointment, and it lets everyone else stop shopping. Businesses fear that quoting a range loses work; in practice it mostly loses the enquiries that were never going to book, which is not the same thing.
Say what moves the number
"More for longer hair", "depends what is behind the wall". People accept variability when they understand what causes it.
Most callers want what most callers want. Lead with that price, not the edge case.
Most price disputes are scope disputes wearing a disguise.
"I cannot price that without seeing it, but I can get someone out on Thursday" is a real answer. It is not the same as being vague.
Write it down once
The reason price questions are handled badly is almost never policy — it is that the real prices, with their caveats, live in somebody’s head and on a laminated sheet. Writing them out once, in the form you would actually say them on the phone, fixes the problem for everyone answering: your new starter, your Saturday cover, and anything automated.
What should never be quoted
Anything that depends on seeing the job. A price given blind on a call is one you will either honour at a loss or withdraw in front of a customer, and both are worse than the awkwardness of saying you need to look first.
Frequently asked
A range, yes. "I would need to check" is heard as evasion, and evasion on price is heard as expensive — the caller rings the next number instead of waiting to be proved wrong.
Name the variable. "Between one-twenty and one-eighty depending on length" is useful; people accept variability when they understand what causes it.
Mostly it loses enquiries that were never going to book, which is not the same thing — and it saves you both the appointment.
Anything that depends on seeing the job. A blind price is one you either honour at a loss or withdraw in front of the customer.
Write the real prices down once, with their caveats, in the form you would say them aloud. That fixes it for new starters, weekend cover and anything automated alike.