Quotify lets you decide what your customer sees when they reach the end of the form: a single total, or a detailed line-by-line breakdown of how that total was built. Both work, but they suit different services, different customer types, and different price points.
What “total only” looks like
A single number, clearly displayed:
Your estimate: £840
Maybe with a one-line summary (“based on a 3-bedroom deep clean with end-of-tenancy extras”). That’s it. The customer sees what they’re paying. No breakdown.
What “detailed breakdown” looks like
The total plus a line-by-line view of how it was calculated:
Deep clean — 3 bedrooms — £480 Bathrooms (×2) — £140 Inside oven — £25 Inside fridge — £20 End-of-tenancy package — £175 Total: £840
The customer can see exactly which choices added which amount.
When the total-only approach wins
- Low to mid price point (under ~£500). At lower price points, customers want speed, not analysis. A clean total is what they came for.
- Simple pricing logic. If the form had only 2-3 questions and the customer can intuit how the price was built, a breakdown is redundant.
- Conversion-focused funnels. Paid traffic, social-driven leads, anyone who came specifically for “what does this cost?”. The total is the answer; the breakdown delays it.
- Repeat or commodity services. House cleans, valeting, basic gardening. The customer doesn’t need to interrogate every line.
When the detailed breakdown wins
- Higher price points (£500+). When the number is meaningful, the customer wants to know why it’s that number. A breakdown answers the question before they have to ask.
- Multiple add-ons or options. If the customer made 5+ choices in the form, the breakdown helps them see the impact of each, and gives them confidence to deselect anything that pushed the total too high.
- Services with optional tiers. If you offer good/better/best, a breakdown showing what each tier costs makes the upgrade conversation natural.
- B2B or considered purchases. Decision-makers who need to justify the spend internally find a line-by-line easier to forward than a single number.
- When you want to encourage upsells. A visible breakdown subtly draws attention to the add-ons: customers can see what they didn’t pick, and reconsider.
The hybrid: total prominent, breakdown collapsible
The pattern that works for almost everyone: show the total big and bold at the top, with a small “See breakdown” toggle below it. Customers who just wanted the number get it; customers who want to dig in can.
This pattern also works well in customer confirmation emails: the email leads with the total, and the breakdown is collapsed or sits lower in the email body.
A small detail that changes everything
Whichever you pick, always show the price update live as the customer fills out the form. Quotify does this by default; don’t turn it off.
The reason: customers who watch the total move as they answer are mentally pre-committing to the price by the time they reach the end. Customers who only see the price at the end are seeing it cold, and “cold” pricing has higher abandonment.
This is true regardless of whether you show a total or a breakdown — the live update is the bit that does the heavy lifting on conversion.
When not to show the price at all
Some services genuinely shouldn’t show a number: site visit work, anything bespoke, anything where the price is heavily negotiated. In those cases, see when to hide the price until after submission.
But for most service businesses, some visible pricing always beats none. Even a range beats nothing. Customers who can’t see a price assume the worst.
Related reading
- How pricing logic works in a Quotify form, what the breakdown is actually showing
- Adding an estimate range to your quote, a middle ground between exact and hidden
- When to hide the price until after submission, the alternative for genuinely bespoke work