By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
Why does pricing a shower screen or splashback job take so long to lock in?
Most glaziers quote shower screens and splashbacks by eyeballing the glass size on the measure sheet, guessing at the toughened glass and hardware cost, adding labour, then a markup. The trouble is no two shower screens are the same job. A frameless screen with a hinge kit, a semi-frameless screen on clamp brackets, a tinted splashback behind a cooktop, each one carries a different glass cost, a different lead time from the glass supplier, and a different install time.
Because the mental tally changes every time, the quote takes longer to put together than it should, and the measure visit often throws up a complication, an out of square wall, a step down, an odd door swing, that blows out the recalculation again. The glazier either overprices and loses the job, or underprices and eats into margin once it is on the tools.
Why do customers keep shopping a glazier's price against the glazier down the road?
When a shower screen or splashback quote is handed over broken into glass cost, hardware cost and labour hours, the customer has three numbers to argue over, and nothing stops them ringing another glazier and comparing line by line. A reglaze or a new splashback can look expensive sitting next to a competitor's quote built on lower grade toughened glass or a cheaper bracket finish, and the customer has no way to see that difference because the breakdown hides it rather than showing it.
Many glaziers end up re-quoting the same job two or three times, dropping a line item here, swapping a hinge kit for a clamp there, trying to land on a number the customer will sign off. That back and forth costs time that never gets billed, and it trains the customer to treat every glazing quote as a starting offer rather than a finished price.
What number actually tells a glazier whether a shower screen job is worth doing?
The number that matters is the gross profit margin on each configuration, not the total dollar figure quoted for the job. A frameless screen held on a hinge kit has a different material cost and a different lead time to a semi-frameless screen on clamps, and when every job is priced as one lump sum, there is no way to see which configuration actually earns well and which barely covers the toughened glass and the hours on site.
Memory says shower screens are good, steady work for a glazier. The gross profit margin by configuration, tracked job by job rather than guessed at from the last few invoices, usually tells a more useful and sometimes a less comfortable story.
How should you price shower screens and splashbacks so every quote is consistent?
You price each configuration as its own pre-built item, bundled as a finished result rather than a breakdown of glass cost plus labour plus markup. A frameless shower screen in clear toughened glass on a hinge kit becomes one price. A semi-frameless screen on clamp brackets becomes another. A tinted splashback behind a cooktop becomes another again. Mirror jobs, balustrade glass and double glazing units can sit in the same list, each priced as what the customer actually receives.
When every configuration is pre-priced, nothing gets missed or guessed on the day of the measure, and whoever quotes the job, you, a crew member, or whoever answers the phone, prices it the same way every time. The customer gets room to upgrade or downgrade glass type or hardware without you having to re-cost the whole job from the ground up, and the price already allows for the normal variation in cutting, toughening and fitting time, so a slightly longer install does not mean a renegotiation.
How can AI agents help a glazier quote the same way every time?
An AI agent is software that does a job the way you would, with your prices, wording and rules. For a glazier, that means taking the measure sheet, matching it against your pre-priced shower screen and splashback items, and producing the quote in your own wording, without someone having to remember every price and every hardware option on the spot.
Picture a glazier who needed a way to price jobs and compare options for people he met at a home show. He built his own pricing and comparison tool and used it at the show to put prices and options in front of visitors, letting them see a frameless screen next to a semi-frameless one, each already priced as a finished result, side by side, with nothing to rework on the spot. That is data first thinking in practice: start from the actual configurations and their real margins, then let an AI agent handle the repeat work of turning a measure sheet into a consistent quote, so the time freed up goes back into measuring, cutting and installing rather than re-quoting.
How does Data First Coaching approach this?
Data First Coaching starts from the glazier's own numbers, not a guess about what shower screens and splashbacks should cost. Through the Trade Business Intelligence, Greg Allan looks at gross profit margin by configuration, glass type and hardware combination to find where a pricing problem actually starts, rather than treating every quote as a one-off negotiation. Greg's approach is built on breaking down every task into individual pre-price items, so a glazier's business stops guessing and starts pricing from what the data shows.
The how, building the pre-priced list, setting up the AI agent that quotes from it, is worked through inside the Academy, with other members. It suits glaziers who are open minded, innovative and willing to share what they learn, because the Trade Business Intelligence is powered by every member, for every member.
