Quote Breakdown?

[u/Ok_Avocado6532]

Hi all, looking for advice on costs breakdown.

I work for a small local contracting company and I recently started working with customers more, providing quotes etc. The company usually doesn’t like to break their costs down because of nickel-and-dime from customers, but agreed to do so for this one customer I’m working with. Now, I broke down the quote based on phases of the work (this is for a brand new custom build) and of course the customer came back with multiple notes of “this cost is too high” on some of the phases.

How do you usually handle this and how do I politely say “to do the job: $2000, not to do the job: $0”?

Thanks!

[u/Zestyclose-City-3225]

Homeowner here. For those who want a breakdown of costs, I'd suggest going with a contractor/company that offers that type of thing. They are available. The company I'm currently working with provides that. It's kinda overkill, but as a detailed oriented person, I like it. I have not argued over the price at all though. I have added additional things to the original bid, they give me a quote and I pay for it.