The Catalog Price vs the Quoted Price Mismatch Decision Tree

Why this matters

A customer calls asking why the number on their quote does not match what a friend, a review, or an old invoice says the shop charges for "the same job." Sometimes the mismatch is legitimate, a real difference in scope or timing. Sometimes it is a catalog problem: a stale entry, a manual override nobody logged, or two near-duplicate line items that quietly went out of sync. Handling the call well means figuring out which one it is before you either apologize for nothing or defend a genuine mistake. This tree walks that call in order, simplest explanation first.

Start here: confirm you are actually comparing the same job

Before assuming anything is wrong, verify the two quotes describe the same scope. This single step resolves more "mismatch" complaints than any pricing fix ever will.

• Different access, condition, or included parts between the two jobs is not a pricing error, it is two different jobs that happen to share a name. Explain the specific difference in plain terms.
• Different point in time (an old invoice versus a current quote) is not an error either, if prices have been reviewed since. State plainly that pricing was updated and roughly when.
• If the scope and timing genuinely match, move to the next step. A real mismatch is worth investigating properly, not waved off.

If the scope and timing genuinely match

1. Pull the actual catalog entry both quotes should have drawn from. Confirm there is exactly one entry that fits this scope, not two similarly named entries.
2. If two entries exist for the same real job, that is a catalog duplication problem, not a one-off pricing mistake. See related: Simplifying an Overgrown Catalog. Fix the customer's number on principle (match the correct, current price), then flag the duplicate entries for merging so this does not recur on the next customer.
3. If only one entry exists but the quoted price does not match the catalog price, the mismatch happened at quote time, not in the catalog. Move to the next section.

If one catalog entry exists but a quote didn't match it

1. Check for a manual override on the quote. Many quoting workflows allow overriding a catalog price for a specific job. If an override happened, confirm it was intentional and documented (a discount, a promotion, a negotiated rate) rather than a typo or a misclick.
2. If it was an undocumented override, correct the process going forward: require a reason field on any manual price override, so the next investigation like this one takes thirty seconds instead of thirty minutes.
3. If no override exists and the numbers still differ, check whether the catalog price itself changed between when the quote was generated and now. A quote generated before a price update, then reopened or resent after, can legitimately show an old number. Confirm the quote date against the price's last-updated date.
4. If none of the above explains it, treat it as a straightforward data entry error at quote time. Correct the customer's price, and note the specific quote and entry so a pattern (the same entry mispriced more than once) surfaces if it happens again.

Talking to the customer through this

Lead with the honest answer once you have it, not a vague reassurance before you know what happened. "That's a fair question, let me check exactly why the numbers differ" buys you the time to work the tree above without either over-promising or getting defensive. If the shop made an error, say so plainly and fix it. If the jobs genuinely differ, explain the specific difference rather than a general "pricing can vary."

Recap

Confirm the scope and timing actually match before assuming an error. If they match, check for duplicate catalog entries. If only one entry exists, check for an undocumented override, then a stale price snapshot, then plain data entry error, in that order. Fix the customer's number first, fix the catalog or the process second.

References

• Trade-standard practice for price-book governance in field service
• See related: The Catalog and the Price Book: Keeping Them in Sync
• See related: Simplifying an Overgrown Catalog