getting better prices

[matz]

I offer a niche trade to private customers having done so for years and years. I'm kind of noticing a tangible trend whereas customers pay more than they would like to in order to get a better job. Lots of Tradespeople are notorious for having rubbish websites, crap communication skills and a general lack of ability to supply a customer what they want. If you can surpass the above, you have a great chance of getting the job for more money as customers know full well they are better paying a bit more to get peace of mind. Consumers are defensive and nervous of having a bad job.

Turning this around - I sometimes need trades for our residential property also a couple of BTL. I contact various trades and get a variety of responses. I'm not after the cheapest, I'm after the guy who can do a good job for a fair price. If I have to pay a bit more to get what i want, I'm happy to do so. On the grand scale of things the extra money makes hardly any difference. What does make a difference though is trades doing rubbish work, not communicating, not turning up and generally being a PITA - I'll pay more to NOT get this!

how do others find it?

 

[phatboy]

I always meet the trades person or manager whilst quoting, and try to 'get a feel' for what they will be like.

Their response and professionalism with quoting or estimating is always a good indicator for me.

I have a couple of times turned down the cheapest price as I didn't get a good feeling about the trades person - could imagine them getting very defensive or aggressive if something wasn't done to my satisfaction.

It's not fool proof of course, I used a small local company once for some decorating and tiling who seemed excellent. They did a poor job, told me it was acceptable until my dad appeared in the room and then changed their tune. I also didn't realise until they had done most of the work (I was at my job all day), they were claiming to be a 'small local firm', but were actually just sub'ing everything out!

I deducted 20% from their bill for my time re-doing some of the work. Never heard back about it.