quote quandary

[noseall]

i quoted for a job recently whereby i was the only one quoting. the customer told me in advance that i was the builder they wanted to do the job and that no other builder would be involved.

mmmmm.

knowing this, almost obligated me into bartering with him, which i ended up doing. he said 'call me old fashioned, but this does seem a bit high to me'. so i said that i would do the job for a reduced fee of 'x' and if there is any unforseen work (extras), that i would be free to charge accordingly, no argument.

even with the extra work though, the final fee didn't amount to the original quoted amount.

although i was flattered to be the 'chosen one' and i didn't exactly lose on the quote, it did sort of leave me out of pocket.

 

[fattony]

Am I missing something here, like your question Maybe you should have stuck to your guns and kept to the original quote?

 

[Thermo]

ive heard that all before, "we want you to do the job" and you never hear from them again or they try and haggle. Had one a few weeks ago. I had a quote accepted from one house and the neighbours asked me to quote on a lot of work in the garden. They phoned me up and asked if i could do it for cash and for £800 less becuse thats the budget they had. I replied i couldnt but would look at other options for them. Came up with a few savings that could cut the bill by £400. Didnt hear from them again

We did the job at the original clients last week and the neighbours work was also being carried out. A cash in hand job, by 2 french hippys. Used cheap materials, left the place in a mess and the workmanship was very shoddy. There were several stand up arguments between them and the customer. They didnt have the right tools or even a wheel barrow.(or a string line to get the fence straight!)

We left the place spick and span as we always do, got the job done in 2 1/2 days and the client was very very pleased. She commented on the trouble next door were having and the mess they had made. In her words you pay your money and take your choice. I bet theyre so glad they penny pinched.

I dont haggle on cost anymore. Im happy to look at alternative solutions designs etc, but i dont haggle.

Flattery doesnt pay the bills and any fool can get out of bed in the morning for nothing

 

[noseall]

Am I missing something here, like your question

are you not familiar with this subject of "Trade Talk"

 

[noseall]

Flattery doesnt pay the bills and any fool can get out of bed in the morning for nothing

oh so very true, wise one.

 

[Thermo]

its like when you do jobs at "mates rates" etc. you just put yourself under financial pressure becasue you need to get it done quicker to make the money. Its those jobs that normally go wrong as well.

A friend of mine who does the printing for us gave me a bit of advice when i went to price a job for him. He said i dont do mates rates. I have two prices for friends and family. I either do it for free and they cant moan if it doesnt turn out the way they want, or i charge full price and they get the service any other customer pays for. That always struck me as very very wise.

 

[breezer]

i often get asked "well can i have xyz for £1,?"

er, no that why i just said its £1.50

obviously the prices i made up, but i dont haggle, how ever buy 2 and i might give a % off

its annoying, but i get used to it

 

[gas4you]

I always tell the customer that a quote is just that a quote. If I could have quoted less then I would have done in the first place.

I never get involved in any form of haggling.

 

[Thermo]

besides which if you haggle how does that make you look? What would they think of you if you can suddenly knock £500 off of the price?

 

[gas4you]

I think the customer thinks of us all as double glazing salesmen, who after a fe phoney calls to their 'manager' end up pretending to let you have it for a 1/4 of the original price

 

[noseall]

i agree with you guys.

there were 2 mitigating factors though, that allowed my guard to slip:

his wife was disabled, not wheelchair bound but chronic arthritis.

they were both pensioners living in a very modest house.

the extension was for a downstairs loo and shower room, and they put the whole project into my trust.

but, business is business i guess. i'm no soft touch and this is the only time i have allowed this to happen. some customers will try it on, i know.

 

[Thermo]

its all a learning curve mate, and as long as you learn from it and move on!

 

[Zampa]

I always tell the customer that a quote is just that a quote. If I could have quoted less then I would have done in the first place.

I never get involved in any form of haggling.

Yep...

besides which if you haggle how does that make you look? What would they think of you if you can suddenly knock £500 off of the price?

And yep...

I never ever haggle for the above reasons plus...

If they manage to knock you down and recommend you to other they will tell them to do the same and you'l end up with loads of people doing it.

I priced somehting for someone once..really nice couple nad in all fairness they looked after me we while I was there with dinners and drinks..

Anyway... I gave the woman the price..couple fo days passed and she rang me back and said that although I wasnt the cheapest quote the job was mine because I had produced a well written quote and explained everything better than the other companies....but one thing..'could I do it for 450 instead of 520?'

I said...'why would I want to do that'...long pause...'er.....well hmmm' well I just thought you could do it for a bit less to help us out" (this is the family with a 6 bedroom house a Audi TT, a Lexus..etc)

I asked the woman if she said that everytime she went to Tescos or Dixons?

I said ok the only thing I can do is use cheap paint and that will bring the price down...

Oh no...they didnt want that did they!!!!...they just wanted me to earn less!

I said Id leave it with them and to give me a call and let me know what they decided...five minutes later..'yep £520 no problem'...

Business people..they just have to have that 'deal'...if Id had said 50 pence for the job they would have said 'how about 49?...

Posstots

 

[noseall]

Business people..they just have to have that 'deal'...if Id had said 50 pence for the job they would have said 'how about 49?...

Posstots

aye.

 

[simoniris]

We itemise our quotes right down to the toilet roll holder so if a client wants a discount they have to pick things they can live without.
It prevents needless haggling as it is easy to work out that a job is not inflated and if discounts are given everyone knows why and can't argue that something was included. If they saved the money then items are shown as excluded.
If anyone comes back and says knock £10k off then we can just say no. Unless there is a better job in the pipeline and then we may take a hit on profit to reap the big bucks off the next one. Bit of a gamble though so do try to avoid it!!