Seem to find time wasters

[brodders97]

Hi all,

I’ve not long started out on my own, and so because of this I try to keep my quotes down to generate business to start, but I seem to spend half my time giving out estimations to people and that’s the end of it. I seem to only find tire kickers.

I know my prices are on the lower side, I believe I present myself well, chat to the customers a little while and get to know them etc, but when I sent the price out they’re never to be heard from again, and if they do reply, it’s always the same, too expensive!!!

For example, yesterday I priced one up, 2 days work. £800 in total including around £400 materials, to get told I’m too expensive… it seems most people want something for nothing.

Anyway, my question is, is this experienced by most tradesmen, or is it just my luck at the moment?

Cheers

 

[Last plumber]

This is a key point imo

When I quote for a job , it includes everything right down to the last screw and nail

I know some trades when they quote for jobs it only includes certain things and other things will be added on at the end.
So on the face of it their quote will initially be cheaper but in the end they work out dearer than me

I know one firm who when they quote for rewires don;t include any mains smoke detectors , they charge these as extra as they go along at £175 per detector.
where as my rewire will include atlease a couple of mains smokes and one heat detector in my initial price...

I just lost out on a plant room refurb with 2 x commercial boilers, plate heat ex, pumps and controls to someone who gave a 'significantly lower price' and fitted a Combi.

 

[brodders97]

This is a key point imo

When I quote for a job , it includes everything right down to the last screw and nail

I know some trades when they quote for jobs it only includes certain things and other things will be added on at the end.
So on the face of it their quote will initially be cheaper but in the end they work out dearer than me

I know one firm who when they quote for rewires don;t include any mains smoke detectors , they charge these as extra as they go along at £175 per detector.
where as my rewire will include atlease a couple of mains smokes and one heat detector in my initial price...

Same here. I generally estimate the wiring needed and charge for that length etc and for the likes of screws, this is covered by a 20% markup. When I give out estimations I account for the things I’ll have to buy myself, like a new CU etc. but for the likes of glands, clips and screws, this is covered by a markup.

I often get people who want to pay for the materials themselves, and that’s fine they can go ahead and do this, but I express that if these parts fail, then I won’t be coming back to sort them for free. If I buy the parts and they fail, it’s on me for picking out crappy gear.

 

[brodders97]

Here’s my latest little rant!!

The other week I spent an hour or so giving a quote to some guy. The person lives in India and he has bought this old bank, and him and his business partner have turned it in to 4x 2 bed flats. He requires an EICR for all of them, so I come in and quote for the job. “Thanks a lot will be in touch”, 2 weeks pass and I just drop him a text asking if there’s an update.
“Hi, the builder completed the EICRs as part of the project he was doing”

I wonder how legitimate this EICR is… would he be insured if one of the tenants had an electrocution and died? If they wanted to look back at the EICR and found out it was the equivalent of the toilet roll in my bathroom!!

This is the kind of stuff I’m dealing with, it makes it hard to want to carry on to be honest. I spent about an hour out of my day trying to build a relationship with this guy and give him a quote, when I could have been fitting a new outside light for a little old dear who would pay me there and then!!!

 

[littlespark]

That’s the risk we all take.

You think giving a fellow businessman a little free time, thinking you’ll get a good return with future work, where you can easily claw back that missing hour…. And nothing happens.

It takes time to weed out the bad payers, the non-payers, the time wasters…. And you learn to spot the little red flags…. But…..

There is no hard and fast rule to know who will be a good customer, and you might get stung a few times in the process of finding out.

Stay positive. Stay professional.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It sounds unfair but part of the price (good) customer A pays, is to cover your costs of wasted time and effort caused by (bad) customer B. Customer-induced losses are just part of the ongoing cost of keeping your business running, like insurance or vehicle maintenance.

 

[Dustydazzler]

It sounds unfair but part of the price (good) customer A pays, is to cover your costs of wasted time and effort caused by (bad) customer B. Customer-induced losses are just part of the ongoing cost of keeping your business running, like insurance or vehicle maintenance.

This is sadly another fact of business

Your 'price' has to factor in a certain amount of time wasted on non payers , slow payers and complete time wasters

It also has to factor in a certain tolerance for when some jobs go badly wrong and end up taking you twice as long as you first planned

I think this is a fact that joe public don't take into consideration when you turn up to their house to price a job , its not just 'their job' you are pricing but you are factoring several other factors on top

 

[nicebutdim]

It sounds unfair but part of the price (good) customer A pays, is to cover your costs of wasted time and effort caused by (bad) customer B. Customer-induced losses are just part of the ongoing cost of keeping your business running, like insurance or vehicle maintenance.

Pretty much how part of the cost of retail goods (especially online) covers customer returns, thefts etc. The aim is to turn a profit and it's never as straightforward as a simple mark up on each transaction.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Going way back to when I was a teen ager and I worked for a big retailer , I am sure I read in the handbook that roughly 3.5%-4% of the rrp price was to cover for 'shrinkage' which is basically theft , breakages and faulty returns etc

 

[LukeD]

People hate seeing prices going up. I binned a client that had used me for 23 years and both of us did ok from it . mentioned I was increasing my call outs and "out of hours " charges to be told they thought it was too much . Fine , they have had the likes of Pimlicos and a few others for urgent works and really feel the pain .They where so use to me turning up any day of the year for a reasonable fee. And that included a Christmas day once ! It means I have more time for others who will pay the increase >And i added on some for the extra cost of petrol etc .Now I am wanting a clear £50 a week extra to "aid the energy crisis " !

 

[Rich54321]

I think what happens to most of us in the end is
If you keep trying to avoid cheap problem customers and really look after the good customers that you get, they hopefully recommend you to their friends and contacts who are usually of a similar nature to themselves and also end up people worth working for(not always mind) but usually I find this the case(and also true with the other contractors you associate with too)

Don’t work for or with bodgers, rip off merchants or cheap --- builders that pressure you to cut corners

Starting out though you may have to sacrifice some of your principles to some extent (I did at least) just to bring in the money to pay the bills

But eventually you end up with a solid customer base with regular work and you get to the stage where you have so much work coming in you really couldn’t care less if they like your price or not

That’s when it all starts to really pay off being self employed

Took me at least 10 years or more of working my way through hundreds of cheap, tight, PITA, unappreciative idiots to get there though lol

I found a funny thing happens too, the less you are bothered about winning the work, the more you seem to win! Anyone else find that?

Yes and the more you do not get the more you think I would not have time to do it anyway!

 

[mainline]

Thanks all very much appreciated

There are also some people who think the higher the price, the better the job.

 

[brodders97]

There are also some people who think the higher the price, the better the job.

I have heard this actually, I thought living in the area I live in, keeping prices low would appeal to the masses. I guess by doing this I’m attracting the wrong kind of people haha. Time for a switch up perhaps

 

[LukeD]

Charge a good price.turn up ON time and communicate well. People are happy to pay for good service

 

[LukeD]

And DONT accept cash .... that makes anyone look un professional

 

[Pretty Mouth]

And DONT accept cash .... that makes anyone look un professional

Not sure I agree with this Luke. Lots of people like to pay with cash still, particularly older folk. Makes you look unaccommodating to refuse it.