went by a customers business today to touch base, see if he was ready to have all of his store locations cleaned again. i have been doing work for this customer quarterly for about 2 or 3 years. the agreement in the beginning, was that i'll do all these locations (front concrete} for $150.oo/store, if i'm to be the sole district pw contractor. now this price was less than i really could afford to charge (due to having to use concrete cleaner & remove gum) but we needed the work. i had to provide a copy of my w9 & ins. cert. to there corporate office before i started of course.
the district manager tells me today he found someone else that will do one of the locations for $75.oo & the others for $105.oo. i told him that was a pretty good price but i asked, does he have hot water to get the gum up (if you get to close with cold water on this concrete it will scar it or pop a peice lose), is he using chemical (to brighten & to give a uniform look) & is he providing proof insurance. he could not answer any of those questions.
this one of the only commercial accounts that i've ever lost. people under bid me all the time in residentual work because the other guy(with no insurance) can do the work for little or nothing. usually though if a business uses us once they understand why we charge a little more & they are super loyal because we do excellent work. quality & professionalism
is this happening to anyone else. i understand the market in my area is flooded due to unemployment & i understand other people got to feed there kids as well as i, but lord have mercy. i hope this economy gets better soon.
frustrated,
awb, inc.
