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alvisishere

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Posts posted by alvisishere

  1. Posted · Report reply

    WELL HERE WE GO AGAIN!!

    I got a call today on another local small ranch, took the time to drive and look at it, Gave her a price of 175.00, she told me she had 2 other est. I ask who and how much...one was 150.00 and the other was 160.00.

    One of them was from my competitor that lives in my area that a lot of you know (Hi, if you read this this is how it went down). Both was quoted over the phone.

    I informed her mine included movie tickets and if she wanted to waive the tickets, I would do it for 150.00 since I was out there, but If I had to come back, it would be 175.00.

    She then asked about using her water and I informed her that we legally could but she could not (drought), but she was worried about in increase in her bill, I asked her if others quotes supplied water, she did not know so she called and they said only if requested at a fee of 75.00 extra.

    I explained the higher cost was not for cost of water but 4.75 gal fuel bill.

    Bottom line is she had 3 est. from 3 reputable companies that had biggest display ads in yellowpages and only few dollars separating them

    Like I said earlier, once I am in front of a customer, usually its only a price issue that works for both of us.

    At the end she said she would refer me to anyone that needed any PW.

    By the way I did not talk negative about my competition, I assured her that He could do just as good job as me!!

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Try targeting higher end neighborhoods and selling the HO on your quality work, not cheap price.

    Quality is always #1 on my list....its a given.

    When I pull up in their business or driveway and they see my equipment and reclaim set up, I usually don't have to convince them on the quality of work, usually all we need to do negotiate a price that will work for both of us. I close most of my jobs when I meet the homeowner, the ones I don't get are the ones quoted over the phone for obvious reasons

    I don't consider it a cheap price or low work quality, 175.00 for 45 min job not bad in my books.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    "His real estate agent told him don't pay over 175.00"

    Something is bothering me about the real estate agent telling someone what to pay...or what not pay in this case. What makes them the expert in Pressure Washing?

    What if a pressure washing company told the owner not to pay over 3% commission to the agent selling the house?

    Just ranting...going to get another cup of coffee now......

    Believe it or not the agent recommends (as in this case) and tells the homeowner to wash the house before they put the home on market, the customers are very uneducated at this point and will often ask the agent if they can refer someone to wash the home.

    Most agents do this countless times and are very aware of what a fair price is.

    It don't matter if you are on the selling end or receiving end, when someone is overpriced, if you are on the selling end you know you are high and if you are on the receiving end, you might not catch it when you pay but they will find out quickly when you tell the first person about their so called good deal.

    This will tell you if you get a referral out of it.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    I did a job today on a small box ranch near my home and I gave the quote of my basic minimum of 150.00 to clean his home, he was very pleased with the price and I was washing within minutes.

    He stay outside and watched my technics and results, we started talking and he told me he had couple of estimates ..... one was 250.00 and one was well over 1,000.00, the guy that quoted well over 1,000. said that 2 facial boards needed to be replaced. After the house was cleaned he saw the boards was not rotted but just needed a fresh coat of paint.

    His real estate agent told him don't pay over 175.00 and he said I was the only one under. His next statement was he was going to pay me 175.00 instead of the 150.00 I quoted, I often get customers that tip or pay more than I charge, it happens more when they are watching me work.

    I realize that people may charge more and I am by no means a low baller but I don't like to over charge my customers either. I know what I have to charge to make money and in my area I know what is overcharging, Its hard to find a honest contractor in any field and I know whats it like to be overcharge and I like to treat my customers the way I would like to be treated

    Beth n Rod reacted to this

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Ron at least email would be private and not read by potential important people. I am not saying that I am better than you and obviously you are more successful than I am. I am not sure if you guys are aware but there are some serious hacks out there under bidding, working for beer money. I would hope that WE represent ourselves better than the, (Oh I just bought a pressure washer from wal-mart and I am in business people). Ron I really don't mean to pick on you for your misspelling issue but when I read some of your post it sounds like you are an uneducated pressure cleaning company which WE all know you are not. I LOVE YA RON.

    In this business you do not have to have a collage education to be successful.

    I can only speak for myself but I would be lost if it was not for spell checker on these boards and when I have to write a proposal, letter, ad copy ect....I use spell checker and then I have my wife read it because if seems there is always a way it be can improve.

    Customers might have caught my misspelled words or heard me not speaking correctly using southern slang words.

    I hope they base their opinion of me and my company on my integrity, honestly and by the contents of the words I speak or write.

    I am sure you can find some errors with my post (since wife is asleep) but hopefully you can get past the words and understand the meaning of my post.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I have been known to drive Ga to Tn. to wash my Father in law home, deck or whatever else he might needed washing. Might have cost me some money but I know if I need anything, I can always count on them as well.

    It always make me feel good when I donate my time and it is greatly appreciated. (big brownies points with the wife too!)

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Before-During-After S/D Entrance that I done today,

    The man that hired me manages monies for home owner associations all over Atlanta.

    He came by as I was completing a washing job and we talked about hard times and he offered to help me and he said he would print me mailing labels for me to put on my postcards to mail to all of his customers in all the S/D he manages. (which is a lot)

    The funny thing is when I told him what I was going to charge him, he got a funny look on his face, I ask him if it was to much...he told me the association was only wanting to clean the white sign in the middle !!! OPPS !!!

    I'm glad I was taking pics, I told him stone needed it worse than the sign and once he saw the pictures he would agree. (of course he agreed before the pics, but I am going to send'm anyways!!)icon10.gif

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Hmmm.....maybe the PWNC needs to arrange a QuickBooks Pro "course" :)

    Celeste

    Hey Celeste, you might be on to something

    I bought qb pro and I haven't had the time to learn it.

    I'm sure they are others would like to learn the things qb's can do in "Layman's terms"

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Here is a sheet that I have my sales manager use for quotes. It prompts his memory to check for important stuff. We also have it as a template in our ACT customer Database... When we take the call, it prints out with all of the customer info / phone numbers and what we need to quote.

    It works great.

    Thanks for sharing, this is very helpful, Are you compatable with qb pro as well?

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Can a stain break down and after a year or more?

    I cleaned a home that had a large deck on back. He stained it over a year ago with "Cabot Sealer"

    I washed the home and deck with my Reg mix of SH and cleaner (mildmix)

    I Used X jet to apply mix to all back of house including deck and "light rinsed" off to remove pollen.

    He had concrete pad underneath deck and my mix broke down the sealer and dripped sealer onto concrete and stained it.

    I can't imagine a sealer breaking down like that, this was not a strip job, just a light wash and rinse

    When you are underneath you can look up and see where it dripped. looks like droplets between the boards.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I am very open to meeting all my contractors is my area and these rd tables are a good way to do it.

    My philosophy is to help others and it will be rewarded, occasionally it will bite you in rear end and if someone does bite you, chances are they are not going to be in business long and I don't consider them a threat.

    I personally like to work with other contractors in my area, its kinda cool when one calls me and asked for advise or help on a job and its good to know I can ask for their help as well.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    Daniel,

    Next time, make sure you specify what your service will do in order to avoid any expectation beyond that.

    Ex; Removes mildew and algae

    Artillery/shotgun fungus will not be affected by this process.

    Oxidation, Sap removal extra

    ~

    Does anyone use a proposal sheet to Identify what will be done to avoid something like this happening?

    Just a note; 3 weeks ago, I helped a fellow contractor in my area and we did a home that was 3 stories high and had some difficult areas to reach (Ex. bottom of chimney where it connects to roof, among other areas)

    We ended up discounted the price 100.00 as well as taking off all the screens before the clean and replacing them after the home was cleaned. We also had to take both of our rigs to have enough water to complete the job (driveway was included) He watched and pointed the whole time, but when we was finishing up on his driveway we ran out of water....needed about 200 gals at most to finish, he first said no, we could not hook up, offered him more discount to hook up saying that its cheaper than diesel, still no...I then explained we was hour away and hour before dark and he could either let us use it or come back next day which would mean his driveway left unrinsed, he finally choose to let us hookup to finish.

    Got a call yesterday from my fellow contractor and the home owner called and said we missed a spot and one his screens has a hole in it, He is going to go back and check it out because it is his/our reputation at stake

    Bottom line is we went over and beyond because we knew the type of customer he was going to be and it was still not enough

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