Beth n Rod

I responded in green. Exactly, because if it could stand the test of scrutiny it would be then be accepted as the truth without the need to be defended. When I was going to church as a young man, they would read everything in Latin from the bible. My friends brother was becoming a priest with the catholic church at the time and I asked him why they didn't read it so all could understand it, after all, it is god's words, aren't they? His reply was in the teachings he received was that from earlier times, the common people were unworthy to hear the actual words and it was the priests job to interpret them for the people. Also, the bible was written in Latin and most of the people spoke other languages, so the priests had to translate it to them. At that point, I stopped going. I finally got ahold of an english version and read it. I know the bible was written by man. Handed down through the ages, copied, interpreted, and even altered. From what I can tell, about 30% of it is factual but convoluted with much influence of the writers.To this day I have more questions than answers as a result and no one to give me a straight one. All I get is their interpretations. If the bible is not the same for all as we are all gods children, then logic stands to reason that he played favorites and I wasn't one of them. Fortunately, I have my soul to talk to and it gives me knowledge. Not questions, not arguments, not doubt, but the right way to live. Rod!~

Congratulations! Rod!~

Congratulations! Rod!~

Congratulations! Rod!~

Congratulations! Rod!~

My responses are in blue. Don't give up your search. Rod!~

That's a unique way to put it Rick. I like it. Rod!~

It's one of those thingy watchama doohickeys!!??.....isn't it? Rod!~

Actually, it is not that at all. The book is not out to call your god or anyone's god a liar. It's talking about the people who are responsible for the content of the bible we read today and the interpretations interred. Rod!~

Did anyone read the book "The Davinci Code" ? There is a great amount of controversy in it. The movie didn't do it enough justice though. The previous book "Angels & Demons" will rock the faith. Rod!~

Potty mouth! Beth :cool:

Wow, a millionaire that won't fork over 900.00! Must be house poor. I have seen that around here too. Those who want to live the stature of being rich and don't have a thing in any rooms besides the kitchen, living room and bedrooms. The rest is sparse and mostly without so much as drapes in some cases. I give them the benefit of the doubt though that they may be coming into money or are just frugal spenders. Truth be told at the bottom line and the expressions on their faces would tip their hand for a poker player to see. Body language has a bit to tell too. Ever notice that once the price is known; the client sits back and folds their arms? Or one of the couple gets up and leaves the room? They have been sold but the price is out of their budget. That is disappointment you see. Anyway, I will not take this any further off topic and get back to the one at hand. pi r2 = WTW. Jk. Rod!~

#3 should be that they are deluded and hopeful to strike a deal. Some customers play the field and no marketing campaign will totally eliminate the happenstance of those who are looking to get a reputable company without paying top dollar. This was my example above of a referral who thought he could interject things and create a hand to win him a better price. I didn't budge. Marketing is the first part, the second is qualifying and the third is sales (presentation, knowledge and closing technique) Many use the Dale Carnegie sales method, we use Sandler consultative sales methods. The first (when I learned it) was high pressure, the second is not. Daniel, Yes, he was of middle eastern decent and relatively new to the country. They do business in a negotiating framework most of the time. The women are just as good at it if not more so. lol Most will not do business with anyone who demonstrates such a high inflexibility in their pricing but that also indicates to me (another subject on why their economy is not favorable) but why they do not appreciate others business. Gotta head out for an appointment, will 'clickety-clak' more later. Rod!~

Welcome to TGS! Great seeing you all here. :) Beth

Just looked at the post today and noticed djia took a nose dive and dropped 400 points. Chinese market triggers and lagged trading from yesterday contributed to the drop. Some may say it is inconsequential since the djia is up 10,000points since black monday in '87. I say it is indicative of how fragile the market is. Funny, it is estimated with this drop that the U.S. shares market value has had $600billion erased in a matter of hours. How does this affect you? Rod!~

Charlie's got a hint of a mean streak in him. ;) Rod!~

A competitor. Oh how they are in bloom this time of year.... :cool: Beth

Tom's class and my class are at Tom's shop. Beth

We have a C.P.A. do our taxes and a payroll service. The P.R. service helps to make sure all the right forms are filed and on time without the worry of an audit. Pay roll audits are much more common than full business audits. Our C.P.A. helps us to work smarter and informs us of ways to operate in a tax beneficial way according to the current tax laws. It has been one of the best decisions to have a qualified and extremely experienced accountant to do the taxes. The books we keep so we have a finger on the pulse at all times. Rod!~

Working in restaurants, this was one of the tasks I got delegated to deal with. Mostly, you are doing the floor. The walls may need some wiping but you will have to do this last. I have no idea what the inside looks like. Most have the metal plate pattern floor which is assembled with the assurance that it is going to get wet so it can take water to clean with. The walls are a texture pattern and will give off a metallic residue like lead from a pencil when wiped down if it hasn't been done in a while. Turn off the refrigeration while you are doing this. The whole job should take less than an hour unless you have to unload it (unlikely though and I wouldn't recommend it for liability and health reasons, have the restaurant do it). We have used hot water on just the floors to melt any ice and crud frozen in. Then use a squeegee to push it out into the walkin or other area where the drain is. Once you have the bulk of it out you will need to mop up the rest and make sure it is as dry as possible. Turn the refrigeration back on then wipe the walls down with a towel to remove any water droplets and re-insert the racks. Do not try to clean it while it is still frozen or with the refrigeration still on. You will get no where fast. Have them adjust their ordering so that the stock is low on the day you do the work. They can keep things cold in an adjacent cooler so they will thaw out while you are working. Yeah, it will be in the way of the other stuff already in there but they should anticipate your work and get what they need done before you get there to minimize the impact. Rod!~

I love the way it works for us. I am one to sometimes over qualify a customer (as a sales person, my boss called me 'luke saleswalker' ) I had the lowest returns percentage of the whole store though. Since I was on commission, I liked to make sure that what I sold remained sold. Our web site is a "No Pressure" brochure and I like it that way. For the demographic that shops this way, when they are ready to buy, they call. Rod!~

I am one to practice the cutting off the problem before it gets to that point. Another example was neighbor of a referral was talking to me and trying to make me feel the referring customer had a big problem with me (not according to our interaction) but he tried to put me in between them and made up stuff and then tried to get me to cut my price. He says "your charging 1320.00 for this job and if I take the coupon <$25.00> that makes it 1295.00. Just make it an even 1000.00 and I'll give you the work." To which I replied."I'm sorry, but my costs are not flexible like that. I don't get to negotiate them like I understand your culture is used to doing but my costs are pretty much set. You pay my price and I'll do the work. I'll give you some time to think about it and I'll show myself out. Thank you." Of course he never called again and he still hasn't done anything about it (he was calling me late in the season anyway, spring will tell) and yet he has to look at his neighbors deck and the one next to it and the other neighbor across the street all of which we did and still look great today. (checked recently on a drive-by to a house a few doors down when doing a post-con cleanup) It may be a sore situation for you if you live in a smaller population town where the price has been skewed way too low for the public to readily accept, I don't know but just thinking its a possibility for you north of boston. Rod!~

Daniel, I know where you are coming from. Most people either don't know or don't care about what goes into a business. To them they have somehow developed a sense that contracting is just labor and materials. So they figure into their head a calculation based upon what they are "willing" to pay and what they think it is "worth" and come up with a price they think they should hear and are prepared to part with. They have been in the stores and looked at a few prices and think they have the upper hand. But when we come in with a price that is twice as high or more, they freak out. First, they rationalize why they are more in line. Second, they scrutinize what you are offering for your price. Third, they make a comparison with their list against yours to gain an advantage. Fourth, they finally ask you why yours is so much higher and here is the punch line "than the other guy". Now you are in the bargaining stage (if you do not control the situation) and they will try to get you to come down on the price closer to what they had in mind. We've all been through this is the beginning. We get sucked into the consumer vortex of justifying price. In a competitive frame of mind, we may not be as forth coming with our costs, but if you take the time to itemize like a grocery list, people actually get to quantify things better. Without a list of the costs broken out, it is perceived as a figure you pulled out of your behind. We all know where this kind of business practice comes from. But most of us have a sincere interest in doing business the best we can and establish a reputation that is favorable. So we should be doing things in the most above board and ethical way possible. For some people, only the lowest price works. Had a guy who had crawled all over our website, called us for an estimate, and on the date I went to see him, he was talking to me about how great he thinks we are and convinced we are the ones to do the work. He also admitted he was the guy who built the structure and save a boat load of money. (FLAG) I was polite, smiled and took the measurements. He noticed I was measuring the rails and commented about it like it was going a bit too far. (FLAG) Then I started writing up the proposal while he was talking to me and asking me questions. Finally, I wrote the bottom line figure and flipped to the pages containing all the government requisites and disclosures required in my state that I make the customer aware of our compliances. He saw the liability coverage and told me that in this business I didn't need to have that much to do this job and that likely would be reflected in the price. (FLAG) I informed him that our business scope required it. To this he started to get agitated. (FLAG) Then I flipped back to the proposal and started to explain the figures and he went straight to the bottom line and told me there was no way he would pay that price and his idea of how much it was worth is less than half of what I had on paper. (FLAG)(BOOM) I politely said thank you for having us come out and I closed my portfolio and left without giving him a single thing more. This is just one of many examples of how people think they know how much something should cost. I was not about to try and overcome his objections because his expectations were way to low and any discounts I could have offered would have been insignificant to him. After that, I learned to ask ahead of time if they have a budget to work with. The responses I get are indicators of whether or not they have a good hold on their finances and to see how much they are willing to spend. Qualifying questions help me to determine how to proceed and when to walk away. If someone thinks so little of someone else that they are willing to ask for much less, they are just as likely to be as further inconsiderate and complain about the result. The low ballers can have em. Now I have a question for Russell. Is Wood Rich more durable than Wood Tux! Based upon your previous post, I would have to conclude that Wood Tux does not have the penetration capabilities of Wood Rich. Also, having used both, I would like to know if you would recommend using Wood Rich as a filler for the #1 and #2 holes and Wood Tux for the rest? This of course is on older wood that has the open structure to accept them. Rod!~

Is this flatwork...or hoods? Beth

We will be there! Should be a blast! Beth