Reasonably priced contractors?

[plainpainter 217]

So help me out fellow Grime Scener's, what is the motivation behind being a 'reasonably' priced contractor? I did an estimate the other day for a homeowner to wash their home and clean out their gutters - they had some 3 feet tall grasses growing out of these things. And here is a guy that supposedly been in business for 33 years, has a rig - pencils a price on the backside of a business card for 60% less than my bid. Now I don't think I was at all expensive. But this guy tooted his horn to these homeowners and wears the 'Reasonably' priced like it was some sort of badge of honor.

And I am really dumbfounded by this behaviour, not that I am worried about this guy taking my business away - he can go do his 25 mile one way drives with his entire rig to meet a customer to bid 4-5 hours of hard work for less than $300 for all I care - he's just a sprained ankle away from being nothing - oh yeah, 33 years in business and no assistants. That's another 'badge' of honor - he's a one man band and doesn't have all the overhead of a larger company.

Is it me - or is this cerebral hemorrhaging of basic business sense just getting old?

At least take a kid like D.J. Carrol - yeah sure I'd like to throttle him from time to time. But you got to give the kid credit, even if there is one last nickel left on the table, you can be sure he'll grab it faster than a tightwad Scottish Highlander. And I can admire that.

Is it that these guys lack a sense of self worth or accomplishment in their lives - and this is the way to make up for it? By being 'Reasonably' priced?

[Adrian 155]

60% lower is not reasonably priced. Unless your bid was just over the top.

Or maybe the sales pitch was not their cup of tea.

Or maybe they liked the other contractor better.

Or maybe they were not educated in the process and thought any price will get them, the same service.

Move on to the next one I say. It's right there waiting for you to grab it with your special sauce and take it to the bank.

[plainpainter 217]

I got plenty of work, Adrian. I am not sweating things. I have no idea who these folks will choose. Nor do I care - they even had one kid, who says he gets up on a ladder and brushes everything and uses hot water.

And these were young homeowners - and the guy said he was clueless as to the whole process. I gave him my whole spiel and upsold a few services for no additional cost. I basically gave him the rundown to make sure a guy is insured, which I don't think he is, but that stuff goes right over the head of some of these homeowners. I even told the guy - how do you even afford marketing with such a low price, and he said 'Referrals' - I shook his hand and told him to have a great day. Some folks just don't get it.

Anyways - more to the point - why do you want to be the 'reasonably' priced guy? What is the pshychology behind this? Right now I am working with another painter in my area that has an extremely sound business - and I am discussing how I want to funnel all my exterior painting leads to him - and in return I want him to standardize his pricing practices and up his price to the point he only wins 25% of all the estimates.

I want nothing in return - other than eventually he gives me his 'small' jobs. But to the point - I have a strategy to increase the price in my area, even it means giving it to another contractor. Because in the end it's a win-win for all contractors involved.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

What is reasonably priced? That's a nebulous term.

Sell your service, at your price. Explain what you do and uncover the differences between them and you. Your price will not matter as often as you think if you can point the differences out. Sometimes the differences are technique, sometimes materials, number of services performed, etc.

We stopped worrying about price years ago. Our focus, is quality. Period.

Beth

[James 624]

Dan , for every complaint you have about a hack I can give you a " we choose you even though you were higher priced". I just received an email on such a quote and a winning approach to the job. I know a pressure washing company that bases it's pricing at 60 an hour( from the 1980's) and they do a pretty good job. It's easy to compete on small jobs not large jobs with them. Lucky for me they are not to good at large jobs or wood jobs. Dan, do you have a relative in the Biz down here ?

[plainpainter 217]

I don't have a relative down there, that I know of - I don't believe any of my family is in Connecticut.