Screening estimates

[CLASSICPW 14]

Does anyone use any methods th screen their estimates? I did some amazing advertising this spring and I am overwhelmed with calls. I'm getting sick of wasting my time on some calls where you know they probably are just calling to see what it will cost. Sometimes they are 30 min out of the way. I group my estimates together so it saves time, but you still get that feeling at some places that you're just wasting your time when you could be out working on the jobs that you have piling up. A friend of mine suggested that I ask them what they would be willing to pay for their job to sort of feel them out. Then again I've had bad feelings about a bid and got the job on the spot.

[FullBlast 14]

Hey ClassicPW I've been washing for about four years now, :lgbonk:most of the time by myself and been fairly busy but now I just bought out another business and have three trucks and trailers on the road with 4-5 employees working. Now I have pretty much work but sometimes I dont know about next week. You said that you did some extensive addvertising, and I was wondering what all you do as far a running ads? I'm in a couple phone books and a few news papers. I thought if you would have few tips they would sure appreciated.!!!!! Thanks!!!!:lgsideway

[PLD 14]

You said that you did some extensive addvertising, and I was wondering what all you do as far a running ads? I'm in a couple phone books and a few news papers.

Ditto for me, plz.

[PressurePros 248]

Classic, I hear you buddy. I have been doing 10-15 estimates per day. I am having great success with my silver, gold, and platinum levels of housewash. The decks are whats getting to me. Everybody wants to discount what goes into it. I get to this one house and its 2700 sf of wood, three layers, 10 4' wide steps, a spiral staircase. She wants the underside sealed. The crap thats on there is half worn off, its disgusting with mold, there are drips, lap marks, and pressure washer damage all over it. The lady waits til I get three quarters of the measuring done. I do my spiel about what a huge investment a deck of this size is, blah, blah , blah. She probably starts getting this "this is gonna cost me" feeling. She says, "can you give me a ball park estimate"?

I say, "No, I have to plug everything into the computer and it spits out a number. I don't want to guess too high or low, it wouldn't be fair to either of us".

She hounds me and says she won't hold me to it (yeah right) So I finally tell her it's going to be over three thousand dollars minimum. She says, "you're kidding me.. we were thinking maybe seven or eight hundred"

My reply was "the stain alone is going to cost more than that"

"Well we'd be willing to go to a thousand"

Oh in that case let me get my hose and hook right up. She tries to tell me the stain they get at Costco for $49 for FIVE gallons is all they need. Her exact words were "what are you coating it in, liquid gold? I think I will just have my husband do it again"

I don't usually let this kind of **** bother me but she really annoyed me.

Sorry about the long story, just wanted to vent a little. Anyway, here is how I now qualify people for decks over the phone. I ask them what they are looking for in terms of appearance and durability. I ask them if they have ever had their deck professionally restored. I explain to them that I use the highest quality prenetrating oil and the cost is $30 per gallon.I ask them if this is the level of restoration they are looking for because this is the only kind of work I do. I have done it with seven people so far... five ended the call with "Oh no we just want a quick rinse and another coat thrown down" the two that said yes, I sold.

[CLASSICPW 14]

I hear you Pressure pros, I've also been kind of layin' out the law to customers as far as costs and quality vs a quick fix. As far as ads, I just started using a company called RSVP. They send out upperscale post cards to 50,000 homes in your area worth the highest value( in the millions) down to around the $300,000 range. The design work is high quality and they give you 3,000 post cards to mail at will. Their mailings are spring, summer and fall for about $3,000 a pop. I did ValPak last fall for $4600 for 3 months and I've probably gotten more calls from RSVP from 1 mailing( It is spring though). It seems that I'm in pretty good with the owner in my area so I'm pretty much exclusive. You can also do 100,000 homes, but I'm already too busy.

[Beth n Rod 1,278]

Ken,

We have had those too. That's when we hold our ground the most. Let one of those other companies have that job. They get the headache too!

Jamie, start with the ones closest to you, and work your way out. If you can get the ones closer in, there is less fuel, drive time, wear and tear on the truck, etc... Also you will be working closer to home. Go pick up MS Streets & Trips 2005 and save yourself routing headaches. (it's like $39 at comp usa or an office supply place)

Beth

[JFife 14]

Ken,

It definitely ruffles the feathers when you deal with a woman like that, but as soon as you've determined that she is a jerk and not just playing hardball, get out. She says, "I'll have husband do it again," or, "I've got a guy that will do it for $500," just say to her, "great, I'm sure you'll be pleased with your choice, if ever I can help you again, don't hesitate to call."

She'll be taken away by your answer, as opposed to argueing, and she'll always remember you.......especially once the job gets done by her husband, etc. Kind of a passive-aggressive answer, but professional.

As far as estimates, keep giving them. The more you give, the higher you can charge. If you've got work till June right now, and an emergency house wash comes up that you'd normally charge$300 for, bid it at $550 and Let It Ride. Be willing to work a few extra hours this week to double your profit??? Probably. I've never been one for set prices, kind of a do a supply vs. demand type of thing.

jon

[timhays 14]

i agree with Jon,if your working its a supply and demand thing(coincidently i have been dabbling in economics the last 6 months and i can tell you this the consumer price index is at an all time high,fuel is $2.30 a gallon and interest rates are going up rapidly,if there ever a time that a customer can relate to a price increase it is now.

everyone gets the customer that wants the lower price,thats inevitable,the trick is to send them down the road and cater to the customer that will pay your price.

i did 2 jobs today that the customer payed more for our services than a competitors quote this is the ex.

i get a call from an advertisment and the customer asked me what the estimate would be for a job that required a min service charge,i told her the charge would be $100-$150 she informed me the other company min charge was $65.......I quickly informed her that obviously that might be her best route to take,but that was up to her........she still scheduled the job and we completed it for $100---- 20 minutes.....

today we also had scheduled a house wash and a driveway cleaning for a customer we had done 2 years ago,our price was $450 ,,,the customer exclaimed that it costed him 300 before,from US! by rationalizing that i didnt feel i needed to explain the cost of living changes from year to year or that the consumer price index(a poll that tracks what consumers pay for items on a monthly basis)was at an all time high,and that gas was $2.30 gallon. to justify our pricing,he oked the job and we completed it same day.

i think it is more important to pay attention to your cost of doing business and not what your competitors charge,these are 2 examples of customers who were shopping on price,or price perception who paid more for the job....the next time a customer says someone else will do it for less give them the chance.

[Mathew Johnson 123]

Ken,

We have had those too. That's when we hold our ground the most. Let one of those other companies have that job. They get the headache too!

Jamie, start with the ones closest to you, and work your way out. If you can get the ones closer in, there is less fuel, drive time, wear and tear on the truck, etc... Also you will be working closer to home. Go pick up MS Streets & Trips 2005 and save yourself routing headaches. (it's like $39 at comp usa or an office supply place)

Beth

What is the MS Streets and Trips and is it something that helps rural companies?

[PLD 14]

I have been doing 10-15 estimates per day.

I am overwhelmed with calls. [...] I'm already too busy.

In all seriousness, I'd pay a hundred bucks to spend a day shadowing each of you (and others here).

At the risk of sounding like a whiner... I'm in 2 larg circ local papers (Wed and Sunday), the yellow pages, and considering money mailer, direct mailer, et.al. I'm running about 5-7 estimates a week. Despite comparable prices, better quality work*, and getting a referral customer from almost every customer I'm just busy enough to keep afloat solo. I've printed out the recent marketing thread and have been studying it as if it was the King James verion... Any other advice would be greatly welcomed.

Philip

* I recently paid the big dog in town to pressure wash my house. I wanted to see their pitch, upsell technique, work, prices, etc. upclose and personal. Here's what I saw. Price was fair and comparable, work was ok. Estimate given on the phone. Scheduled for "first part of the next week". No show and scheduled again for the first part of next week. Showed up, cleaned, and left. Bill in the mail. No upsells, no estimated on driveway, deck, gutter cleaning, roof, etc. And this guy is kicking my butt, why?

[Beth n Rod 1,278]

It is a routing software, and yes it can help as you asked.

We use it quite often. It even helps us locate local dining and hotels when we have out of town work.

Rod~

[staudend 14]

Hey guys, long time no post.

I bid and completed a job last weekend that I completed in 6 hours with one hired hand. I xjetted 7 vinyl rental houses on the same street one right after the other that turned out beautifully. I bid the 3 one stories at 125 and 4 two stories at 175 as well as a garage floor for a total of $1125. Should I feel guilty? I don't think so with the overhead these days but still. I thought it was going to take me two days. I even discounted my usual price a little because of the volume. Nick

[JFife 14]

Doolittle,

I don't really do vinyl washing, but I guy I know well that does bids everything over the phone. 1) you can either charge less, or make more per job since you eliminate the drive, estimate, etc. 2) because of that, you can risk being a little low on your bid

3) if you get to the house and their info was off, re-bid, if they don't want it move on, just like losing an estimate

Good to hear from Tim Hays, last I heard you had your figures down to pull out 250K a year?!? Hitting it yet?? Tim is a good guy, saved my butt once about three years ago in North Carolina, we'd done a job there and they needed a little something done after we'd left, I called Tim and he went and did it for me, saved me a fortune and a lot of headaches and two days traveling.......class act all the way. Hope biz is going well for you Tim,

jon fife

[CLASSICPW 14]

pldoolittle, even though I'm overwhelmed with estimates, I'm only booked about 4 days in advance. I'm sitting on a huge stack of unanswered bids. It could just be the weather, It's 80 one day and 50 and rainy the next, so once the trees start blooming people will start calling back.

[CLASSICPW 14]

I forgot to mention, they might not call since I've been getting my teeth kicked in by low ballers, it seems like every spring there's 2-3 new PW's in the area's ads and 2-3 less who bailed out. There's alot of wary people because of all the bad work.

[PressurePros 248]

Hey guys, long time no post.

I bid and completed a job last weekend that I completed in 6 hours with one hired hand. I xjetted 7 vinyl rental houses on the same street one right after the other that turned out beautifully. I bid the 3 one stories at 125 and 4 two stories at 175 as well as a garage floor for a total of $1125. Should I feel guilty? I don't think so with the overhead these days but still. I thought it was going to take me two days. I even discounted my usual price a little because of the volume. Nick

Guilty? No way. It's a testament to your skill. Never feel bad about making a few extra bucks because you have the right knowlege and equipment. It would have taken most guys two days with inferior talent and gear.

As far as the estimates being done, I am not cheap. I book one job a day, and I'm not getting a ton of callbacks which is okay at this point. I am not out to win everyone, only the people whom are serious about property upkeep.

[Mike 64]

As far as the estimates being done, I am not cheap. I book one job a day, and I'm not getting a ton of callbacks which is okay at this point. I am not out to win everyone, only the people whom are serious about property upkeep.

AMEN!!!

[ROBGIO 14]

I agree with Beth and Rod about using a Mapping Software to map your estimates/jobs together by physical location...especially with gas price$.

Keep in mind though, that you can also use Mapquest (free online) which would do the same and you can access it from your cell phone; provided you have online service on it.

I'm brand new to this forum and haven't yet done any jobs in this field. I own a small House Cleaning (janitorial) company and can relate to the feeling that most clients want a discount. The way I usually handle it, is that I thoroughly explain to the client the process that it takes to get the job well-done. By educating them and clearly explaining it to them what it takes, they better-understand the reason for the price and most would book with me.

Now if the client's first words are related to $$ or mention the price too many times, I get suspicious that they're trying to get a discount or are shopping around for the lowest price. I personally don't "compete" based on price but instead on quality; and this is what I tell those clients that want to nag about price. I politely and briefly explain to them the steps that it takes, materials and time...and if after that they mention that someone else would do it for less...I just let them know that they have to look no further then; but if I could be of any assistance in the future to not hesitate to call me.

[Henry B. 4]

Were all going to have to deal with low ballers and hacks in the industry but it does make it a lot harder on the new guys that are starting up and doing this the right way. The only way to beat out the low ballers and not beat their prices is to have a name in the area. To get known your going to have to do some jobs or get some media attention to get your name out there. Try doing a couple charity jobs, that may help out a bit. Just hang in there and always do your best for a fair price. Keep your overhead and your expenses on each job down and take things slow. Learn how to do things faster and that may help you cut your costs down and then you might want to think about lowering your prices until you can "command" higher prices for your company name and experience. Don't hire the competition to see their sales pitch or the quality of their work! Call someone successful in the business and hang out with them for the day. I'd be happy to help anyone out, just give me a call.

[JFife 14]

To anyone just starting out (or experienced for that matter), Henry's last post was about the best I've ever read.

jon

[Washaway 64]

Does anyone use any methods th screen their estimates? I did some amazing advertising this spring and I am overwhelmed with calls.

What kind of advertising?

A friend of mine suggested that I ask them what they would be willing to pay for their job to sort of feel them out. ....

This is a really bad idea.

[Washaway 64]

As far as the estimates being done, I am not cheap. I book one job a day, and I'm not getting a ton of callbacks which is okay at this point. I am not out to win everyone, only the people whom are serious about property upkeep.

Just like people who search for quality work we only look for quality customers.