Quotes - I never hear anything back!

[Raja]

You can't judge a book by it's cover and believe me many a time everythink look's great until you turn up and they forgot to mention this, that and the other and yes people do wait for quote's and I still get the job although 70% are recommendation the rest thru plumber's and other tradesmen

very true words

 

[sibs]

On my quotes I state that if I come across any problems that require additional work and expenditure once I have started a job I will discuss it in full with them to decide on the best course of action.
This is to cover myself should I discover any nasties like the walls under existing tiles being shot or some other such hidden problem. Do you think this statement puts them off? Maybe they think Ihave put it in to invent more work and get more money out of them?

 

[davy_G]

It might put them off. But if you explain why you are saying it and word it a bit different like you are doing them a favour....ie 'on a recent job when the tiles where removed the plaster was in too bad a state to tile onto (not that you actually pulled it off as well) and the walls needed reskimmed/filled/repaired. This meant extra materials/time etc to do the job right.
State that you can only quote for the work you see and time spent preping is at XX per hr or day. Maybe they are prepared to remove old tiles and see for themselves it isnt alot of fun. You might have to reboard or fill/plaster but at least they are involved and can see it is not straightforward.

Oh one last thing about some previous posts i made, if you dont give a price there and then there is no way you can win the job. At least if you price it then you get that chance. Only a thought but good luck anyway

 

[strongboes]

Well i mentioned in an earlier post that i had 13 bathrooms to price today, well it turns out that it wasn't 13, it was actually 23. Also it's not just bathrooms it's bathroom, wc room and kitchen. I asked them how many quotes they would be getting in and they said just mine and the job was mine if the price was right. Agreed on a price of 1157 per unit and it's 5 days for each one so i am now booked up for 30 weeks!! They also said there would be another 20 of various configurations to do after these. So i'm a little chuffed tonight!

Sibs hang in there, dont over complicate things which i think you are doing, I wouldn't put clauses in residential jobs personally. Over a 6 month period it will all balance itself out, you'll get one that you barely break even on and you'll get others where you clear £300+ a day. Try quoting your price there and then and try and seal the deal. Trust me don't worry about pricing wrongly, you have to price jobs wrong or you wont learn. You dont learn from the ones you quote well for, you learn from the ones you price wrongly and end up spending more time than you wanted. Thats when something clicks and you know you wont make that mistake again!

Good luck

 

[sibs]

Well done strongboes thats a nice lot of steady work matey!

 

[Brindle]

Sibs - I'm in a similar position here, so will take some of the great advice on board from everyone else. I do know for a fact though that there are people tiling for peanuts in some places. I quoted a cheap price to a friend who was doing his bathroom, and was massively undercut by a tiler provided by a tile shop for £60 per day!!!!!!!!
I know another customer I quoted has just had family problems even though she seemed happy with the price at time of quoting. Some people will never pay the going rate, but I am coming to the conclusion that it's their loss when they get a cheaper person in to **** it up, and I do point this out to them sometimes.
I'm very new to this too 🙂

 

[sibs]

Bless you Brindle thanks for your post. Things are very tough at the moment. Got another quote to do tomorrow let you know how I get on.

 

[Raja]

Bless you Brindle thanks for your post. Things are very tough at the moment. Got another quote to do tomorrow let you know how I get on.

gud luck lil lady from ur fan in sheffield chin up no arguing tonite lol

 

[GazTech]

When new to this game , times can seem very hard, you tend to question yourself when quotes don't come back. All I can say Sibs is ride out the storm, act naturally when with customer, try to get them laughing....they buy when they are relaxed, and remember....appreciate the jobs you do get and think that 10 yrs down the rd you will do their son/ daughters house etc. the longer you stick at it the easier it becomes, repeat buisness and recommends come a plenty, so be patient, the good times are just around the corner........Gaz

 

[sibs]

aww bless you too Raja..... I don't think we argued at all I just think it was a healthy debate and a very interesting one at that. We can't all have the same opinions can we. I love a good debate and a bit of banter and if I think I have a valid point to make I will argue it as elequently as I can and without getting personal about it. You are all a great bunch on here so I am looking fwd to many more discussions. I don't think anyone could mention chanderleers ever again without thinking of del & rodney! Would be interesting to see how the law stands on that particular case though....... ay rodders? :lol:
----
Much appreciated Gaz!