Educating your customers

[Colour Republic]

WARNING!!! Waffle imminent

I know I’ve banged on about it before but it really pays to talk to your customer about what you plan to do and why.

This story relates to a paper hanging job I’ve just been given the go ahead on but the same applies to tiling.

Initial phone call was on Saturday, which went like this "Hello do you wall papering? yes.. ok we have 1 wall we need papering, it's about 10m long and is in a new build" - So no problem I tell them I’ll come out on Sunday to take a look. Now from the description given to me it sounds as though it's very straight forward and I could price it over the phone but I find this is very rarely the case and also it doesn't give me a chance to meet the customer and sell our services.

I get there and they show me the paper, it turns out it's a very high end Italian paper containing glass (the wallpaper cost in the region of £1200 for the one wall), see nothing is straight forward! and I’m glad I didn't give them a price over the phone. I'm quite excited by the paper and I have experience of them so it's not a problem. They later tell me that they watched for my reaction when showing me the paper and I was the only one that didn't flinch; apparently other decorators that had told them they could do it soon suddenly had a look of fear and became booked up for the next 6 months.:lol:

So we chat about the paper and what I would do, the man of the house mentions some key trade terms so I ask him if he is in the trade himself, it turns out he is a consultant to the firm that manufacturers the coverings and paid a token amount for it... hmmmm this guy could be worth getting to know, he shows me some new products they are bringing out, wallpaper flooring with a epoxy resin coating. I love all of this stuff so take a keen interest.

Anyway I start to measure up but notice he has his laptop out so I ask him if he's seen any of our work, no? Ok take a look at our website... he and his wife watch a slide show as measure up and I hear the Wife is impressed.

So I finish up and we chat just a little longer, by this time the wife is relaxed and asks her husband "should we show him the front room?” It turns out they want the front room doing as well but I got the impression they hadn't show any of the other companies, they were going to see how they got on with the single wall first.

We go into the front room and I point out tiny defects that could be tackled in different ways, each method taking considerably more time than another but with better results, it all depends on whether they would appreciate the attention to detail and craftsmanship or they wouldn't notice and would prefer the cheaper option. It turns out the wife is a little OCD like me and would notice the tiny details! The very fact I took the time to learn about my customer gets me lots of browie points.

So we sum up (I’ve been at the house for an hour now and all from what started as one wall!) as I go to leave they tell me straight - We've had a number of people round ranging from phone quotes without seeing the job, people running out of the house in fear and one other guy we liked but we're now leaning towards you.

I thank them and leave, I think that went very well and I liked them a lot.

A few hours ago I prepared the quote and emailed him, I then text him to say I've done so.

The text messages went like this...

"Hi xxxxx, just emailed the price over, sorry it took so long, kind regards, Rob - Colour Republic"

"Thanks Rob, Just looking for my oxygen tent but will be back in touch this evening!🙂" (Turns out I’m 3 x the price of the cheapest😳)

"I'm not sure if my public liability covers me for death by quote, so please take it easy!"

"You are part Sicilian so I wouldn't worry too much about it" (I mentioned my nationality when he should me the Italian papers)


Fast forward an hour and I get an email saying they'd love to work with me and can I go ahead and book the work in. Although they would like me to do it in 2 stages, the single wall first then the living room when their finances have recovered in a few months time. This now opens another option for me – I intend to offer them a deal, I shall do the single wall and if they are happy with it I would ask that he recommends us to any clients he sells the paper to, if that is successful then I shall knock off a hefty chunk of the labour charges relating to the living room, maybe even free as this is all high end stuff.


So the moral of the story is – Nothing is ever as it seems, I so easily could have done what others before me had:

Quoted over the phone and not been in with a chance.

Run from the house in fear.

Or I could have lost out to the guy who they already liked (who was also cheaper than me), but I made them like me more which opened the keys to the living room.

All this because I gave up an hour on Sunday, the opportunities for this to snowball are there to be had, I'm old and wise enough to know nothing may come from the recommendations but if you tackle every enquiry with all your enthusiasm you are at least opening doors to see what's behind them.

 

[DHTiling]

if you tackle every enquiry with all your enthusiasm you are at least opening doors to see what's behind them.

So so true...

well done Rob.. feather in your cap..

 

[SandyFloor]

You've said it all there, mate. Well done.

 

[david campbell]

sounds like this could lead to a lot of high-spec and well paid work for you rob

good on you mate

 

[Colour Republic]

I hope so.

These are the papers

jannelli e volpi

Sirpi wallcoverings

They have got some mad stuff coming out, holographic wallpapers!

And this is the flooring they have developed

rapoxy - durable creative floorcoating

I know you lot will appreciate this!!! Obama was due for a presidential visit to Turkey and they decided that they would try to impress him with this flooring. It is basically a wallpaper that is installed to the floor then a clear epoxy resin poured over to give a glass like finish.

They installed the floor then left... some bright spark decided that it would dry quicker by.. you guessed it... turning on the UFH! Which in turn turned the clear resin yellow over the UFH cables. They phoned the company to ask what could be down about it, the reply was "Buy some rugs!":lol::lol:

 

[CJ CERAMICS]

nicely done and nicely explained
chris

 

[united]

Excellent story and well done for getting the job

I would never give a price over the phone as like yourself I like to meet the customer face to face.

Had an email on Thursday night from my website asking for a price to lay 4m2 of ceramic floor tiles, I promptly and politely replied asking if I could come and see the job, anyway I went to see the job the next day and it turns out that the tiles are polished porcelain and the area is 8m2 so I could have shot myself in the foot with that one!

 

[Ken Bruty]

Nicely done Rob

 

[mikethetile]

nice papers Rob

do you think the floor covering will catch on or will it remain a designer thing

 

[White Room]

Thats classy floor and wall coverings

 

[Colour Republic]

nice papers Rob

do you think the floor covering will catch on or will it remain a designer thing

Designer thing Mike, €350 a square meter although I wouldn't mind trying it out, have wallpaper will travel:smilewinkgrin:

 

[Colour Republic]

ok this is extreme but I like the idea that the floor covering can lead on from the walls (yes I know you have been able to do that with tiles for hundreds of years😛rrr🙂

The thing is that this can also be used for other areas, i'm seriously going to look into it for use as a kitchen worktop, the cost then doesn't seem so much

 

[united]

ok this is extreme but I like the idea that the floor covering can lead on from the walls (yes I know you have been able to do that with tiles for hundreds of years😛rrr🙂

The thing is that this can also be used for other areas, i'm seriously going to look into it for use as a kitchen worktop, the cost then doesn't seem so much

I like it

looks good for bars, clubs and designer shops

 

[SandyFloor]

Is anyone else feeling dizzy? :rolleyes5::rolleyes5:

 

[White Room]

After a few drinks my head would be spinning:8:

 

[Colour Republic]

You haven't seen the wall papers by Carnvsky then:lol: the image changes depending on the light

:::::: carnovsky ::::::

 

[Dan]

WARNING!!! Waffle imminent

I know I’ve banged on about it before but it really pays to talk to your customer about what you plan to do and why.

This story relates to a paper hanging job I’ve just been given the go ahead on but the same applies to tiling.

Initial phone call was on Saturday, which went like this "Hello do you wall papering? yes.. ok we have 1 wall we need papering, it's about 10m long and is in a new build" - So no problem I tell them I’ll come out on Sunday to take a look. Now from the description given to me it sounds as though it's very straight forward and I could price it over the phone but I find this is very rarely the case and also it doesn't give me a chance to meet the customer and sell our services.

I get there and they show me the paper, it turns out it's a very high end Italian paper containing glass (the wallpaper cost in the region of £1200 for the one wall), see nothing is straight forward! and I’m glad I didn't give them a price over the phone. I'm quite excited by the paper and I have experience of them so it's not a problem. They later tell me that they watched for my reaction when showing me the paper and I was the only one that didn't flinch; apparently other decorators that had told them they could do it soon suddenly had a look of fear and became booked up for the next 6 months.:lol:

So we chat about the paper and what I would do, the man of the house mentions some key trade terms so I ask him if he is in the trade himself, it turns out he is a consultant to the firm that manufacturers the coverings and paid a token amount for it... hmmmm this guy could be worth getting to know, he shows me some new products they are bringing out, wallpaper flooring with a epoxy resin coating. I love all of this stuff so take a keen interest.

Anyway I start to measure up but notice he has his laptop out so I ask him if he's seen any of our work, no? Ok take a look at our website... he and his wife watch a slide show as measure up and I hear the Wife is impressed.

So I finish up and we chat just a little longer, by this time the wife is relaxed and asks her husband "should we show him the front room?” It turns out they want the front room doing as well but I got the impression they hadn't show any of the other companies, they were going to see how they got on with the single wall first.

We go into the front room and I point out tiny defects that could be tackled in different ways, each method taking considerably more time than another but with better results, it all depends on whether they would appreciate the attention to detail and craftsmanship or they wouldn't notice and would prefer the cheaper option. It turns out the wife is a little OCD like me and would notice the tiny details! The very fact I took the time to learn about my customer gets me lots of browie points.

So we sum up (I’ve been at the house for an hour now and all from what started as one wall!) as I go to leave they tell me straight - We've had a number of people round ranging from phone quotes without seeing the job, people running out of the house in fear and one other guy we liked but we're now leaning towards you.

I thank them and leave, I think that went very well and I liked them a lot.

A few hours ago I prepared the quote and emailed him, I then text him to say I've done so.

The text messages went like this...

"Hi xxxxx, just emailed the price over, sorry it took so long, kind regards, Rob - Colour Republic"

"Thanks Rob, Just looking for my oxygen tent but will be back in touch this evening!🙂" (Turns out I’m 3 x the price of the cheapest😳)

"I'm not sure if my public liability covers me for death by quote, so please take it easy!"

"You are part Sicilian so I wouldn't worry too much about it" (I mentioned my nationality when he should me the Italian papers)


Fast forward an hour and I get an email saying they'd love to work with me and can I go ahead and book the work in. Although they would like me to do it in 2 stages, the single wall first then the living room when their finances have recovered in a few months time. This now opens another option for me – I intend to offer them a deal, I shall do the single wall and if they are happy with it I would ask that he recommends us to any clients he sells the paper to, if that is successful then I shall knock off a hefty chunk of the labour charges relating to the living room, maybe even free as this is all high end stuff.


So the moral of the story is – Nothing is ever as it seems, I so easily could have done what others before me had:

Quoted over the phone and not been in with a chance.

Run from the house in fear.

Or I could have lost out to the guy who they already liked (who was also cheaper than me), but I made them like me more which opened the keys to the living room.

All this because I gave up an hour on Sunday, the opportunities for this to snowball are there to be had, I'm old and wise enough to know nothing may come from the recommendations but if you tackle every enquiry with all your enthusiasm you are at least opening doors to see what's behind them.

And that, my dear friends, is how you quote a REAL job. 🙂

Well done Sir. I salute you.

May I blog this? Obviously giving credit to your fine self, sir. 😀

 

[Colour Republic]

And that, my dear friends, is how you quote a REAL job. 🙂

Well done Sir. I salute you.

May I blog this? Obviously giving credit to your fine self, sir. 😀

Please do Dan, i'd be very greatful Only thing I would ask is that it is edited slightly if it's not in a closed forum such as the arms

1) maybe take out the text messages

2) take out the bit over their finances

3) ohhh and more importantly take out the bit were I might do a job for free!!!! discounted for sure free no way, don't want potential future customers seeing i'm such a push over!

I think the message will still be there.. hang on.. i'll do it for you

 

[Colour Republic]

here you go Dan, didn't edit that much after all but also added a line (in bold) which is relevent but had forgot to mention before

WARNING!!! Waffle imminent

I know I’ve banged on about it before but it really pays to talk to your customer about what you plan to do and why.

This story relates to a paper hanging job I’ve just been given the go ahead on but the same applies to tiling.

Initial phone call was on Saturday, which went like this "Hello do you do wall papering? yes.. ok we have 1 wall we need papering, it's about 10m long and is in a new build" - So no problem I tell them I’ll come out on Sunday to take a look. Now from the description given to me it sounds as though it's very straight forward and I could price it over the phone but I find this is very rarely the case and also doesn't give me a chance to meet the customer and sell our services.

I get there and they show me the paper, it turns out it's a very high end Italian paper containing glass (the wallpaper cost in the region of £1200 for the one wall), see nothing is straight forward! And now I’m glad I didn't give them a price over the phone! I'm quite excited by the paper and I have experience of them so it's not a problem. They later tell me that they watched for my reaction when showing me the paper and I was the only one that didn't flinch; apparently other decorators that had told them they could do it soon suddenly had a look of fear and became booked up for the next 6 months.

So we chat about the paper and what I would do, the man of the house mentions some key trade terms so I ask him if he is in the trade himself, it turns out he is a consultant to the firm that manufacturers the coverings and paid a token amount for it... hmmmm this guy could be worth getting to know, he shows me some new products they are bringing out, wallpaper flooring with a epoxy resin coating. I love all of this stuff so take a keen interest.

Anyway I start to measure up but notice he has his laptop out so I ask him if he's seen any of our work, no? Ok take a look at our website... he and his wife watch a slide show as measure up and I hear the Wife is impressed. My new website only went live two weeks ago so without it I couldn’t have used this as an extra selling tool.

So I finish up and we chat just a little longer, by this time the wife is relaxed and asks her husband "should we show him the front room?” It turns out they want the front room doing as well but I got the impression they hadn't shown any of the other companies. They were going to see how they got on with the single wall first.

We go into the front room and I point out tiny defects that could be tackled in different ways, each method taking considerably more time than another but with better results, it all depends on whether they would appreciate the attention to detail and craftsmanship or they wouldn't notice and would prefer the cheaper option. It turns out the wife is a little OCD like me and would notice the tiny details! The very fact I took the time to learn about my customer gets me lots of brownie points.

So we sum up (I’ve been at the house for an hour now and all from what started as one wall!) as I go to leave they tell me straight - We've had a number of people round ranging from phone quotes without seeing the job, people running out of the house in fear and one other guy we liked but we're now leaning towards you.

I thank them and leave, I think that went very well and I liked them a lot.

A few hours ago I prepared the quote and emailed him, I then text him to say I've done so.

Fast forward an hour and I get an email saying they'd love to work with me and can I go ahead and book the work in. Although they would like me to do it in 2 stages, the single wall first then the living room in a few months time. This now opens another option for me – I intend to offer them a deal, I shall do the single wall and if they are happy with it I would ask that he recommends us to any clients he sells the paper to, if that is successful then I shall knock off a percentage of the labour charges relating to the living room, maybe even more as this is all high end stuff, we are both businessmen after all.


So the moral of the story is – Nothing is ever as it seems, I so easily could have done what others before me had:

Quoted over the phone and not been in with a chance.

Run from the house in fear.

Or I could have lost out to the guy who they already liked (who was also cheaper than me), but I made them like me more which opened the keys to the living room.

All this because I gave up an hour on Sunday, the opportunities for this to snowball are there to be had, I'm old and wise enough to know nothing may come from the recommendations. BUT if you tackle every enquiry with all your enthusiasm you are at least opening doors to see what's behind them.

 

[Dan]

Sending PM to you now.

 

[suave]

well done

 

[mikethetile]

I have found a similar approach with potential customers has paid dividends

I dont have a website but can see its use as a valuable marketing tool rather than something sat on the internet waiting for people to stumble across it

I have been pricing higher to try and regulate my work. I was winning too many and couldnt fit them in which was damaging my reputation, I epected work to fall off with the increases it didnt. my enquiries went up and the jobs were still won , I raised my rates again and again and again now the jobs won has reduced to a couple of jobs a month

so ive had a great summer having more time off than working and still having enough to live on

im going to reduce my rates a tad to gain more work so im not idle and have some money to replace my van, produce a website etc

but ive learnt a valuable lesson on pricing, the more you charge the more likely you are to win the job, and you can spend more time on it fussing about the details which makes the client feel it was money well spent

its a win win situation

 

[jay]

very professional colour

 

[Colour Republic]

but ive learnt a valuable lesson on pricing, the more you charge the more likely you are to win the job, and you can spend more time on it fussing about the details which makes the client feel it was money well spent

its a win win situation

very true Mike

I think I've mentioned this before on here, A mate who is a very good builder has fallen out of love with the trade a number of times all because of how customers treat him, his crime... being too cheap! The less you charge the more people will take the mick and expect a lot more for the peanuts they are paying. the more you charge the longer you can spend with the client and build up respect for each other.

 

[Dan]

It is hard to get those customers, but when you do, they're the ones that become your salespeople, and you end up with many more in the future.

I've always said that's where I'd aim. Aim for the higher end of the market and be the guy with the higher price (not overly priced for nothing -but give better value for their better money) and enjoy your job a lot more.

It's tricky starting out, but if you only ever did high end work, you'll always get high end work. If you're always priced out of a job, you'll be priced out until you clock that you need to explain a lot lot more to customers about the differences in pricing.

 

[Colour Republic]

So full of a cold and barely able to think straight I spent the weekend (and today 😳) , preping, lining and papering this job amongst other little bits.

So thought I'd share the pics which I have to say don't do the paper justice because it doesn't pick up the way the wall sparkles, also the room was still in a bit of disaray when i took the photos, so will update when it's dressed again.

Thinking about maybe a vodeo would be better to pick up the shimmer


anyway...


Before shots




Walls primed with Zinsser Gardz, then lined with Mav 1000 grade lining paper, Solvite ready mixed super high performance paste.



This is the paper Jannelli and Volpi 901VIP - 1m wide on a 30m roll


Close up of the paper (can ss a bit of detail in this shot)


Job done




Picture taken with flash on so you can see how it reacts with light

 

[mikethetile]

superb job Rob

stunning paper

 

[Colour Republic]

oh forgot to say, the paper is made from thousands of tiny glass beads, new blade needed for every drop!

 

[Colour Republic]

superb job Rob

stunning paper

Should be for the price, £40sqm, so that is £1200 of wallpaper on that one wall.

trimming round the fireplace was a bit tricky as trying to cut through the glass was a bit tough.

Mike, sounds silly but do you hang lining paper the same way? i.e over hang the external corners by an inch, let it dry a little then dand off to give a perfect corner?

 

[White Room]

Thats classy work Rob:cool3:

I was taught to cross line so the chance no joints matched when sticking.

I trained as a decorator in my young years

 

[SandyFloor]

Nice job. You wouldn't want to look at that in the morning and realise you'd hung it upside down :yikes: