free estimates or not

[mikethetile]

I didnt want to hijack Chris' thread and send it in another direction so I started a new one

ive had a lot of what Chris has had over the last 3 months, the problem is you book up and then cant refill the slot as its too close to xmas

theres not a lot you can do about it, unfortunatly

people see business as fair game, now most if not all of us give free estimates/ quotes which take up a lot of our time. it never used to be that way, if you were asked to quote you charged for your time and if you didnt win the job you were still paid for the time spent

im seriously considering re introducing this and if I win the job the costs would be reimbursed

what do others think

 

[faithhealer]

dont the climate is right mike, (or ever will be) you simply wouldn't be asked out in the first place. You have to give free quotes and try to win then over

 

[united]

Would great if you could pull it off Mike but as John says people might not bother asking you to quote if they know you charge

 

[mikethetile]

im going to try it and see how I get on

my advice alone is worth paying for

 

[mikethetile]

how about

initial site visit and estimate free

additional site visits , consultations and quotations chargeable at my discression, charges dropped on signing acceptance contract but with the terms in the contract stating that full or part of quotation is payable at my discression if job cancelled

 

[united]

how about

initial site visit and estimate free

additional site visits , consultations and quotations chargeable at my discression, charges dropped on signing acceptance contract but with the terms in the contract stating that full or part of quotation is payable at my discression if job cancelled

That sounds good to me

 

[mikethetile]

its done know Mark

its in my T&Cs with a spell check on discretion LOL, ive put may be charged at my discretion so really it depends on what game they are playing

I think in Chris' case they didnt set out to stitch him its just that their son said his mate needs the work

 

[jolly fix]

i had a chat to a couple im working for about this only the other day,gave the example of replacing guttering.years ago i would get paid for my time looking at their guttering etc,get the ladder out ,inspect condition of fascia boards,take some tiles up/felt up look at condition of rafters etc...so when i give them a quote its for whats needed to do the whole job .these days most people would turn up walk round the outside of the house to get a rough measurement of how much guttering to get,then when doing the jod the client gets the old knock on the door with "theres a problem the fascia's rotten on the back ,going to cost x amount extra,then a few rafters have rotten ends etc,going to cost a further.......no wonder why so many people think builders etc are ripping them off.

 

[mikethetile]

thats absolutly right Jollyfix, and who was more likely to get the job, when people are looking for an estimate on costs thats exactly what they want, a figure to cover all the work thats needed, its up to them then if they want to go ahead or not, to start a job on a price then ask for more money is not just unprofessional but its criminal

I ws talking to a bathroom fitter and asked who did his tiling, his son does it so no way in there LOL .we were chatting about prices and he had just lost a bathroom, he quoted £1200 and was knocked back cos they could get it done at £750. well what a pallava

he got called in halfway through the job, the £750 didnt include plastering so that was an extra. the plasterer didnt work over baths so the plumber was called back in to take out and refit the bath, that was an extra, its now over £1500and the tiling only just started, the tiler wants extra to take out and refit the whb and wc, the tiling is only just acceptable and not up to the standard they would have got for £1200 all in

he said he didnt know what to say to her, she was in tears and wished she had gone with his quote as she cant afford the extra money. bit late now , she will have to find it. but what a disgusting way to do business

 

[bathroomboy]

I have before now refused to go out and quote for insurance repairs such as a replacing a damaged bath etc, what usually happens is you go out and take all the details, send them an itemised estimate, they then claim the insurance money, do the job themselves or get a cheap cowboy in, not worth the time and hassle.

 

[doug boardley]

I've always given free estimates Mike, and I shall continue to do so, but tbh most people don't ask me for an estimate, just ask if and when I can do it.

 

[mikethetile]

thats a good position to be in Doug, ive got some like that but its got very cutthroat around here lately, it will settle down again when people realise that cheapest aint best

 

[Aston]

hi mike
charging for your estimates will put new customers off mate....
no matter how good your advice is, theres loads of it out there and plenty of free versions lol, so its comitting business suicide charging imo....just my opinion of course :0)

ed

 

[Stewart]

I did this a few years back, when things were hectic and I had quotes coming out of my ears and did it to get rid of the time wasters. It worked quite well at getting rid of them and customers got it knocked off their bill if they went ahead. But I think I got away with it as all my quotes came from recommendation, so they knew what to expect.

I phased it out, and put my prices up considerably instead. This had the same effect and kept me focused on the top end of the market, where I wanted to be. I now just build in the cost if the quote into my price and it all evens out in the long run.

 

[mz30]

Am with ed above ,charging for quotes is a bad move,i also agree with doug on the the fact that most of the jobs i do are when you can start said jobs.

I dont know what you do mike,do you do full bathroom refurbishments or do you do just tiling?

If you do full refits then it is plausable to charge for your time,but if you only tile then its not(imho).
To put it in perspective i had 6 quotes for my extension,and was not charged for any quotes,drawings they prepared,so if you look at an extension and a bathroom refit or just tiling,it doesnt make sense to go with the guy who charges for a quote.

 

[mikethetile]

im still doing the initial site visit and estimate free but ive written into my T&Cs that I may at my discretion charge for further site visits, ordering materials . preparing detailed specifications and quotations and so on, ive also added another term that if job cancelled after they have signed the acceptance the full quoted amount will at my discretion become chargeable

no where else and in no other business would you supply your labour and expertise foc, in addition to that I do the job with no gaurantee of being paid on completion, my clients dont pay anything up front

having spent hours going through the consumer laws ive realised how vulnerable we are to being knocked for money and its our own fault for not covering ourselves with a proper contract

 

[kilty55]

hi mike,i have thought about charging for estimates before but based on the fact that every other company doesnt charge for this then i thought this would be a no goer,

i have also had issues with people cancelling this year,to counteract this or to try to counteract this i go and quote as per normal...i dont mention a deposit at all at this stage i just quote on the job in hand trying not to put the customer off and once i get the job i then put in writing and also verbally explain i take a deposit upfront to put them in my books


every one so far has been fine with this and i think/hope it puts them off considering cancelling............put yourself in there shoes if you werent tied down financially to a job being done its very easy to just say no thanks and not care about the poor tradesman at the other end whereas if they have 200 pounds or so tied up in you they will not want to lose it


works fo rme so far

 

[aph257]

i can see the points mentioned to charge for estimates but i'm not totally convinced, maybe if i get some short notice cancellations then i may have to re-consider.

 

[White Room]

Must admit never charged for quoting/estimating

 

[mikethetile]

thanks kilty

I may well do that, I cant see it being a problem with genuine customers who want the work done , its the messers that will object and I can live happily without them

 

[kilty55]

thats it mike if they dont wan to go the deposit route then you know immediately they may well aste your time so you have saved yourself a pile of grief straight away

 

[andy-p]

Charge a fee for insurance quotes , with the fee deductable off the price when or if you get the job.

I cant see how you can charge for estimates , everybody no matter what trade gives them free, but DO NOT give the customer all the relevant details and sizes so that they pick your brains ..

 

[mikethetile]

the more I think about it the more I like it, the deposit doesnt have to be big but big enough so they wouldnt want to lose it and if its needed to hold their slot open they will pay it also it guarantees you will do their job when you say you will

 

[Scott]

I would never charge for an estimate nor would i pay for one. I had a builders merchant pffer to quote for all my building materials and wanted £75 to give me a price, i told them to do one.

If you called your insurer and asked for a quote and they wanted £5 incase you didnt want to go with them you simply would go elsewhere, same in building trade i think.

As for doing the estimate and first visit free what would you need to go back for?

I doubt very much that you'd get away with getting the full amount back if you hadnt done the work, all you would have to do would become very unreasonable before starting the job and make them unsure about either you or your abilities. that way you could cream every job with a cancellation?

 

[mz30]

mike with all due respect mate,what your thinking will not work,as scottley said after your first visit why would you need to go back?.

If you priced a job for me and than asked for a deposit once we had agreed a price then i would go with someone else,i don't know about the other guys here but there is no way i would pay a guy who hasnt even put a tile on the wall,its to easy for you to walk away with the deposit and not do the job,the client only has your word that you will do the job you say and if you dont trust them(by asking for a deposit)why would they trust you enough to pay you a deposit?.

Like i said in my earlier post ,i dont know if you just tile or you do full refits if its full refits then its reasonable to ask for some cash upfront for materials etc,but if your ordering stuff from your supplier then do you have to pay a deposit?.

 

[Thespanishtiler]

Hi Mike

I do not and will not charge for quotes.

in my opinion:-

the site visit is your oportunity to sell your service and forge a relationship with a potential customer.

the time you spend with them and generating your quote are an investment in winning the job.

the site visit is also an oportunity to weigh up the client and make a judgement as to how much effort you should put in, or not.

i can generate a very detailed and accurate quote in half an hour so this is not an issue to me.

my quotes are acompanied by 2 copys of my terms and conditions, one to be returned signed and dated to secure a slot in my diary and the other to be retained for referance.

i take a 40% deposit 10 working days prior to starting.

95% of my jobs are full refurbs, on small in fill jobs up to about a grand i dont bother with a deposit.

It works for me

 

[mikethetile]

right lads

when youve done having a go at me and actually read my posts you wil see what ive done

 

[Thespanishtiler]

hi mike

not having a go mate, i think your advice is always very good.

just wanted to share my way of dealing with quotes, deposits etc

hope no offence taken

spanish

 

[mikethetile]

no offence mate, I agree with the way your doing things, very professional

 

[DHTiling]

My 2 penneth worth..

Personally to charge isn't for my business but members.. if Mike thinks he can make it work then i really do wish him well and after all Mike knows his business better than all of us.. so he is entitled to do it and say so without backlash..🙂🙂

Mike.. good luck.. you can only try and if it works then bingo..

 

[andy-p]

Dave , i dont think anybody was having a go at mike , just giving their advice which he after all asked for, thats the thing about asking people for their opinions you dont always get the answer you want, any way good luck mike whatever you do mate...