Emailing Proposals

J F

sweeeet

coolflatroof

I stopped doing proposals - period. Unless it is a commercial job and it has to be official. I send in e-mail describing what we will do using which materials and approximate price (usually 99% accurate) based on pictures, dimensions, etc., before I even look at the job. When I go to look at it I usually sign the contract. People know what to expect in terms of pricing and I go to look at the job to confirm everything and make sure there are no underwater stones. That's it.

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SunshineRoofing

Every situation is different, but if it's an efficient way to deliver the proposal then yes, I send by e-mail. I always visit the site and take measurements and notes, so I can do the estimate at the office on my excel spreadsheet. This necessitates a second trip to deliver the proposal. Some customers are accustomed to e-mail and either have a good understanding of the job or I have talked to them enough that they will understand the proposal.

What I want to move to is a laptop with the spreadsheet loaded in and carbon type fill in the blank estimates so I can get it done in one trip.

AJAX

I agree. I have had the same experience lately. "Your quote is $6K more than what 3 others have quoted, where going another direction". Is it apples to apples? Of course not but, I could not get another type of dialogue going because it wasn't in person. Found out later (from previous client) that other quotes where $8K all in, when my material costs where $8200 alone! Obviously not the same jobs quoted.

How do you get a blank dollar amount contract signed?

J F

maybe a design contract?

AmeliaP

We have a good amount of vacation homes in this area so we use email for this fairly often. I never hear of anyone forwarding them on or changing them but I do think it gives the HO more of an inclination to email back "well....what if I give you $x instead?" I have a stock email for those though. ....only if they are not available via phone in a timely manner. We do get the jobs though. Email closing rates seem to be fairly near to in person ones.....I've never checked....and we do a lot of referral work so probably that makes a difference.

DavidC

There are always rules to follow and exceptions to those rules. I too have had clients that I never met. We did business over the internet, or in days of antiquity, we used the postal service. But as a general rule proposals must be delivered and reviewed personally.

We will review the proposal with the client word for word, handling objections and clarifying questions as we go. When done they understand, as well as they are going to, exactly what we intend to do for them. We can then proceed with the contract, which is prepared in advance and ready for signatures. You can't do that over emails. And it's specially hazardous if they are playing one against the other via email.

Confidence in your price and proposal is extremely difficult to display with emails or over the phone. The client needs to see your body language as much as you need to see theirs. Most communications are not via the words we speak or write.

Good Luck
Dave

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enforcer

personally i think its a great idea. reson being,a customer is more likely to express his or her true feelings over an e-mail rather than face to face or over the phone..usually anyway.

KennMacMoragh

I think it makes sense to go over the proposal with them in person, more likely to make the sale if you're good at selling. But what do you do if you visit the person to look at the job, and it's too complex to come up with a bid while you are there? You can take measurements, write everything down, then go home and figure out your numbers, then e-mail it to them. Only other option would be to meet up with them again, which would seem kind of dumb.

MagicPoolSvcs

All our estimates are sent in PDF form, describing everything they will do.
If someone beats us on price, I can almost guranteee they are not putting the detail in their estimates as we do.

There is an old saying - " You get what you pay for in this life ".

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BuenaHomes

95% of my proposals are handled via-Emails.
Please do not confuse a) Proposal, with b) Bids.
They are entirely two different monsters.
You submitt proposals/agreements for unique situations when zero competitors involved or almost granted job situations exists.

Rather you submitt bids when you are against the entire contractors community (of course a little of exageration)...

Understand:
Proposal, Bids, estimates, offers and agreements are not synonimous. Learn each definition in a contractors law dictionary or go to your State Contractors License Board Web-site for information or visit my web-site constructionary, there's a link with more info about it.-This way you will become better prepared to address this situation without fear of someone using your intellectual document.
Each one of these have a very unique legal definition( believe me i learnt that the hard way in a contractor board litigation case) and it's our duty as proffesional builders to educate customers in these regards.

Normally your local county has a law library free of charge where you can consult books about contracting and contracting rules/definitions.

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AutumnWood Inc.

I was just thinking about this in the last few days.. For the last few years we have emailed our proposals and have had - lack lust closing rates.

I agree with Mr. Stone...

I am going to try and push for a second meeting to present my proposal.

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HSConstruction

I second that motion
Since it has become dog eat dog I want to be there to guide them thru the proposal and answer any to concerns right then. This way I walk out with a sale or at least a strong gut feeling of which way they are going to go.

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DavidC

It might seem dumb but it is precisely how we make most of our sales. I'm not a 1 call closer and I want time to put together a well thought out and thoroughly detailed proposal. And to make the most of my presentation I want to be in front of them to review (sell) it.

I could email it, but then I'd never know their true reaction or have a chance to counter if needed. I agree with the Stone quote.

Good Luck
Dave

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ottagosoon

This is the right answer to the original question. I have made this mistake all of last year. It just seem quicker to get a price out. I think the best way to weed out the "tire kickers”, is to set up a second meeting and meet face to face to discuss their proposal. Then if you want you can give them a written proposal.
For me, I will not give out any more free written proposals. I don’t know where this “Free Estimate” crap came from. T o give out a free estimate, that’s well and good for most small projects. A free written proposal to a homeowner going to far, I’m providing a “Free Estimate” the least the homeowner can do is take some notes on their own project.

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THINKPAINTING

OK, so if your doing a estimate to add a sunroom, or a second floor you quote that right on the spot?

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BuenaHomes

The original post was about Estimates, I think you are confusing Estimates with Proposals, which each one it's a unique element of a negotiation process.- just a point i wanted to bring to your attention. nothing personal

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KennMacMoragh

I think the point Mike was trying to make was to go over your offer with the customer in person, and you'll have better odds of landing the job. If you e-mail, whether you call it an estimate or a proposal, the person uses that to make their decision whether or not to use you. And since you won't be there when they make that decision, your chances diminish. Calling it an estimate or proposal would make no difference in the point he's trying to make.

I could be wrong, sounds like that's what he meant though. But I don't know if he will be back here to post. He probably just wants you to read his books!

MOTB

I really enjoy this thread and am sticking to the position of "Who cares about the competition if you ..."
1) responded to the initial inquiry professionally
2) responded to the house visit promptly and dressed appropriately
3) and also conducted yourself appropriately
4) and then placed a price on the project knowing full well that the homeowner wants to do business with you then
5) sent an email copy to demonstrate, yet again, how proficient you are in conducting business.

And so what if they shop around, that is the American way ...

Within this thread is all sorts of concepts of what emailing means, including just text, a word doc, a PDF, Excel, what to include and what not to include.

But there is a missing item and that is "what do you do to allow the homeowner to respond to collaborate against the very electronic communication you sent to them?"

Here is what I am proposing ...
You send an email that draws your customer to a link that brings up whatever estimate (or multiple) estimates you sent to them. Then, you give an easy way for the homeowner to ask questions against the information, and then send an update back to the customer when you have responded. An audit trail exists between you and the customer showing all your conversations on labor, materials, price, delivery, whatever.

A good example is to make believe a new forum thread was an estimate being sent, but only two parties can see it, the originator and the one person who it was sent to. The same alerts like this forum thread are sent to each party that the other is looking to communicate.

This is better than going back and forth with replying to an email since there becomes too much garbage in the text of an email when you do that.

This does not replace onsite and verbal communications, it justs adds another layer of convenience to the customer (that many are already familiar with the e-update process such as Forums, FaceBook and LinkedIn). And then, just imagine what this will do to force your competition to step up to the plate.

There are numerous issues that go into implementing the above, but it is the general philosophy that I am proposing as a better way of working with customers and emailing.

Your thoughts?

Brian

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Warren

Possibly a new feature for Contractor Talk? Nathan are you listening?