No Return Call On Bid

kevbo

Iffy Craigs list...again.

MALCO.New.York

And just who is running your business there Mr.? You? With the pants? Or Her? With the skirt? Or is it he other way around?

You with the skirt..........

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

nap

that post is just strange.

why wouldn;t you call a propective job back? They may have some reservations you can address and make the sale. It may be something besides price.

and tell your wife that regardless how much you charge, if you don;t get any work, you still have nothing. You need to figure out what you NEED to charge rather than just grabbing a number and saying, "that looks good."

Any Season

This could be the only time I agree with Malco, but tell your wife to **** off unless she has a masters in marketing or it is really her business and you are a salesman for her. Otherwise you should have the pulse of what is going on around you and shouldn't be so easily swayed by your wife or whomever. Also, I call people back to the point where I feel like a telemarketer and I book a good number of those and actually get thanked for being so persistent. Why bother even doing the estimate if you aren't going to follow up on it. They go hand in hand.

Chris Johnson

Call them up after a few days to follow up...they may have lost your number, they may not realize how important the work is until you remind them of the estimate you provided.

I've had many estimates go out and then over a year later get a phone call...is this bid still good?

If I remember correctly your previous boss was 'under' paying you and 'under' appreciating you...and your wife was after you to get a GC license...if so, tell her you got it and Rome wasn't built in a day...don't give up...keep pluging away it will come.

__________________
Chris

MALCO.New.York

Am I that contrary?!

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

MALCO.New.York

FOLLOW UP closes more sales than does initial pitch.

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

Forry

I DON'T leave the $ amount in a message, unless it's a regular client, and I expect to get the work. I prefer to see the whites of their eyes and be there to answer questions. I DO call back up to three times or so, or until I get a yes or no from them, whichever comes first. If someone asks over the phone for the bid amount, I might give it to them, but if it's not awkward, I'll try and get a meeting. Even if I don't get the job, at least I learn something.

__________________
now i am scared for my future
i've got all ten
smashed a lot of them stupidly before
-john5mt

DavidC

I agree 100%. In fact we have a $30k job to start in a couple of weeks that is the result of calling old leads. We couldn't connect when the lead was fresh, but we did persist.

I've been known to go through a stack of old estimates (jobs I didn't get) to see how the job turned out, and pick up work that way.

Keep calling.

Good Luck
Dave

__________________
www.CookContractingLLC.com

Carport King

CASTLE! Wow what a post this one is and a touchy one I might ad. First off respect your wife is rule number 1. Maybe she is just trying to tell you that you are worth more. Your work is better than most and you should charge more.

But with all of that said YES you should follow up with all your leads and estimates. How do you know your price is to high? You have not talked to your client.

One last piece of advise is that little furry patch rules the world and the lazy boy chair gets aweful lonely. Good luck!

marc

I wouldn't call back after leaving a bid on the phone or e-mail.

WHY?????

Because I would NEVER leave a price on the phone, voice mail or e-mail.
How do you justify your price over the phone?
I have to say this............That is the DUMBEST thing I have heard in a long long time.
Meet with potential customers FACE to FACE
And YES...If you can't make double working for yourself vs. working for someone. You should be an employee instaed of an owner.
How can you expect to win a job as the highest price over the phone???????????
I'm getting upset just thinking about this.

__________________
Marc

Double-A

This somehow conjures up a mental picture of a young man sitting in a field of daisys, a daisy in hand, slowing plucking petals and letting them fall to the ground while chanting, "She loves me" <pluck>, "She loves me not" <pluck>.


Does she love him? Does she not? The flowers will never tell. Time to get off your butt and call the client. Ask them why you haven't heard from them.

I charge as much as I need to meet my overhead and profit goals. Period. I don't charge what others charge and I certainly don't base my prices on anything that even remotely looks, smells, walks or talks like 'the going rate'.

You wife is more right than you know, now ask her why she thinks that and listen. You're going to hear a bit of what you should have been reading here in these forums.

The process is simple. Learn your numbers, know your numbers, work your numbers. Everything else is just a shot in the dark.

__________________
"My clients’ wishes are the center of my attention." -- David Guido, a contractor in Woodstock, N.Y.
New York Times, July 20, 2006

nap

what he should have heard? He already heard that.

kirbymurphy

Me too! Been going through 2007 and 2006 bids, leads and contacts. It's been like a boiler room. First call is hard, after that they're easy.

Kevbo---maybe you have Phone Phear(fear)? It's like asking out or calling that pretty girl in high school. You're afraid she'll say no, so you never find out the truth.

Some folks get busy, can't decide, won't commit, or are afraid to talk with YOU and tell you no. Keep calling. If they say "not now" TELL them you will call back and ask what is a good date to call.

If they say no, try to find out why? If it's price, ask what the winning price was. Then determine if the bids were equivalent in scope. maybe you're higher but doing more work on the job?

The_Game

Just call Back, if you Don't ,you probably wont get the job, a lot a people wait a week or two.
i get call from job i bid a year ago. they telling me they are ready to spend the money to get it done now.
never know , talk to you costumer key no 1.

rservices

I guess you would have to ask your self are you selling wood and screws, or are you selling your service??

my rates aren't cheep, but what I bring to the table make it a value. It's all about service !!!!! And if your selling your services... what kind of impression are you making if your don't even follow up on the bid.

If they are comparing bids, are you bidding apples to apples. I do a lot of tile work, and I use epoxy grout, does the other bids using epoxy?

I guess it could boil down to learning about running your biz, in your marketplace.

ScottD

If you were smart, you would of course put a time limit on your bid. Two resons, it covers you for increases in supplies. Also, it gives you a good excuse to call. Say hey there so and so,, I just wanted to remind you that the expeation date on that bid I gave you was about to expire. Then take the conversation from there. That way you not only seem less pushy, but they FEEL like you are out for there best interest.

In the Future, always hand deliver your bids. It saved me a sale last week, I was underbid by a substantial amount. I simply said, maybe I misunderstood what you wanted,. I thought you didn't want these windows to look as bad as the ones you have. ( they were actually considering having the same person come back again. ) After some conversation the couple agreed the price was worth what they would get. I never would have been able to close that one over the phone.

Once you are in the door, make sure to always be polite.

vinylguy

call them back! give them a bid! leave it on thier voice mail!
wtf ? never send an estimate or a bid, deliver it in person show them the values of you your company and your wares.
we get a yes or no the same night as the first appt. however design build may be different but i would still deliver in person and try to close the deal then and there.
and why don't you just have wifey call the customer back since she is so good at telling you what to do? maybe she can run your biz for ya and you can just be an employee!

EIFS101

In todays day and age and with modern technology how it is with the advent of the telephone and all, I see nothing wrong with faxing or emailing proposals. I always follow up my proposals with a courtesy, "Just calling to see if you received my fax/email". The way gas prices are I would definitely avoid hand delivering every estimate because that would really piss me off if I didn't get it. Not to mention that I would have to be driving up and down the eastern seaboard daily.

__________________
EIFS Stucco and Waterproofing.

ameliapearn

We have a lot of customers that have secondary homes in our area so it is tough to get to them face to face with any real frequency.

Often estimates are left via voice mail, email, or fax - whichever method the customer says that they are most comfortable with.
We always follow up. Probably 2-3 times. Sometimes they disappear for a bit and then come back to us. There are lots of reasons for that.

On follow-up, they seem to respond well to verbage like: I'm calling to see if you've made any decisions on your project......, I'm following up to see if you have any additional questions...., I'm working out my schedule for next month and I wanted to see if you've made a decision...., etc. Depends on the situation.

If they turn us down we leave the door open: Thank you for your time Mr So&So, good luck with your project and feel free to contact me in the future if you need any assistance. Every once in a while they do call back because the low baller took them for a bad ride.