Phone Estamates?

kevbo

Over the phone estimates!? Do you do this if the customer asks
? Even when there are things that you should visually consider?
Don't bother or round way up?

MGSProperties

I don't usally give phone estimates. I do however have a min job amount which i always give on the phone. I will however give a Min SF price on additions before going out to the customers house. I will also give a ballpark figoure such as 15-30K on bathroom remodels if i hear a low budget from the HO.

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Mike Finley

I only give estimates on the phone for jobs I don't care if we get or not. Anything legitimate requires the usual sales process. I don't find it very helpful to give out our qualifications on prices since too many people are too embarrased to reply honestly if you are way higher then they were thinking. I find it better to quiz a lead about their intentions, the age of their home, how long they have lived there, have they hired a professional contractor before, and of course their budget which gives you the information you need to decide if they are a lead that will fit with your companies services and products. Once they've been determined to be a match for us I then proceed to explain the charges for us to show up.

send_it_all

Same here. I will give my minimum L.F. price for moldings, or tell tham that my entry level bathroom gut jobs start at $***. Other than that, I tell them that I don't even attempt to price unseen work over the phone. I usually don't even ballpark a price on the first visit. I need to get back to my office, go over my notes and make sure I include everything.

AllAmerican

Dittos.

No over the phone, no "off the top of your head", no "ballpark", no "best guess", no "what do you think based on your experience" estimates. Look at each and every job and develop a formal proposal is our company policy. If you don't, you can get into trouble if you actually do the job.

vinylguy

even the BBB tells ya that no reputable contractor would ever give a bid over the phone without first lookig at and measureing the work.
for us no way always in person. in the other thread guys are tel;ling me they e-mail thier estimates out. my feeling on e-mailing and leaveing your estimates behind with the home owners imo this is insane all this does is gives them something to shop against and the competitor gets to know what your price is and your material is and if you are actually making a good profit they can see this and come in say $100 - $500 dollars less with the same bid.
we never leave behind a written estimate.
and we also don't do high pressure sales we just educate educate educate.

BigLou

We always look at the job before giving a quote. However, we do talk ballpark figures with people over the phone to eliminate the ones that can't afford the work.

vinylguy

i have to say we all tend to over qualify leads! we shouldn't but we do,

MattCoops

It's a corny line, but works.
I just tell them: "as a professional contractor in a very precise business, I can't make guestimates over the phone. Our company makes promises."

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Matt with Cupan Custom Tile & Paint of Lowell, Massachusetts
Design and installation of ceramic tile and natural stone for floor, wall, and countertops
(978) 601-8774 | cupantile@gmail.com | view tile pictures and more

vinylguy

may be corny but its perfect and everyone on here should write it down and script it for every time they have a phone calls that says how much

wpc07834

Sometimes when someone s trying to get you to price over the phone t could be because they had someone else using high sales pressure tatics and they might not want to go hrough that again. Sales should be done face to face, but maybe you might have to visit them twice to make the sell.

I would say that we need to come out and measure and bid the job. Again you may loose a good lead if you over qualify. If you have tons of leads, and you can not run all of them, maybe then quaify harder.

bujaly

I had this guy call me last week, I knew right away he was only concerned with the cost of the job vs. the quality of the job. He tells me his foyer and kitchen need tiling... "Yes, I can do that, I just need to stop by and get a visual look"
He.."Can't you just give me a ball park figure? It's only my foyer and kitchen"..
Me.."No can do. No reputable contractor will do so either sir. There are to many other variables than just laying tile that need to be taken into consideration.. If you like, I can stop by today"...
He."OK."

Wouldn't ya know, the previous HO had around 300 sq ft of tile laid and it WAS ALL COMING UP. It was a beautiful pattern, but installed improperly with the wrong adhesive I believe. Also, their refrigerators ice line had been fixed after it was leaking for sometime and it was plain as day that the sub-floor beneath was rotted (the frig was leaning), to what extent, I couldn't tell ya..

To answer your question. Never give over the phone estimates. This is why. The customer is ignorant to what we do, that's why they are calling you. This guy did not know to mention that were 2 layers of sub-floor that were screwed together. He didn't think to tell me about the ice line leaking, which now demanded the subfloor replaced. He didn't have a clue as to what tile he wanted (300 sq-ft x $1 or $2 or $4 or $5, 300 difference for every dollar). He also forgot to mention that he wanted this new addition tiled too, which was another 120 sq ft... He also forgot to mention there was a closet that needed to be tiled as well.
Anyway, what I thought might be around a $1400 job, turned out to me estimating it to around $4000...

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Susan Betz

I give average lineal foot price over the phone, mainly to sort out the people that are stunned as to what a fence will cost (I've had people think that 1000 feet of four board would be about $3000. Uh, no, and I'm not driving for a couple of hours to tell someone that even if they pay me for the estimate). But we see every property before we give a proposal with our signature and a commitment to a price.

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Fences of Distinction, Ocala, FL
http://www.fencesofdistinction.com

JCY

I never do this because it shows that the client is not serious enough. Might as well ask for the client's fax number or email add and send the quotation asap.

Carport King

On phone prices I always ask what kind of car do you drive?

Oh a Toyota not a Lexus?

Oh a Chevy not a Caddy

I then relate our prices the same way.I need to come out and give you a firm estimate pending on your wants and needs.

Yes it is different but then most customers get it.

pscinteriors

Okay what have you guys used to found out a a leads BUDGET ? On alot of the calls I get I use a lead qualifying form. but when I ask about budget the usual response is that they dont have a set budget amount but that they would like to find out what it will cost...I guess this is like going on ebay to find out how much it will cost for my new say PLASMA TV before I go and actually buy one.
Now on the flip side of that I have gotten many jobs from this kind of lead.The majority of remodels I do are either complete home updates or budget bathroom remodels...I would like to do alot more high end custom bathrooms but I get alot of calls for these small 1 weeek jobs and the money is great on them.And very simple to do.

vinylguy

i simply ask what they thought thier project was going to cost.
they may say they have know idea but they do. they figured it out in thier own mind weather they only had $20,000.00 to spend or $ 10,000 to spend and some what where the price was going to be.
if they tell you they don't know then ask them if they want to spend a certain amount or not? and what amount were you thinking? this will help us determine what types of materials that we can bring to your home for your project and remember everyone has a want to spend budget , a will spend budget, and a do spend budget!

stoner

I guess it kind of depends on wath You do, my trade is concrete resurfacing and I do have a price per sq/ft set, and there's very little factors that would change the price, I used to do many in home estimates sometimes 50 to 60 miles away only to find out that it was more than HO expected to spend!!!! so nowadays I give Them my price over The phone and a rough figure depending on what They have and if They are still interested then I set an appt. and this works so much better for Me.

wpc07834

If you give prices over the phone, you might want to hire a sales person. Remember most everytime it is always more than what they wanted to spend.

DavidC

We also use a qualifying list of questions on the initial call. Some folks will protect the budget like fort knox.

If all else is ok we will set the appointment and bring a set of cost guides. These books (one for interior, one for exterior projects) are written for and aimed at the HO to tell them what to expect as far as budget, level of expertise required and give a reasonable description of job. In the back of the book is a regional multipier to adjust the prices for your nearest city.

They cover many different projects including kitchens, baths, garages, additions and more. Each project has a standard and deluxe level. Kitchens and baths also have the standard basic layouts.

Before opening the book I give a little presentation about it and mention that the prices are old by the time the book is on the shelf and our prices are usually higher. This will at least tell us if we are playing in the same park or not.

When I open the book to the project most like their anticipated remodel, briefly review the details and point out the quoted price I don't need a verbal response to know how we're doing. This is their free estimate.

FWIW, I definately don't advise using these volumes for pricing your quotes. These are sales aides only and will ferret out the budget in most cases. Our actual quotes are normally at least 10% higher than the example.

Good Luck
Dave

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