Time between bid and acceptance - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

newenergy · 04-05-2008, 04:45 PM

I know this will vary by industry, but what is your industry and what is your approximate time between bid and acceptance when you get the job?

Average or range or w/e, how ever you want to answer.

john elliott · 04-05-2008, 05:51 PM

A few days, usually. Maybe a couple of weeks. Unless it a no, in which case it's either quicker that that, or never (that's more usual)

John

GoodPainter · 04-05-2008, 05:58 PM

Some say yes at time of estimate and others take up to a year!

Average Job cost $1k-$5K Painting

Jason W · 04-05-2008, 06:33 PM

I just had one call me yesterday. It's a custom bookshelf job. I tacked on $200 for the extra cost of materials.

You just never know.

For the most part, I don't write up proposals unless we have pretty much reached an agreement.

Chris Johnson · 04-05-2008, 06:56 PM

If I bid today, I get an answer within 60 days and work could start 6 - 12 months out. Very rarely do I bid today with the next question 'how fast can you start?'

**genecarp** · 04-05-2008, 07:09 PM

always different, size of job, type of client, 1hr to 1year

marc · 04-05-2008, 08:16 PM

We get a yes or a no on the spot.
Rarely do we get a call back and when we do they ALWAYS pay more than they would have the day we gave them the price.
There is only 2 of us running approx. 800 appointments per year and quite frankly we don't have time to go see them a second time. We give them an insentive to say yes today and make it very clear that we accept yes as graciously as we accept no. What we don't accept is maybe.

Maybe comes in the form of...........
"we need to to think about it"
"we need to get other prices"
"we will get back to you"
"we are waiting for another bid"

etc. etc. etc.

**genecarp** · 04-05-2008, 08:19 PM

. What we don't accept is maybe.

what do you do if, god forbid, a customer says maybe?

buildenterprise · 04-05-2008, 08:33 PM

There's not much that I hate more than being on the receiving end of a high-pressure sales pitch. Please, do tell, what do you do when a customer says they want to talk it over for a day or two?

Brickie · 04-05-2008, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genecarp

.

what do you do if, god forbid, a customer says maybe?

Tell them to get back to me when they're ready to sign

john elliott · 04-06-2008, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genecarp

. What we don't accept is maybe.

what do you do if, god forbid, a customer says maybe?

If I recall corectly, Marc is very much on the high pressure side of the sales thing. I think I even remember something about him having prospects who wouldn't say yes on the spot fill out a form saying why not. (I apologise in advance if that wasn't you, Marc)

John

**genecarp** · 04-06-2008, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john elliott

If I recall corectly, Marc is very much on the high pressure side of the sales thing. I think I even remember something about him having prospects who wouldn't say yes on the spot fill out a form saying why not. (I apologise in advance if that wasn't you, Marc)

John

definately not my style, if someone asked me to fill out a form as mentioned above, i would probably open up a can of whoopass on them

KB construction · 04-06-2008, 10:23 AM

I usually put a 30 day in my proposal on bigger jobs that I can't just fit in here or there. And on small stuff I just give the proposal with nothing in the acceptance box.

vinylguy · 04-06-2008, 11:20 AM

it's a yes or no at the time of estimate.
we figure they called us for a reason. they want to make a decision on what they want done.
so we educate and help them to make a decision to work with the best

john elliott · 04-06-2008, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinylguy

it's a yes or no at the time of estimate.
we figure they called us for a reason. they want to make a decision on what they want done.
so we educate and help them to make a decision to work with the best

So presumably them wanting to consider it is the same as a 'no'?

And if I was to ask the other vinyl companies in your area, they would all say that your company was the best?

John

Brock · 04-06-2008, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john elliott

If I recall corectly, Marc is very much on the high pressure side of the sales thing. I think I even remember something about him having prospects who wouldn't say yes on the spot fill out a form saying why not. (I apologise in advance if that wasn't you, Marc)

John

AllAmerican · 04-06-2008, 12:51 PM

We work on commercial and industrial projects. Some of our proposals receive immediate approval and the longest was five years later. Our proposals state that the quoted amount is only valid for thirty days.

marc · 04-06-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genecarp

. What we don't accept is maybe.

what do you do if, god forbid, a customer says maybe?

What I do after I leave that home is consider it dead. If for some strange reason they call and want to go forward with the job they WILL pay an additional 10% over the quoted price. That's what going back cost us.

BigLou · 04-06-2008, 04:51 PM

Most fall in the 2 day to week week period. The longest we've had was about four months later when they made the decision to go ahead.

Design build takes longer, and a yes is often in the form of "looks good, can we meet and make some changes". Often months between a decision to move forward and contract being signed.

marc · 04-06-2008, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john elliott

So presumably them wanting to consider it is the same as a 'no'?

And if I was to ask the other vinyl companies in your area, they would all say that your company was the best?

John

YES.....wanting to consider it is presumably a no. They just won't say it so we push for the no. At least if they say no you can ask them why.
I should clarify that they are actually saying no to tonights price but they know (VERY CLEARLY) that if we have to come back it will cast them more. We just don't have the time to be running the same appointments 2, 3, or 4 times. It's a numbers game.......that's all. Running appointments is not free. If I have to come see you again it may be taking me away from another appointment that I could have sold for 10 or 20 thousand.
WHO KNOWS???