Free Estimates?

DoorMat

BlackHammer, the $75 was a deposit on the job. When we paid that, we already knew the price of the cabinets!

AtlanticWBConst

You sound like ....you are ....


a Home Owner....

__________________
- Build Well -

mahlere

i'm beginning to think that he is pulling a prank...username certainly leads one to believe that...

wizendwizard

Mike, thats the first time in a long while I've seen you do full disclosure on how billing work. I'm proud of ya!

I've recently discovered a secret in charging for estimates.

PEOPLE WHO WANT THE WORK DONE BY A PROFESSIONAL WILL PAY FOR THE ESTIMATE FEE.

I have changed my thinking on this subject due to opinions on here and fuel prices.

I am charging $35 trip fee to come out for in home inspection and $275 for written estimate with CAD drawing.

Out of the last 5 estimates I have done this way I have won the contract on it.

I signed a $65,000 addition yesterday. Charged the $275 for written proposal and deducted it when we signed the contract.

__________________
"If you start the grout process over, you too could use sparkly grout!"
There is no such thing as an illegal immigrant, they are either illegal or immigrants.
I'm Retired, or a student, don't really know anymore.

Mike Finley

Welcome to the club!

HellisLikeNewrk

I ended giving "free estimates". I get 30+ leads per week when using a referral service, but too many of them (about 8 of 10) were people who were simply not worth the time. I am in dire need to cut out the trash because estimating is too time / labor intensive for the field I am in.

I am currently enrolled in a program where my customers can get cash rebates upwards of $5,000 for using my services. However, they must first have a full energy audit done on their home. The State (via a company contracted by the State) will do one for about $600 (they recently cut their rates to $250 as a promotion). I charge $200 for NJ and $225 for NY (extra $25 to cover mileage and tolls). Unless I am coming out to do an audit, I won't be coming out. I can't really figure out everything that needs to be done to a home without doing an audit anyway, regardless of the cash rebates. I credit back the $200 if I do any work I do valued equal to or over $2,500 (the State will give me a cash rebate as well as an incentive, so I don't lose anything).

Consultations by phone and email are free. Audit rates are $200 - $225. You want an onsite consultation, I charge $35 to $50. I will evaluate how this works over the next couple months.

JPV123

The $75 was not a deposit. Lowes does not take deposits on cabinets. They must be paid in full before they order them. We use to us them alot before I found my kitchen dealer.

DoorMat

Well yes I do own a home.....

anyways, the differnce is you guys sound like contractors. I am in the home improvement field, but I certainly don't "pick up the hammer myself". I am in marketing/sales. Nothing wrong with being the contractor, nothing wrong with being in sales/marketing. We just look at things different. If you guys can get away with charging for estimates, more power to you!

rbsremodeling

Is it illegal to charge for an estimate???

__________________

silvertree

This person who would not pay a pro for an estimate at their home, is neither a pro or a businessman. I'm guessing they are office staff for a specialty contractor, and if they buy their cabinets from Lowe's they would not pay a pro to install them. Just another dilettante.

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

DoorMat

of course not.....what I am saying by "get away with" is if you can convince people to pay for an estimate then you are better at sales than I, that's all.....

DoorMat

Mike, what is the cost you are referring to when we speak of giving free estimates? The outside reps are paid on commission and pay their own gas, so the companies expense is very minimal.....

mahlere

ironically, i would never work for a company this didn't value my time enough to pay for it...i definitely wouldn't provide my own vehicle, insurance, and fuel for someone who didn't value my time...are you an aluminum siding salesman? ABC? glengary glenross...

Mike Finley

Being a business man and not a contractor you should know the answer to your own question. You already define the answer as "very minimal" so you obviously know the answer to your own question. If you really don't, call your accountant and have her go over your profit and loss statement in detail, the answer should be there.

DoorMat

Wow, I see your maturity level is quite low. I thought we were having a discussion here as adults. The company's cost is so minimal that it does indeed have no impact. I am not trying to argue with anyone, again, if you charge for estimates and people are willing to pay for them, then it is none of my concern. I wish everyone the best no matter what approach they take...

plazaman

estimates are always free, but sometimes i wished i charged. i mean its ok when you get bids from 1-3 contractors, but anything more than that, you are a PITA, and no one should work for you. when i say 3 contractors, that would be for major jobs such as large rennovations, additions, etc..

for example i seen a job the other day where the job said he got other bids and waiting for more... i mean its was a simple house repaint, hardwood sanding, and few minor issues, do you really need to call 3+ contractors for that? depending on how things goes, i might have to charge for estimates, i spend way too much time driving and dealing with these fools. i guess they feel important when they have all these contractors coming in.

__________________
Westchester Remodeling Contractor
Hartsdale Remodeling Contractor
Ardsley Remodeling Contractor

J F

Guess what?...the cost of the estimate is still there...it's embedded in the commission that your salespeople make.

If your sales guy makes a $1,000 commission for the 1 hour (these are hypothecical #s of course) he actually spends with the client I'll bet HE/SHE realizes that they didn't just make $1,000 per hour.

They made $1,000 for going out on 3-5 (or whatever #) sales calls they went on to get a close.

Add in phone time, travel expenses, research, putting together quote (if they do this) and all the other things that a salesperson has to do and you get the real math...not $1,000 an hour.

Now, let's say hypothetically again, that your sales guy is working on 5% gross of sales...he just sold the aforementioned job @ $20k (1k commision).


Knowing that not every job is going to be sold, knowing that there are many other "costs" associated with selling beyond the 1 hour that was actually spent with that client for that 1 sale, the saleperson knows that the jobs he DOES sell, have to cover for all the time spent on the jobs he DOESN'T sell....

...that's why he's working on 5% commission instead of say 1 or 2%, which, if EVERY SINGLE job was a SALE, would more than likely be a much higher salary than the 5% of "sometimes we win, sometimes we lose" real life world.

So the 5% commission paid on actual sales, is in fact covering all the rest of the "free" estimates that the salesperson is going on and NOT selling.

The client that buys that job (with the 5% commission) is indeed paying the embedded costs for the other "free" estimates.

There are no "free" estimates...you just gotta know where the costs are hidden...they are there, I promise you.

J

Jason Whipple

I think their are differences between companies as far as this free estimate thing. Personally, I can't think of one single job I've looked at in over a year that I could walk onto with a "fill in the blank" proposal and be able to sell before I leave.

There are a lot of guys on this site that specialize in one thing or another. Windows, Vinyl siding, gutters, and roofs could all be sold on the spot if you specialize in them and use only one or two particular brands. I would say that it's to they're advantage to give the free estimate if it only requires one trip.

In the case where you have customers looking for a new Kitchen or Bath, Addition, Renovations, or any sort of complex high end work you simply can not do it unless they had some one do all the drawings and specs ahead of time. This is rarely the case.

I will meet with the client, at no charge, on the first visit. Me and the client get a chance to check out the job and get to know each other. It sometimes turns into a bit of cat and mouse where I'm trying to get the budget amount and they try to find out how much. Through the conversation I can educate the client as to how much work there is to do just to get to a point where I can apply a responsible number to the project. I'll throw out some rough numbers that range from middle of the road to very high end. This usually gets them to spit out some type of budget.

At this point they are aware that there is planing and designing to do along with some consultation. They know there is a value to the time it takes to put this all together because I've explained the steps to them. They are also happy to pay for the time because they have heard the words "responsible", "minimize the surprises", and "you'll know exactly what your getting and what it will look like".

I don't ever present it as paying for an estimate or a proposal. I simply call it something else. We call ours a Construction Cost Analysis (CCA for short). The charge is 2% of the budget amount and is refunded to the last payment of the project if they hire us to do the work. If they take our plans and our report to someone else or they're cousin bob to build on his weekends, so be it. My time was paid for and there is no return on the fee.

(BTW, our drawings state "Not for construction" and "Design Only" on them)

__________________
Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
Facebook | Twitter

Mike Finley

There are actually tons of plumbers who specialize in one thing - cleaning your drain - they charge to show up. There are also lots of electricians that charge to show up. Instead of saying they charge for their estimates, they call it a "trip charge", be it $19.95, 29.95, 39.95.

No matter what you guys come up with, I'll give you an example of somebody figuring out how to charge for it.

I just had a pump repaired on my hottub. My free estimate for that doesn't exist.

They charged $90.00 to show up.

Jason Whipple

You're right about that. I recently charged a $100 "trip charge". The job was a little outside of my usual work area.

__________________
Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
Facebook | Twitter