Free Estimates?

Blackhammer

You are absolutley right. I had a warranty on a used house I bought that included appliances. I had a repair guy come out to fix the washer under warranty $75. He had to order parts to repair it. call it an estimate, trip charge warranty inspection, service call, they are all related and should all be charged for.

Blackhammer

The company expence is minimal however it still costs the customer more money over the long run. I don't have sales guys to do my estimates. we don't do that kind ov work. Every project I do is custom. My estimates are custom. You have to know all the steps of the perticuler project to price it accordingly. I my line of work a sales guy is useless.

DoorMat

You guys are funny. How many of you call your insurance broker and pay for them to give you an estimate on your car insurance? My guess would be zero. When looking to buy a house or refinance your mortgage, do you pay someone to quote you? Again I'd bet none of you do. Explan why this is ok, but free estimates on HI projects aren't?

mahlere

can you seriously not see the forest from the trees? when those people come to me, you can bet your ass there is a charge. when the customers can bring their house to my shop, then no charge.

but it appears that you still are not grasping the math of it all...good luck...

Footfall

You ever feel like your overpaying for insurance? How are the rates set? Does it take your insurance broker 1/2 - 2 hours to give you a quote?
Have you ever sold a house through an agent and paid that fee?
Ever heard of interest on a mortgage? No fee consultation! Only 20 years of interest payments!

What people are really trying to say, is that there is no such thing as free. Delayed payment, but not free.

Mike Finley

Sounds like the door mat is doing a lot of free estimates over the phone to me since he identifies with 2 other businesses that do 99.9% of their customer contact by phone. (if he is actually in business at all)

The best part of all this door mat is the answer is staring you in your face but you don't get it.

You identify with 2 different businesses that basically have reduced their services to a commodity. Not much different then buying gas. The gas across the street for 2 cents less is no different then then any other gas.

From your other replies and these latest two examples you make it pretty clear where you mindset is in regard to where your business is at.

If all you offer is a commodity to your customers with no differentiation between yourself and anybody else they call, I can understand why you place the same low value on your services that you think your customers do. At some point you might discover how much more profitable construction is once you differentiate yourself from everyone else that a customer can call. You'll also discover that once you do that, customers are more than willing to pay you for your expertese just to talk to you.

However, even if you are a commodity, you can STILL charge for your time, like I said plumbers and electricians figured that out a long time ago with the basic trip charge.

And, I thought you didn't care one way or another if people charged for estimates? Why do you keep beating a dead horse if you don't care?

mahlere

I think doormat is trolling. Just my opinion.

Jason Whipple

If you have your pricing down to a science like they do go ahead.

and bye the way, whats the square foot price for a high end exterior renovation? Maybe you can save me a little work and convince me I should do it for free. They're all the same anyway, right?

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

Mike Finley

I get the same feeling. It's either that or he is the son of a business owner, probably a sun room installer. His dad runs the business and this kid thinks he can 'fix' all the things his dad does wrong. All those wrong things that allowed his dad to put him through college and pay for his education.

Blackhammer

I guess you are alot like a married woman. You only hear, or in this case read what you want to. I stated previously that If i have to drive somewhere I am going to charge for it. When customers start coming to my shop I will start giving free estimates. I do not charge for phone call. I am not a lawyer. I also will not give a figure over the phone. If you insist I will but you won't like the number I am telling you, too many unforsceen variables.

Door Mat,
I like discussions and different opinions, however you are simply not getting the point, and I think you are trying to start stuff.

cutnroller

Interesting little experiment I am doing this year. During the initial meeting/inspection I have been asking people their thoughts on paying for estimates. It is one of "the questions" I ask all potential clients, and tell them it's for research.

First off, not one customer I spoke with has ever paid for a painting estimate but......

Long story short. About 90% of the people who say they wouldn't mind this charge end up getting work done. (sometimes by other contractors but still...) and about 90% who turn their noses up at the thought end up being pitas, tirekickers, "were just going to do it ourselves", "my nephew is going to do it for us".

I am constantly amazed by the consistency of it. I'm only about 6 weeks into this (about 50 surveyed ) but it looks like I am going to start charging for estimates, especially since my estimates are very detailed and time consuming.

Obviously not very scientific but anyways, just thought I'd trow this into the discussion. I will post the results later in the year for anyone who is interested.

Tiger

I'm my biggest roadblock to making money. I thought I couldn't charge for estimates & gave free estimates for 20 years. I worked T&M for what I thought people would pay. A few years ago I let go of my fears, raised my rates to what I needed to make & recently started charging for quotes. I should track how many calls I lose to this new system, but I'm too happy with my closing rate with the "buyers" to care about the "shoppers".

Dave

DoorMat

I don't know what trolling means......
No I do not work for my father, nor do I own my own HI company. I have worked for HI companies in sales/marketing my entire adult life. I wonder what kind of volume you guys are doing. The company I currently work for did $6m in business in 07, seems to be working for us just fine.

By the way, just had a guy out here this morning for a FREE estimate on fixing my central air and guess what, the first 3 people I called (actually my wife called) all wanted $100 to come out. Got the 4th guy to come for free estimate and gave him the job. Did I pay more? I dont think so.

Greg Di

He just rolled the $100 into the job he got rather than a job he didn't get.

My thoughts are that I charge when BS meter starts bouncing on the phone. If the people pass my phone test, I will do a free consultation that may include a proposal if the proposal is easy to do (less than 15 min). Anything complex, they pay for. No pay, no proposal.

__________________
Your source for:
BergenDECKS.com ::: Decks • Porches • Railings • Pergolas in Bergen County New Jersey
Remodeling and Home Improvements in Bergen County | EPA Approved Lead-Safe Contractor
Techno Metal Post ::: Residential, Commercial and Industrial Helical foundation piles

Follow us on: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

DoorMat

no he didnt, he gave us the price without knowing if we would be doing the work or not. Paid $1800, 2 friends had the same work done and one paid the same as us and one aid $2100 so it ain't like we got overcharged.

Mike Finley

It's much clearer now.

Greg Di

Right. Like I said, he rolled the cost into the price of his job. In service business you have to or else you'll die a slow death. A $300 swing is negligible between jobs from different companies. OH is different and can account for that swing.

We (the guys who have seen the paid estimate light) are on a crusade to make EVERYBODY charge for estimates. If we all did it, it would save considerable aggravation for everybody involved.

__________________
Your source for:
BergenDECKS.com ::: Decks • Porches • Railings • Pergolas in Bergen County New Jersey
Remodeling and Home Improvements in Bergen County | EPA Approved Lead-Safe Contractor
Techno Metal Post ::: Residential, Commercial and Industrial Helical foundation piles

Follow us on: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Ed the Roofer

He is gone now.

Ed

__________________
Please Stay Tuned For A Very Important Message From Our Sponsor
http://www.rightwayroofingcompany.com/ www.rightwayroofingcompany.com
Roof Estimates, Roof Repairs, Roofers, Roof Leak Help, Elgin, Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, Algonquin, South Elgin, Huntley, Lake In The Hills, Illinois

Sir Mixalot

(Hypothetically) How do you know if you needed that $1800 repair? Maybe the other guy's would have done something different and for less money.

ProWallGuy

Yessir! I went fishing for trolls and caught a lunker.

__________________
Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation