Were Going To Get A Few More Bids And Get Back With You.

Nathan

Were going to get a few more bids and get back with you.

How do you handle this when you do an estimate? Do you try and close the deal or do you let the client have their time.

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Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Cubevan

As common as grass in this area. I don't like to push a sale or job, so in my case let the client have their time/make their choice.

Grumpy

Mr. Customer I can understand why you'd want to get more bids. After all that's what we are tought to do our whole lives. Let me ask, what are you hoping to find with those other bids?

That above question will identify their true objection.

I try not to pressure my customers. I will poke and prod to try to get to the root of the objection but I never high pressure them.

The customer might tell you "The price seems kinda high." or "I'm concerned that your schedule won't fit with ours." To which you can reply "Where were you expecting the price to be?" or "When do you really need the work done?"

If it is price, I point out the common ways that people cut corners so they can look out for them. Also I ask who they plan to call. At this point I try to educate the consumer on making an educated buying decision and not just picking lowest price.

If it's anyting other than price I try to be flexible to get the job. Price is one thing I have very little flexibility for.

Craig

I'm with Grumpy. I tell customers that they are certainly free to obtain other estimates, but I also try to use this as an opportunity to find out more about their real needs and expectations in terms of both price and scheduling. I often find that customers want only top of the line materials when soliciting bids, but have no real idea of price and/or what may be available. Accordingly I try to lay out some options to reduce the cost of the project without unduly sacrificing quality. Finally, I caution them to be sure that they do not compare apples to oranges; that the quality of both materials and workmanship is truly comparable. I also find that this is frequently only lip service and the customer never solicits another bid, although maybe I just underprice my work?

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"Send lawyers, guns and money."
Craig

ProWallGuy

I personally prefer to close the deal on site, first shot. Doesn't always happen, but it is my objective. As Grumpy and Craig said above:
and
I agree completely. This is an open door to sell some more. I also give them an estimate comparison form, which I think I posted somewhere on here before, but will do again.

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

Mike Finley

Glad to see you coming around on this one. The last time we had this discussion when I said to respond to a customer with:

Your response was:

Glad to see you are starting to see the merits of turning this around on the customer to get the objection out in the open and use it as part of the road map to the sale.

Grumpy

LOl ye'r right mike I am a hard head. I realized once that it keeps the communication going and after they throw out their number, I still won't negotiate, but I can further sell!

LOl I can't beleive you hunted down my exact quote

Mike Finley

Ha Ha! I just wanted to call you out on the carpet and see what you would say. Part of me is actually disappointed that you didn't try to talk around it again. I guess I have to raise you up another notch in my book! :Thumbs:

Grumpy

So now I am at 99 out of 100?

Mike Finley

You've off the scale now. You are like Spinal Taps amps, "Normal ones go up to 10 but these go up to 11. But wouldn't it make more sense to just mark the 11 as a 10 and that would be the highest? (Puzzled look, pause, follwed by) ...but these go up to 11."

Grumpy

Wow ya lost me!

PipeGuy

LOL...A classic line if ever there was one. Right up there with certain Monty Python dialogues.

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Fortunately I keep my feathers numbered for...for just such an emergency. -Foghorn Leghorn