How Do You Break Down Bid For Owners?

Frame&Deck

I have been in business for several years now and have always gven a price including everything out the door. Materials, labor, dump fee's, screws, hardware, (you get the idea). Recently, I had a customer say they did not want to work with me unless they had a breakdown of every single nut and bolt in the deck project. I cant figure out if this is a good thing or what. A lot of my costs are based on previous projects and leftover hardware in my garage. What would you do?

Glasshousebltr

Danger Will Robinson....Danger.

Run Forest .......Run

Anyone else?

Bob

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Bob

onhitch

i would forget about them

Bob Kovacs

Tell them you'd be happy to provide them with an itemized bid provided that they:

a) Pay you for the time required to prepare the breakdown, at a rate of $100/hour.

b) Agree to pay for any additional materials required above and beyond what's in your breakdown, as well as any additional labor required above what you've estimated.

If they're looking for that kind of detail, they're looking to nickel and dime you with the old "you said you'd need 10 2x4's- I only count 9" line. If they want to play that game, they've got to cover any "overs" as well.

Probably best to walk away as already stated.

Bob

jmic

" Just follow the yellow Brick Road "

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Joe

Mike Finley

Why don't you ask them why? And don't take some ridiculous answer from them, keep asking them why until they admit why, then you will have your answer.

Frame&Deck

All I keep getting from them is "because that the way we do business."
I think it's time to run Forest run!
Thanks all.

Glasshousebltr

LOL.....missed that one.

Bob

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Bob

Glasshousebltr

If thats the way they do biz, ask them to see a copy of the breakdown on they're car production.

Bob

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Bob

DecksEtc

Tell them "You don't do business that WAY" and then wish them luck with their project as you walk out the door.

BreyerConstruct

Ditto.

If you need a PITA, marry 3 wives...

~Matt

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jmic

Now you're talking Bob's language.

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Joe

DecksEtc

Here's another idea for a response for you...

For the sake of argument, let's say the deck you're quoting is $10,000...

It's an easy 2 line quote:

1. Materials = $0
2. Labour = $10,000

ProWallGuy

Over the years, I've had a few customers like that.
They all turned out to be engineers.

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Digital Murals Installation

RobertCDF

I am doing work for an engineer right now... He is actually a very good customer. But he does analyze prices and the such a lot. But I dont care the way I price stuff is the way I price stuff.

As far as a breakdown... I kind of like what Terry said. 2 lines. Right now I only use Material and Labor. But I am thinking about just making it a bottom line and thats it.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

Double-A

We've all run into this type of client before. I explain that we're not in the business of creating a grocery list of materials and that time is money.

Any cyphering we do on a project is proprietary information and not subject to disclosure outside of the company. The simple reason being is that this is a business of managing costs and mitigating risks, plain and simple. How we do that is what gives us our competitive edge and we're not obliged to disclose that anymore than Wal-Mart or Ford is.

The client is not purchasing materials from you, nor are they purchasing labor. They are purchasing a customized and built-in-place item, the deck.

Our company policy is not to argue with the client ever, and to accommodate them as much as possible, without compromising our competitive edge. When those two goals are out of sync with each other, we choose to walk away.

We call this firing a client.

Send him a $25 gift card to a nice local business or restaurant and wish him well.

Bone Saw

bingo

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Chester County Custom Decks
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Mike Finley

Like I said, you have to keep asking the same question and not accept a ridiculous answer. If the guy actually comes out and gives you the truth which is "Because we are scared we will be paying too much" then I would be willing to further discuss it with him, but if after me asking the same question 8 times to him with a stone face he still won't stop playing games and admit what the problem is, then pass.

Grumpy

"Thank you very much for your time today Sir. I encourage you to call xyz or abc as they may better be able to help you with this project." I think Mr. Kovac's answer is alot more suave than my own. Is this customer a contractor and have you done work for this customer before?

If he is a contractor he may be trying to learn your bidding system so he knows how to bid these kind of jobs without always having to ask subs or guessing based on sq ft. Or maybe he's going to go into compitition against you using your own price system.

I bid a roof, siding, gutter, job for a GC I do work for. He called me back asking if I could substitute siding. Sure no problem. Anyways the customer has some siding they really really like and the builder is going to buy... I just told him to knock 3 grand off my price and told him the number of squares and told him to buy whatever vinyl he wants. Normally I wouldn't do this but I didn't mind because of the relationship I have with this guy. I do very little work for GC's but this guy doesn't even ask me to bid anymore, just sends me prints and asks when I can start. (ofcoarse I always bid and make him sign before starting however just to CYA.)

My answer is not specific to framing, but when I break down bids I might break down the bid by phases. For example if we are plannning on doing multiple types of work, I usually will give one price for the roof and one for the siding. However I don't break out labor and material.

Frame&Deck

dito on the engineer, they are typically a pain. This guy is best friends with two of my previous clients who where awesome and paid no problem and did not ask questions. I have another meeting soon so hopefully I can get more out of them before we go further. I agree if they dont want to pay to much than it makes sense to wonder what is what. Thanks