Apples to Apples Price Match

Nate,

You may consider offering an apples to apples price match as a marketing gimick. What I mean is tell the customer you will match any price of any other written estimate. When they show you the other written estimate you will be able to pick it apart and let the customer know what youa re doing that is better and that the comparison isn't apples to apples.

Personally I prefer to not advertise this because advertising "low prices" brings in a type of customer who is a price shopper and this type of person is not my type of customer.

Word to the wise: In your marketing you should include some kind of out clase so that you can tell the customer, when it gets down to it, that the price simply can not be matched. This prevents you from being locked in and a customer having recourse if you decline to do a job for a loss. Your out could simply be such as the following:

We will match any price guaranteed!*


Acceptance of price matching guarantee varies from case to case and must be accepted by company management.

If all that keeps happening is that you are losing jobs to low ballers than I have two comments, and you are probably not going to want to hear either.

A) You are marketing to the wrong demographic. Stop marketing to cheapo's and start marketing to the type of person willing to pay a little extra for quality.

B) Your salesman is not doing his job educating the customer WHY the price is higher before the price even comes up.

Mr. Customer, let me tell you about the little differences between Pro Painters and many of the others companies that work this area. It's very easy to take short cuts and cut corners on little things; I think that all though these differences are little they all add up to be a big difference in quality when you add 'em all up at the end of the job. And these differences are...

Nathan, you are closing 57% and still complaining? Wow. I am not doing that well and very content with my ratio.

In my book, if you close 67% of your estimates you are a PERFECT salesman. Let me explain. 33% you are gonna win just by luck, maybe you are the only bidder. 33% youa re going to lose just by chance, maybe the job never gets done. The remaining estimates (34%) you will need skill to close.

Mike I agree with you that it is definetly a marketing tool more than anything else... but I disagree that it is a good one. The reason I think it is a bad marketing tool is because it will attract a certain type of customer who is only concerned with price. Yes some of these customers can be closed at higher prices, but it's going to take alot of extra work.

Some are just price shoppers and respond to adds advertising lowest price and DO make buying decisions on lowest price. Any time spent on the price shoopers is a total waste of time. It doesn't make sence to me to attract price shoppers then try to convert them when I'd rather attract quality conscious customers and be dealing with my preferred customer type from start to finish. My job will be much easier and productive.

I knew a guy who would tell customers when they would call for an estimate "Get two other estimates, then call me. I wills top out and match the lowest."

Well he'd go out, measure up, then ask to see the other estimates and match the lowest price. He went out of business within two years.

Mike I guess my point is this... if you want to catch a vegitarian you use a carrot and if you want to cath a carnivore you use a steak. All I am saying is this: I would prefer too use a surgical razor on marketing to my demographic than use a butchers cleaver on a large audience and hope my dempgraphic is part of that audience.

I think the "price match" tactic WILL make the phone ring, but it wouldn't e the kind of people calling me that I would want to call me.

Mike I don't think that the lead services are a buthers cleaver in any way. I have the ability to accept and reject my leads. I have the availibility to target various services in specific areas (zip codes). I have the ability to increase or decrease my budgets as I see fit. I think you can get no more surgical than the lead services I use.

I feel if you are going to run adds you should run consistent messages repeatedly. This type of marketing campaign will reap the best rewards, regardless of message. Therefore if I were to run an add claiming to beat price once, I would do it again and again to the same audience. The same holds true for any message I am trying to convey.

I don't have the time to waste. If a customer tells me they already hired someone. I thank them for their time. I update their record in my mailing list and I contact the next potential customer. Regardless, you told a specific prospect that you would match price. Who knows what attracted this prospect to you? If you had a marketing campaign saying "Lowest price. I beat all prices." then you are going to get people calling yout hat expect you to beat all prices.

It is never hard at all to point out all the little differences in an estimate which is why I suggested above, that if someone asks you to match price; the first thing you do is ask to see the other estimate.

[quote="MikeFinley]I know where your fears are coming from. But keep in mind I am not referring to running some value coupon ads or val-pac stuff with "PRICE MATCHING" sprawled out all over it, because any idiot could figure out that you are going to get a bunch of customers who are heavily price shopping.[/quote] This is exactly what I thought you meant... which I do believe was Nate's original question.

Yes by all means if a customer asks you to match price, pick apart the competitors estimate, but I'd never volunteer to do it or advertise it in any way.

I never understood the philosophy of working alot for a little bit of money. That is working for volume. Instead of 30% for Overhead and profit they put 15 or 20... get the job, but have to do two jobs for every one job I do... I just don't understand.

hatchet said:

You're trying to make a generalization about the whole industry and it can't be done.

Click to expand...

Forget roofing for a second. I am making a generalization about NEW CONSTRUCTION. It's alot easier to ask someone who is making an investment in their own home for alot of money if you are selling quality, then it is asking someone who is building something for someone else and wants to keep his costs low to maximize his profits.

Now let me speak about roofing. I KNOW that my margin is much hgher for roofing, siding and gutters when dealing direct with the consumer than it is when dealing with a builder or GC. Why is that? Well because if I want to compete on the job I MUST lower my costs. I charge about $5.5 per foot for aluminum gutter, but on new construction, there are guys doing it for $3.5 all day every day. Why would I want to do it for $3.5 when I know I can do it for $5.5?

I am in more trades than roofing. Siding, gutters, and windows are the other trades I am in. Perhaps you missed the explination above about gutters. If so read below since I copied and pasted for everyone to read!

I charge about $5.5 per foot for aluminum gutter, but on new construction, there are guys doing it for $3.5 all day every day. Why would I want to do it for $3.5 when I know I can do it for $5.5?

Now this part is new: Let's say that $0.25 is credited for the tear off labor... That's I still charge $1.75 per foot more than the new construction gutter installers... and get it... but for what reason? I sell on quality, not price.

I still don't know what the trade has to do with it. You even said your subs are allowed 15%. I piss on 15%. Np pun intended but it's just not worth my time when so many other CONSUMERS are willing to pay more for quality work.