Tips for Pricing or Getting Quotes

[Scott H in Wheaton]

If you're in the market to have some work done on your garage, here are a few tips to help you with your quotes.

1) ask random strangers on the World Wide INteRwEB if the price you got is fair, but don't bother to list your location.

2) Don't include all the specs at first. Its more fun to draw it out of you a little at a time.

3) Don't check in on your thread very often. Wait until you get at least a couple pages of responses before adding more information that would have been helpful on your initial post.

4) When getting the actual bids keep in mind you can trust your local contractors 100%. Don't waste time checking to see if they have insurance or if their license is current. If they tell you they've done this type of work before, that should be good enough.

5a)There is a reason at least one guy will be significantly less than the others. Usually its because he's a really good and trustworthy guy and wants to help you out, and the other guys are just "ripping you off, man!"

5b) Don't forget to add some money to the budget for legal fees when you need to take the lowest bidder to court. Make sure you've included enough to cover the cost of just locating the guy after the work is finished.

6) Getting more than 3 bids is time consuming. Why waste time when you could be building? The sooner the work starts the sooner your project can have its first delay.
For example, say you live in an area that has 100 roofing companies (just an example, no offense intended towards any roofers). Maybe 50% of them are on the verge of going out of business. Guess what happens to the warranties on the jobs they did? Of the 50% remaining, maybe the only reason half of them stay in business is by short-changing the customer. But that still leaves you 25 companies to choose from. So the odds of getting a decent roofer in your situation is about 1 out of 4.
I'm sure if you just get 3 estimates you'll bump into that 1 guy.

So Good Luck with your projects and Happy Pricing!

 

[deter]

my buddy a few states over want to build a garage. Please tell me how much. K thanks bye

 

[larry_g]

Don't expect the members to put in much effort on an answer if the hard detailed question is asked while your a junior member. You have to give a little to get a little.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[rieferman]

When I was selling construction, customers would often start out by saying "I just want to get a few prices"... that was usually a dead give away that they weren't serious about building, at least not in the near term. They would get service over the phone rather than a site visit.

I would usually delve into what's important to the customer... Most (over 90%) would say "Of course, quality is my number one priority... and budget". And most of those (over 90%) really meant that budget was number one and two on the list, and they were assuming that all buildings and builders are apples to apples. I would be careful in these situations to provide good customer service without becoming a free consultant.

Since they brought up the term "budget" I would then ask them what budget range they had in mind. Most would reply that they had no idea on budget yet, that they didn't want to share that with builders in case we were pricing "up" to their budget. Interestingly, friends and colleagues in architecture report that customers ALWAYS know this budget number when they come in requesting new business. Similarly, in my own life when we start considering a project, I always know what budget limits are in place.

To this I would usually reply, "If I told you the building you are interested in cost $100,000 what would you say?" and they'd usually reply "No way! We expected it to be 25% of that". Good, so, $25,000 is your expected budget then, let's use that. So, if they're asking for a 60x60 with hardiboard siding, a 2nd story, in floor heat, full electric/heating/insulation.... do you think the budget is realistic?

Ha ha, sorry for the rambling, the OP stirred these past memories for me

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Those 'budget' minded customers haven't yet understood the concept of Price vs. Cost

Price is what you pay for something.

Cost is the value you get from something.

Getting back to my roofing examples, would you rather pay $5000 for a roof that needs to be replaced in 13-15 years, or $9000 for a roof that would last minimum of 50 years? AND with a transferable warranty!

 

[malibu101]

If you're in the market to have some work done on your garage, here are a few tips to help you with your quotes.

1) ask random strangers on the World Wide INteRwEB if the price you got is fair, but don't bother to list your location.

So Good Luck with your projects and Happy Pricing!

I see you got the not mentioning a location covered.

 

[rieferman]

Those 'budget' minded customers haven't yet understood the concept of Price vs. Cost

I hear Zig Zigler in that quote. I actually enjoyed listening to his sales series while driving around, and this is one of the key points that he makes.

 

[Trey T]

When you ask for bids, tell them that you want a competitive bid against your other three (i.e.) other bidders.

 

[Falcon67]

That kind of advice will run you $5~6.50 a sq/ft around here.

 

[JC23]

my buddy a few states over want to build a garage. Please tell me how much. K thanks bye

Easy one!

On the South exposure, it's a nickel ninety eight a square inch.

The North exposure is a buck three eighty for every 2/3 of an inch.

Got it?

 

[Thumper68]

This might just be the biggest reason that I got ,out of res contracting! At least most of my comm clients know that you get what you pay for.

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

I hear Zig Zigler in that quote. I actually enjoyed listening to his sales series while driving around, and this is one of the key points that he makes.

I'm sure it came from him as I've heard it several times from different sales professionals. My manager's boss says we should listen to Zig on CD or cassette. Too bad, because I'd probably enjoy Zig's motivational speaking, but I'll be damned if I take advice from the A-hole boss we've got. He's the epitome of Alec Baldwin's character in Glengarry Glen Ross.

 

[maetmpj]

my buddy a few states over want to build a garage.

 

[rieferman]

He's the epitome of Alec Baldwin's character in Glengarry Glen Ross.

My former boss actually sent us that clip for "motivation", and he wasn't kidding. It's an awesome clip to watch, a definite classic, but probably wasn't my boss's shining moment in leadership to hold that up as the way to sell more in one of the worst economies in history.

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

My former boss actually sent us that clip for "motivation", and he wasn't kidding. It's an awesome clip to watch, a definite classic, but probably wasn't my boss's shining moment in leadership to hold that up as the way to sell more in one of the worst economies in history.

There's a reason that movie is old school...because that type of selling used to work. Try to pull that stuff today and more often than not you will be shown the door.
If you come to my house and I get even a hint you are trying to 'close' me, the only close you will get is the door closing behind you as I boot your sorry *** to the curb.
People like that gave sales a bad reputation.

Another good sales movie is Tin Men with Richard Dreyfus and Danny DeVito