Quoting jobs

[Seymie]

First post on the forum...so hello everybody..
When you quote a job do you try to get the customer to give you the job on your first meeting,if not what do you find is the best way to get there business.

[msh paving]

That is a hard question, some people are sellars some people are just paviors or builders,
i'm not a sales man I measure up answer as many questions as I can ask them a few see how the land lies, if they say they have other people comming then you know you wont get a instant answer
I used to give them a call back when I first started out but don't bother now unless it is a big job.
If they talk about starting dates and payment you are in the right field but nothing is certain,most paving jobs I give a instant quote there and then unless it need special material or trades
I have blank paving quote sheets just fill in the spaces

MSH

[Rich H]

If it's reasonably simple and they're not getting other quotes I'll work out a price there and then. The response to the price will let you know whether you can go ahead and ask for the business. All other scenarios, I'll send the quote by email with photos of similar jobs.

As with msh, I don't tend to follow up the smaller jobs once I've sent the quote. If people want you to do the work, they'll respond, if not then they don't!

[msh paving]

sunday morning is my domestic quote time , you can spend 3-4 hours going to different houses that are just a waste of time thats why i dont bother chasing up after the quote MSH

[lutonlagerlout]

I try to be as thorough with quotes as possible,saves a lot of inane phone calls later.
I'm a builder not a salesman,so theres no follow up if i dont hear anything
had people ring back 5 years later and say "yes,we'd like the extension built now"
they never can understand why things have gone up in the intervening years

personally, i think it puts people off if you try sales pitchs
better just to be straight and professional about the work

LLL

[DNgroundworks]

Cant add much but all i can say is that im as onhest and thorough as possible, and when they take a deep breath and gasp when you tell them the price i explain its for a proper job with a proper subase, drainage, guarantee etc they then usually say "orite well i understand now" - usually makes that awkward bit a bit easier!

[Dave_L]

On the bottom of all my quotes I always state:-

All amounts quoted are subject to VAT at the present rate and payable within 7/14/21 days
Our price is based on works being carried out in one visit (Stops people having the job done piecemeal)
Our price is valid for 60 days

and there are many others.

[Rich H]

Good point Dave - disclaimers are important. I have an additional one for 'undisclosed services' - covers me if there's a buried service that the customer hasn't told me about.

[lutonlagerlout]

"subject to local authority approval" is the main one on ours

the good old BCO can add thousands to bill requesting stuff the architect hasn't specified

LLL

[mo-uk]

I have had a few quotes from people in the yellow pages.

They were all OK, i like a proper explanation of what they were going to do and how - soem were more vague than others. All but 1 suggest using existing concrete base or bashing it up and using it as a sub base.

In the end I decided to DIY as it cost too much in labour.