99% of our quotes go out via email these days - making a follow-up quite quick and easy to do. It's nice to know if perhaps the job came out over-budget, you may be able to suggest ways to save money and convert that lead into a job. I'm out to improve our quote conversion ratio - which, at present, I think is about 15-20%. Looking at the pile of quotes that have gone out and we've heard nothing back has sort of spurred me into doing something about it.
One question - to those guys who do it - how long after sending the quote do you send a follow-up email?
I was going to send something along the lines of:-
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your recent enquiry for surfacing works.
I trust you have received our quotation.
If there is anything you don't fully understand, you require further clarification or a revisit to site, then please don't hesitate to make contact with us.
Kind regards
Dave Lacey
R W Gale Ltd
What do you think - does it read alright without being too pushy etc etc?
RW Gale Ltd - Civils & Surfacing Contractors based in Somerset
that reads ok dave, i dont quote very often so not the best chap to make coment. one thing i supose you need to think about, making sure ereryone is quoteing the same spec.
digerjones wrote:one thing i suppose you need to think about, making sure everyone is quoting the same spec.
Tell me about it!!!! That's the bane of my life.
It's always best of you get in there after say the first quite has arrived then you can (if the customer allows.....) to note their spec and meterage - makes it much fairer then.
This is the trouble with our trade, unless you are working off a spec/BoQ then the jobs are all open to each QS's interpretation.
There's nothing more gutting than say quoting for a commercial area with new D400 manhole covers etc and a base and top tarmac surface - only to drive by a few months later to see the whole area just basecoursed up and the old manhole covers remaining......if I was asked I could have quoted accordingly. Grrrrrr
RW Gale Ltd - Civils & Surfacing Contractors based in Somerset
I dont know dave
I dont like chasing things up
we used to get 35% of quotes into jobs now more like 10%
some prospective clients who are very very keen to get work started turn to stone when they get the quote
all our suppliers implemented a 5-8% increase in material recently
which has to be passed on
I cant ask the lads to take a pay cut,everyone's bills have gone up so a pay cut is a kick in the goolies
just keep plugging away at work
at least we are doing quotes
LLL
I've never followed up on quotes. I do my selling on the site visit, if they don't like the price then there's not a lot I can do about it. Every person that phones asking me to budge on price because they liked me, said I clearly knew what I was talking about but they wanted it cheaper because joe bloggs was doing it for £50 a square meter.
I get the quote out within the week preferably less but the larger ones do take some working out. I always follow up with a phone call never an email it's too impersonal. Try to do it 7 to 10 days after I've posted or emailed the quote. Offering a second visit is a good way of pressing home how yours is the best spec and getting a sneak at other pricing and potentially pulling it apart due to then missing things etc.
im not a contractor as you guys know, but i also think a phone call is better than a amail, its more of a personal thing and im sort of old school when it comes to things like that..
as they say its good to talk but befor you do decide to call make sure you pull the file and have a quick read as it can be very embarrasing when you dont...
also with a call you will know more than you will ever know than a email, and if you do not get the job you can even ask why that is it may be price spec or somthing else... its like they say if you dont ask you dont get...
Hmmmm good points - I have sent out a couple of emails to quotation customers who I haven't heard back from - and I've had replies, aslong as it is worded OK I don't think it is too offensive.
Catching people home on the phone is a nightmare, at least an email can be sent at any time and dealt with by the customer at his convenience.
RW Gale Ltd - Civils & Surfacing Contractors based in Somerset
Yes I understand some times getting hold of them by phone is not easy but if I need to call someone of an evening say after 7 or 8 the first thing I say is sorry to bother you is it a convenient time to speak or would you like me to call back another time, depending what they say if need be arrange another time, if they are ok ask them if they got the quote if so how do they feel about it and so on...
It's not going to be easy I have to say but it's getting harder and harder out there and sometimes going the extra mile pays of in the long run, you may get the job or you may not, but at least you will or may find out why.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do..
Quick edit
I had a local guy who quoted me a price for a new boiler, all done over the net, he gave the price came and fitted cleared up took all rubbish away.
If it wasn't for a new boiler and my bank account being £1,500 less you would not have known he had been here...
Now if someone I know asked for a local guy to do a boiler I would tell them my experience and pass his number on..
The bigger outfits are chasing up by email/phone 2 days after the quote is received.
i try to chase up most of them,but it depends if i've got time/want the job/what the workload is like.
the hand lay domestic market has dried up for me because of the 20% vat situation,so i lose them all to the cash in hand boys. these potential customers dont have a clue about specing a blacktop surface. so choose only on price.
i'm looking at producing some glossy literature to hand out at quote stage,which might help educate them and get me some more work.
bobbi o wrote:The bigger outfits are chasing up by email/phone 2 days after the quote is received.
i try to chase up most of them,but it depends if i've got time/want the job/what the workload is like.
the hand lay domestic market has dried up for me because of the 20% vat situation,so i lose them all to the cash in hand boys. these potential customers dont have a clue about specing a blacktop surface. so choose only on price.
i'm looking at producing some glossy literature to hand out at quote stage,which might help educate them and get me some more work.
the only trouble with glossy pictures they cost quite a bit, could you not use some of your old customers to show what you do and they can ask them about you too...
also point out to potentail customers you give a garantee and you have a concrete base and not just a mobile number stuck on the side of a transit, if they say they are getting a better price find out why, no vat not correct materials corners cut or what...
ring the customer back in a while and see if they are happy with who they gave the job to or has it all gone tits up....
bobbi o wrote:i'm looking at producing some glossy literature to hand out at quote stage,which might help educate them and get me some more work.
Spend you money on a decent website that show`s industry specs, your latest work and examples of jobs that have gone tits up due to poor workmanship.
Then you turn up at the clients with your lap top or tablet and basically do a presentation, send the quote and tag on the website address so they can keep going back to cross reference.
Leaflets are old school and end up forgotten in the bin
I always keep a copy of jobs quoted for that i havent got, when im quiet i get in touch, got a few jobs this way.
Just had a job put back so looks like im sat at home for a while.....going through all my emails and quotes now to see what work i can scratch together
Speaking not as a contractor of any sort, but potentially as a domestic customer...
If I'd asked for a quote, for any kind of work, I'd expect to receive the figure in a fairly short time, and I'd expect the contractor to indicate how long this would take, a week, or so probably...
Having received it, by either post or email I wouldn't object to a call within a couple of days, along the lines of; "Just want to make sure you've received it..."
However though I wouldn't mind either a letter or email, if I reeived a phone call more than 3 or 4 days after, chasing me up as a potential customer, I'd probably feel pressured, and possibly think the contractor was short of work... and I'd think "Why?"
In short, chase up with email or letter, not phone, unless it's to check quote has been received?
