Thought some of you might like to know that I took your collective advice on something.
We had some new neighbors move in next door. And they asked me to build a closet off a room in their finished basement. They said: “Just build it and we’ll pay you what it’s worth”.
I knew right off the bat that was a bad idea based on what I’ve read here on BT. So I told them no. I would figure out what it would take and discuss it before anything was done.
I wrote up a detailed proposal outlining EXACTLY what I would and wouldn’t do. But when I added up the figures, I was surprised – It was more than $700 to buld a 4′ X 8′ closet.
I thought about lowering my labor rate, or not marking up the materials. After all, they were neighbors, and I didn’t want to tick ’em off.
But I remembered reading where someone on BT said: “Don’t be afraid of the money”. (Can’t remember who said it) So I printed the quote out and went over to see them.
Before I handed it to them, I explained that I had detailed things carefully not because I didn’t trust them, but because I didn’t want any misunderstandings between us. And I handed them the quote.
I had all the arguements ready, about how it was harder to work in a finished basement, I would cut all the lumber outside and carry it in to keep their house clean, etc.
But all they said was “How soon do you think you could do it?”
They didn’t even blink. (I figure that’s a good sign)
.
It always makes me feel good when I’m able to help someone here on BT. Just thought some of you guys would also like to know that your time here is helping someone else.
I can be shy, but I’m not shy with my body. Everyone’s naked under their clothes [Cameron Richardson, model]
Replies
You should have charged 'em for the proposal.
I'll have it done right on schedule...................Mine.
You suppose he had an architect draw up a set of stamped plans? Hope he didn't have to modify any trusses.
I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it done the right way.
I still go into meetings afraid of giving a price sometimes but at least I don`t start giving all kinds of excuses and explainations to justify that price. I learned that here and from my wife. She used to listen to me talk about price with a client on the phone and said that I was in a defensive posture. Now I don`t say anything unless they ask. And if they ask I say that`s the cost of quality construction.
I've just recently gotten to the point where I am not so afraid of my price.I bid $1,700 to paint two rooms. The regular customer was at first taken aback, but when the job was done he looked me dead in the eye, gave me a firm handshake, and thanked me profusely for the great job.Then I bid a $10,000 siding job. I didn't get it, but the guy who did was within a couple of hundred dollars, so it was simply my failure to sell it. It was not the price.So I'm beginning to feel that the prices I come up with are not out of line.Rich BeckmanAnother day, another tool.
Painting is the hardest thing to sell because everyone thinks they can do it. We can hardly paint a room for less than $600. People are usually stunned but I explain that if they paint it and miss a few dings and nail holes they view it as though it doesn't matter because it looks better. But if I miss a few it is the end of the world because they paid me.
Hell, the money isn't in the paint. Its in the prep. But trying to sell that when they believe they just go to Lowes and get paint and roll it on in an afternoon is tough. DanT
Man, you are right on the button with that comment about painting. That is one of the truest truisms about this business.
It is also one of the reasons I dislike selling paint jobs not tied into other work: no matter how good a job I do, the HO thinks it's easy work and that he coulda done it himself if he'd only had the time. So the price is sure to bug him at some level. If it's part of a larger project, the paintjob cost usually gets less attention overall.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
Dan,
Ive spent the last 3 days painting ceilings... If the HO had wanted to do it, it would have been fine with me.
-zen
We do a lot of bath remodels and it seems 75% of the time the home owner wants to paint it themselve since "its not that big an area we could do it in a weekend". We time it accordingly and come back and the paint sucks! Bath is usually 2-3 days from completion at this point and we have to look at lines that aren't straight, roller markes on the tile. Hate it. DanT
Good deal. I used to get scared of pricing a job too high on side work. But I've learned that here the same as you. Only a shmuck intimidates himself into giving someone else a good deal, just cause he thinks they can't afford it. If they can't afford it then they don't want it.
"A problem cannot be solved by the same thinking that created it." Albert Einstein
ditto what gunner and Mccarty said.
I used to hate to give a bid, fear of it being to high and not getting the job.
Now I'm probably a little over confident, almost wanting them to question it.
Doug
and on a spec house........ooppss.sorry
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
Boss - Job I was on (for homeowner) needed some minor plumbing (which I don't do): two lines relocated a short distance, easy acess, probably 1-2 hrs. at best. Got three bids, none came in under $600.00! Homeowner moved one himself in about a half hour, decided he could live with the other one. $700 for a whole closet sounds like a deal!
See! Now march right over and tell the DW that you can trust the advice of a bunch of 13 yr old girls in a chat room.
OK. That was the quote. The SCA.
Now for the contract. The PAYMENT TERMS.
None of this payment on completion cr@p. You ain't no bank, dude.
Can I get an AMEN, brother.
"None of this payment on completion cr@p. You ain't no bank, dude."
O.K., so I ain't perfect yet. But this is progress. (-:
Anybody remember who it was who said "Don't be afraid of the money? I'm certain I read it here on BT.
If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happen if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?
I would have to guess, Sonny or Mike Smith.
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after low pricing is forgotten!
comeon gunner, thats true Buckism!
"Take it or I'll kick your azz!" Is more like Buck. LOL
The bitterness of poor quality remains long after low pricing is forgotten!
From:
Jeff J. Buck <!---->
1:23 am
To:
Boss Hog <!---->
(15 of 18)
57052.15 in reply to 57052.1
"Don't be afraid of the money".
Unless someone else has said it ... over and over again ...
That's a direct quote from my sales mentor ... Ron Magnole, Perfection Carpet Care, Houston Texas.
Ron would be proud!
Kept yer Beltloops too I see ... again ... Ron would be proud.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
I know he said it YESTERDAY. But I'm also sure I've heard it before.
He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends [Oscar Wilde]
"Don't be afraid of the money".
Unless someone else has said it ... over and over again ...
That's a direct quote from my sales mentor ... Ron Magnole, Perfection Carpet Care, Houston Texas.
Ron would be proud!
Kept yer Beltloops too I see ... again ... Ron would be proud.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry in Carpentry
Pgh, PA
Of course we all know why it was $700.
You didn't use studs. You went with tiny little Howe trusses 8' long, three and a half wide and an inch and a half wide. Made out of pieces of wood no bigger than popsicle sticks and tiny steel rods.
It seems very common for people (family, friends, & neighbors) to collect a mental list of tradespeople that can give them something for nothing or as close to nothing as they can get, "We have a plumber, and electrician in the neighborhood already, I'm glad to hear that you are a good carpenter!"--Translation: "Can you come over sometime and build me a deck, I'll buy the beer."
When I was still teaching I never had people ask if I would tutor their kid in chemistry sometime. When it comes to the trades, it seems like people are, in scientific terms, "opportunistic feeders."
What they are really saying is, "My time is more important that yours."
Edited 4/17/2005 1:59 pm ET by basswood