On June 8 we had a major hail storm here——–tennis ball sized hail.
As a roofing contractor—- I did NOT need that!, LOL.
prior to the storm I was scheduling work for september—–and as the summer was going—–by september I would have been scheduling for next may
since the storm—– I recieve a minimum of 15 calls a day—“Steve—-when you get a chance could you just stop by and check my roof to make sure it’s OK?”
now—- for the first week—- I didn’t mind—most of the calls were from previous customers—– I consider it good customer relations and service
BUT—it has now gotten out of hand. As luck would have it— I am in the middle of several BIG jobs( big for little old me)—–back to back to back.
I NOW find myself having to STOP paying work by 3-4 in the afternoon——and then work for free untill after dark” just stop by and check my roof out!”
Monday——- i had made arrangements to stop by a former customers house and check out his roof” sometime between 4:00 and dark”——-he called and left messages 3 times on monday demanding a specific time( for me to do him this favor!)——–then stopped at my house and hassled my wife——and thenAFTER I was finally able to work my way down the list to him—and look at his roof—he drove back to MY house and parked out front to see what time I get home at night!!!!!!!!!!
you do the math——15 calls a day,7 days a week since june 8—–all demanding I work for free about 5 hours a day——after I have already been roofing 8-9 hours.
In that time EXACTLY 3 people have offered me water or a pepsi!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL seem to feel I should be delighted to do this for free!
roughly examining the economics of the situation———- what I charge for roofing is considerably MORE than what insurance companies want to pay———so very few of these people are going to become actual customers—–but the sense of absolute entitlement they feel—-is simply staggering. many of these people now have checks from insurance companies—-and litterally demand that I replace their roof for what the isurance company says ” they allow”–LOL.
OK—sorry for the rant
But
how do I extract myself from this?—- how do I tell these people ” no, I will not look at your roof for free”?——-( I don’t really want to look at it at all”)—- how do I explain to them that heir check from the insurance company has ZERO relationship to what I charge—and that it will not cover my cost?—- how do I do this politely and efficiently—–keep in mind i need to have this conversation at least 15 times every evening
thanks for ANY advice—-
Stephen
Replies
Stop taking the calls.
[email protected]
WOW !
r u kidding me ?
this is a setup question , right ?
u already no the answer...
all you gotta do is charge for all roof inspections.. then you can waive the fee .... or not
seriously .... yur kidding , right ?
That is true, but I was thinking from a different basis. I have fewer clients and most are repeat jobs. They already know I charge for whatever I do, but I often don't bother sending a bill for a simple 'Look/see'. I had the impression he is deling with long term customers nbased on my own thinking, butif these are cold calls from unknowns, they get to pay up front IF I can fit tem in.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Tell them what you told us...in your answering machine message. "I'm booked through September so there's no point in having me look at your roof because I don't have time to repair it".
If some of them leave a message, insisting that you inspect their roof, just to ease their fears, call them back and tell them that there's a one hundred dollar charge for that service. Payable when you arrive at their home. The ladder stays on the truck until the check is in your hand. The point of this is to get across that you don't owe them a free inspection. And to relieve you of getting walked on by your clients.
That thing about some people insisting that you do their repair for what the insurance company allowed......I'd find a nice way of saying: "You settled with your insurance company before consulting with me. That wasn't the best way to go about it. So, when I get around to doing your repair, you'll have to pay the difference."
Well, for the guy who was demanding and parked in front of your house - forget polite and tell him to f^ck off and get lost!
For the rest, I just look at it as a deal that is part of the business you are in. It is seasonal and weather dependednt and that is just part of what it is. You'll get over it.
As far as time invested - I do not generally stop the paying production work to do that. I just tell them that I am backed up and will get to them when I get to them. Since there are also faamily obligations in evenings, that limits me to a few evenings a week. If I don't get there soomn enough - they can learn patience or get somebody else.
I ahve been know to say, "Look at me. I am one man. I cannot be in two places at the same time. And if I were Supermaan, I would charge more than I do now."
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
You may have to rely on a form letter stating what you said above, the polite stuff any way. Include a coupon that rebates them for the inspection IF and WHEN you do the repair. They may go elsewhere and a $.41 stamp is cheaper than gasoline. I'd have a mail merge list handy of all your customers. When a hail storm strikes again, Mail them out by the zip codes that got hit the hardest the next day. (A pre-emtive strike so to speak.) Still, its not too late to send one now based on the # of calls you're getting.
That's one.
Two.
Can you hire a few extra guys just to blue roof with tarps $$? Or hire a guy with a truck and ladder just to do the inspections$$? Turn static frustration into opportunity and cash flow by delegating. Even if you have customers cashing in the coupons that cost can be off set by charging a little more for each repair. In the letter, state what the track record is for insurance company claim$ vs. the real world. And that the Adjusters for the most part work from out dated data (which I believe is true and mostly on purpose).
Three.
As far as the phone calls go--- Lots of empathy stating that your swamped and only have this one day each week to do the inspections and like them, you were just as off guard about the hail as they were. Offer the blue roof team for a fee if you can manage it. G'luck! BTW I have family in Florida in the roofing biz. Taking over the company there will be my retirement job.
Best to you and yours, Chris.
Building as thou art paranoid never harmed anyone.
I remember in another thread you said you wouldn't think of charging previous customers to check out there hail damaged roof. That you needed to take care of these folks. Nice theory but I thought at the time how once word got out of your free estimates (and remembering that you are premium priced, as are we) that people would know they would get the maximum amount from the insurance company. So they naturally would tell there friends.
And since human nature includes greed they surely don't feel they should have to pay your rate if the insurance company wouldn't pay it. And they want/need the money so you should be at there disposal.........right now! Read what Mike Smith said. Charge for the estimate with a provision to take it off the price of the roof, when you can schedule it. If you want to discount the price for people who have a roof that you installed fine but charge something. You should make money doing it, at a rate that is the same as your working rate, or better. DanT
Apologize for not being able to respond, explain high volume. Then, suggest they do what our family did in times of high volume repair times. Tell them you have a mailer you can send out.
Print this and hand/mail it out to all those calling, they must have some slightly capable family memebers or is everybody lazy these days?
Dear customers:
Sorry I cannot respond to your need to have your roof inspected or fixed, but due to the hail storm all roofers in the area are extremly busy.
In trying to figure out how to help the maximum number of those needing roof repairs, I asked a question on the FineHomebuilding web site of how to deal with the situation.
Here is one response:
Hazlett, tell your customers the following story:
My 85 YO mother lives 2000 miles away in Cent IL, small tornado last year blew a few shingles off, plus heavy winter ice meant a leaky roof. Steep roof, 12/12 pitch, not easy to work on.
The tornado and high building volume left very few contractors having any time available.
Brother lives in town, called 7 places, one actually drove by to look, declined to even bid, other 6 simply said no time (appreciated the honesty in 'no bid' or 'no time', sure beats no response at all).
Brother did not want to tackle the entire job himself - mom's dad died falling off a ladder (1927) and she did not want only one of her kids at a time on a ladder/roof without appropriate safety measures.
So, packed up safety harness, nailer, some rope, etc., brother had roof jacks, etc. Flew to Cent IL from Seattle in May, one grandson even came from Portland OR to help. (Grandson is 40, brother and I in 60's)
New roof, $700 in materials, plus using up a weeks vacation and 80,000 frequent flier miles, but got to visit family also.
For people you haven't worked with before, charge an inspection fee, with an understanding up front that it's refundable if you get the work. And a genuine free look-see for past customers.
This is all part of being in business.
Work scheduled into September can be pushed back. You push it back because of the "emergency" caused by the hail storm.
And you and your crews work 16 hours a day to get caught up.
After Rita hit here, we became swamped, so we set a system in place. All the calls were directed to the office, here we prioritized them by how urgent they were.From this we made a weekly schedule and printed it up. We got together with our crew and asked if any of them were willing to step it up and take some of these calls. As it turned out, some of them did. We offered them an incentive to take new clients and we dealt with the repeats. Then we reserved one day a week to take care of these calls. It worked out well. We managed to get caught up and we weren't so stressed, our guys were happy because they were making extra money and the customers were being served in a timely manner.
Of course we weren't as busy as you seem to be. Tough situation.
Hazlett,
Well I hope your future remains as busy. I remember in the late 1990's I couldn't provide enough equipment to those who wanted to buy it.. I still went and explained the situation. Most wound up buying from others and a telehandler is a lifetime purchase for most people so i worked a lot for nothing..
Today I have virtaully no business and wonder how long I can remain..
Building cycles tend to go up and down.. if you offend someone now you'll have lost them forever..
I would capitilize on this. You aren't likely to be swinging a hammer forever.. sooner or later you'll get old and stiff and unable to do what you are now doing.. bring someone aboard now and treat him like a foreman while you continue to seek work..
Those who have damage but most likely will be okay untill fall I'd tell them that, explain your circumstances and tell them you'll put them on your list.. Those who can't wait I wouldn't recommend the next best guy,, If someone who does a poor job fixes the roof now the customer is unlikely to call them back..
Situation requires some finesse( not my forte)
since i have spent 20 years living and working primarily within a 12 block radius------------------the situation might be more analgous to Piffen living on an island----or living in a small town.
I just happen to be living smack dab in the center of where a hail storm hit
and these are neighbors, relatives, friends, people we go to church with, parents of my wife's students etc.
so it's not simply a matter of telling people to go pound sand or F!@# off
and---as frenchy mentions----what I do now has repercussions untill I retire. at the very least i am going to be repairing the botched roofs put on by the storm chasing fly-by-nights untill i retire.
AND---a lot of people i know------are going to have some pretty decent roofs hauled off to the dump---replaced by who knows what??????
As a matter of logistics---- i am now booked fairly solid through the end of the year-----so I have no choice other than to start scheduling people for next year. this is NOT how i like to operate-----and i have ZERO intention of "gearing up" to turn out more work than I ordinarily would
So----I am reminded of what a guy here in town named Russ Vernon told me last summer( russ owns a fairly famous gormet grocery (West Point Market)----at any rate he told me to simply tell people" I am sorry ,but we have been blessed with so much business it would be at least 9 months untill we could consider your project--- If you like we can check back with you then and see if you still need our services"
Ironically, I have noticed over the last year or so----the more i tell people I am planning to retire---and am working my way out of the roofing business----the more many of them are prepared to pay us to roof THEIR project----- that's our customer base---not somebody with a $5000 check from the insurance company.
Stephen
Speaking from the HOMEOWNER's perspective...you've had the perfect answer since last summer when an established local who knows your environs, gave it to you.
If you gave me that line, or the one that Piffen shared (the superman one, not the one for the a-hole who showed up at your place), I'd be disappointed but I would not be PO'd; and I would likely then ask you if you had anyone else you could recommend...?...or to put me on your list.
Only dead fish swim with the stream. Author Unknown
Before I even read the other responses, my questions was, with that much volume why are you going anywhere for free?
Profit is not a dirty word, and you cant feed the kids with "thank yous".
One thing I fail to understand from the information in your post ... why must you stop work to do these inspections? Are you working alone?
In that case ... option #1 is to hire a helper, someone who can carry on as you absent yourself. If nothing else, you can make several short absences during the day ... rather than clearing the entire afternoon.
But then, maybe clearing the afternoon is a good idea. After all, it IS summer, and roofs get pretty warm after lunch. This suggests another approach: continue to get out of the heat, with afternoon inspections. Kick up your starting time. Out here, some guys start as early as 5AM (as soon as the sky lightens).
Now ... here's some planning ideas for the NEXT storm:
A) Immediate visits to any roof still under your warranty;
B) Courtesy calls - followed by visits if necessary - to past customers, in the order of 'most recent first.'; and,
C) Paid-for visits to unknown callers. An additional fee if they need a report for an insurance claim (as they will likely use this to solicit bids as well).
A silly idea has just occurred to me. A lot of business involved 'adding value' to get an 'edge' over the competition. For example, house painters might present a customer with a "six pack" that contains quarts of the paints used, for future touch-ups.
Can a roofer do the same? Include in his price a wood crate, containing whatever is needed to make some repairs .... for the customer to store? Maybe a dozen shingles, a tube of Henry's, and a baggie of nails?
I have had a roofing company and our troubles is when windstorms come in, naturally when im on a big job, I too was running till i almost dropped, listen you cant work on the roof then run around every night, Your gonna get tired and get hurt, I found it best when i could get help was hire another person on the job, Get materials, Rip off or roof for awhile and sneak in a few bids during the day, Now i can see where you wanta get to everyone as its your hometown,The people really think you have nothing else to do but drive around and take care of them, Its the whole fast food society.The insurance companys play this game perfect, when you give your bid they tell them what the going rate is thus makeing you look like a rip off, I always felt fustrated when this happened to me, I finnally figured its like a Army, They know going in theres gonna be a bunch lost just hold it back as much as you can, Wait till you pull off a regular job for an emergency then have to wait and wait for your money, Or you run to do a repair and next month someone else is doing the new roof, cherry pick your best ones and figure some will have to wait, My cherry picking works better when they were fast payers
not that I rec. it, but maybe this is your time to expand. Hire what my father called a PDB (poor dumb bastard) who knows enough to do good work for you to roof your jobs while you go around in your AC truck performing inspections for a fee, and bidding new work?
What about getting tarps on the roofs so that you could get to them next year?
Put together a tarper crew. Inspect it at installation. Inspect it monthly over the winter, Then get a schedule together for next year.
Might be able to add a few % for your work.
Somehow all those houses in Fla made it through the winter after the hurricanes.
just something to think about
quote:
Somehow all those houses in Fla made it through the winter after the hurricanes.
Oh my gawd... I hope you were just being facetious....
Those blue tarps only last for a few weeks in the sun before they start to break down and quickly degenerate into basically a fishnet that doesn't repell anything.
There were literally hundreds and hunderds of houses in south west Florida that sat for over a year with nothing but those worthless fishnets on top of them due to many contributing factors. (Mostly because insurance companys issued a check for less than half what any of the roofing contractors could or would do the work for, and therefore unless a homeowner had the extra cash to pay the difference the house sat unroofed for months)
These houses were basically destroyed by sitting, basically with no roof, until the entire house rotted beyond any conceivable repair. If you don't believe me, just take a drive around the Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda area and look at how many rotted shells are sitting around waiting for the bulldozer.
"Made it through the winter" ??? Think about it... This is Florida! Winter is the primo time to do any sort of roofing.
Sorry to be so acerbic my friend, but anybody who would tack a blue tarp on top of a house and not plan on doing a more permenant fix within a few days is either a crook or simply drastically uninformed and inexperienced." If I were a carpenter"
Stephen
Piffin and Hudson Vally Carpenter gave you some pretty good advice. Have a message on your machine telling them that your booked and to busy to handle anymore work this year, probably in a more articulate manor!
I see a lot of guys on here giving you advice to hire more help, get blue tarp crews, helpers........ but for those of us that read your posts on a regular basis I'm guessing that's not something that you really want to do. I also remember you telling all of us that you are trying to cut your working hrs per year downward not upward so.........
Doug
That's simple! Change your answering machine on your cell phone and screen all your calls.
Change the message to something like......
".....Thank you for calling Stephen's Roofing. We are currently booking roofing projects 9 months ahead of our current date. Please leave your name, phone number, jobsite location.. Thank you, and have a nice day."
......or something like that.
Option #2
Hire a answering service to take all your calls.
Dave
Tell them they have two years to file a claim.
^^^^^^
a Smith & Wesson beats four Aces
You have received some excellent advice here. Take some of the ideas and put them in place. No action is really an action. I would suggest having a business plan that allows for preparing for the transition to a lesser work load in the future, if that is your goal. Identifying and mentoring someone to take over for you someday is something you should consider. There are seminars and/or classes available to help you put this in place. The University of Akron may offer something through continuing ed. As you know your good name has value. You want to keep that at all costs. The truth works................people will understand. Most anyway.
Just some thoughts............well worth price paid as some would say. Take care.
Mike L.
stop with the free....
set up a fee schedual...
make no bones about it being in effect...
you'll have a lot less to look at...
let it be known that the ins money will only cover some of yur work...
let it also be known that you don't bid against yurself...
kill the drive by dude..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"kill the drive by dude.."Good candidate for the oppossum (SP?) ;)
TFB (Bill)
"kill the drive by dude.."Or sub that job out;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
or use a case of duct tape on him and leave in his basement..Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
or show him the damage up on his roof and tell him to walk on the tarp so he doesnt "slip".
Looked at a small job recently. Ceiling repair in two rooms, plus wall damage, from leaking a/c in the attic. Insurance told her "$350 to fix and paint - don't hire a licensed contractor, just hire a handyman". My price $850 NOT including paint, take it or leave it. Surprisingly, she took it.
Insurance has become a joke. I had extensive damage to my own home from a burst copper pipe in the attic, during a winter freeze. My ins. adjuster (State Farm) wrote me a check that will barely cover materials. I wanted to argue, but my wife said just take the check, buy the materials, and do it yourself. She's afraid of our rates going up if we fight it.
My adjuster seemed like a nice guy, but his hands were obviously tied by the insurance company's policies. 'Like a neighbor that would rip you off the minute you turned your back, State Farm was there!'
"...an open mind is a powerful thing. The ability to listen to others is invaluable."
Jim Blodgett
>I wanted to argue, but my wife said just take the check, buy the materials, and do it yourself. She's afraid of our rates going up if we fight it.At risk of going further off topic, regardless of the amount that was paid, your claim is is recorded in the ChoicePoint CLUE database and will be tracked and used as part of the insurance company's future risk assessment on that property. CLUE is the "Comprehensive Loss Underwriters Exchange" which is in essence a credit report on a house the will track insurance activities on a given property and is used by all the insurance carriers. The act of filing a claim will have the impact of your CLUE rating, not necessarily the amount paid out. I've heard of cases of simply inquiring about a claim affecting ratesSome third party info about CLUE is here: http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs26-CLUE.htmSince you had started the claim process, I'd fought for the max.
What about charging for your calls and offering to refund it if/when they accept your bid. That way you won't feel like your working for nothing, it weeds out those who are just shopping around and gives those who do want your services an incentive to go with you.
Then ,at least, you are compensated for your time in either situation, your repeat customers know they'll get their money back when you get to their roof (X months down the road) and if they don't use you you're not loosing money and the stress is off. I liked the idea mentioned earlier of dedicating one day for looking at projects as well. That way your still getting paid a days work and having time to rest in the evening. If your crew can live without you being on site for a day, say tear off etc., you could be making double or triple your money that day.
ott
That guy who parked in front of your house is crazy and you should get a restraining order against him.
"I never met a man who didn't owe somebody something."
I would like to thank everybody for their suggestions.
I now realize that i haven't been clear--------------
BEFORE the hail--- i already had plenty of work and adequate finances.
I neither need or want more work/money.--- i have no intention of charging to drive around looking at projects I don't want anyway, LOL.------what I needed was a way to say----" sorry, i won't be able to look at your roof"
what I have been doing for the last few days is " We have been blessed with so much work from even BEFORE the hail storm that we just can't do that for you. we are currently scheduling work for next spring-------and if you would like us to replace your roof THEN we would be happy to set up an appointment to estimate a complete roof replacement-----but it will likely be several weeks untill we can do even THAT!"
Had a woman and her daughter Knock on my front door last night at sundown--BEGGING me to come look at their roof-----totally paniced by these fly by night vermin.
If there is a hell( which I doubt)----I hope there is an especially nasty realm reserved for storm chasers.
I will be pretty well retired from roofing in about 4 years anyway------and semi retired overall----so this will eventually be somebody elses problem.
On the upside---- we have about 4 more days on a cedar shingle sidewall install------can ANY work be more fun than cedar shingle sidewalls!!!!!!!! ?--------WARNING/WARNING----dumb roofer using block plane---proceed at own risk.
Stephen
" We have been blessed with so much work from even BEFORE the hail storm that we just can't do that for you. we are currently scheduling work for next spring-------and if you would like us to replace your roof THEN we would be happy to set up an appointment to estimate a complete roof replacement-----but it will likely be several weeks untill we can do even THAT!"
Stephen
If your telling them that then your being about as polite as you possibly can or need be, if they dont get it from that statement then they never will and you may have to resort to a little "abrupt and or rudeness" to finalize it.
Doug
" Had a woman and her daughter Knock on my front door last night at sundown--BEGGING me to come look at their roof-----totally paniced by these fly by night vermin."You might want to makeup a flyer that tells them what to look for and that in most cases a hail damaged roof does not need to be replaced in a 48 hours and include some verbage from the state AG or BB warning about fly-by-night roofers and what to look for in getting a roofer..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
"You might want to makeup a flyer that tells them what to look for and that in most cases a hail damaged roof does not need to be replaced in a 48 hours and include some verbage from the state AG or BB warning about fly-by-night roofers and what to look for in getting a roofer."
I was thinking the same thing....when a roof suffers hail damage, it won't necessarily start leaking like a sieve the next day.
U work by yourself, and mostly with subs as a crew, right?
what's the problem with making an arrangement with one or two of your most trusted subs ...
they look ... their time ...
if they think it's a go ... U bid and they do the work.
U collect and pay them.
just like a roofing GC.
not really more work for you.
win/win/win.
win for you ... more money at not much more work.
win for the subs as more work is gooder.
win for your customers/neighbors as they get needed work done by a trusted roofer ... you ... and ... also get peace of mind with confirmations they don't need a new roof.
charge a nominal fee for the site check ... and everyone is happy.
why turn down good money when all U gotta do is put your stamp of approval on it?
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff,
you are still a young guy---and 5-10 years ago i would have thought along the same lines----------------
in fact I am currently doing something similar to what you propose-------------
but the scope of this for a small mom and pop type operation is COMPLETELY overwelming
even just LOOKING at all the roofs people DESPERATELY want ME to look at is overwelming( not exagerating here one iota)
if i wanted to AND had the stamina---- i could work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week from now-----untill who knows?----NEXT summer and beyond.
As you know--- i have been actively planning and developing my exit from the roofing market for a few years now----with a bit of success
this hail storm just draws me further back in-----IF I let it.
ACTUALLY thinking----perhaps NOW is the PERFECT time to leave the roofing market all together-------as perhaps most all my existing work warranties have just been VOIDED by the hail---LOL.
I know that since you are a young guy with small kids----it's maybe un-imagineable to see it from this perspective-----------and really,no bragging here----but i have enough work without this----and am really fixed pretty good for money( within my modest lifestyle)
Interestingly--------there is a total "socio economic" thing going on here.
since i live right in the middle of this-----and know most everybody-----it's a front row seat to observe how
a) predators feed( storm chasers preying almost exclusively on the elderly,the single mothers and the uneducated)
b)how the more economically successfull handle this( from my front yard on the Blv.--my immediate neighbors, all with LARGE older homes----completely unscathed by the predators----and throughout the neighborhood----the local contractors signs go up in front of the better-off folks houses--CALMLY.------------but in the areas with smaller homes and MUCH tighter finances---this has been seen as a chance to cash in----to "get something for nothing"---------the predators sell it as FREE roofs, FREE siding-----won't cost you a thing------------------
but the folks who actually have money and /or educations-----know it actually costs.
whats REALLY disheartening---and bothers me as a stock holder---the insurance companies----------------
in the past 36 hours I have recieved 4 phonecalls from past customers whose roofs I examined a couple weeks ago( those roofs are ABSOLUTELY fine BTW)----any how---when the claims adjustors came out to look at the siding damage( real damage)---they told the customers to just "go ahead and get the roof replaced also"
so-----absolutely perfectly good roofs are absolutely going to be torn off and thrown in a dump truck---what a effen waste!
on a brighter note---------my present project replacing cedar shingles on a large side wall is going pretty well.---my wife came out to see us work yesterday---and was totally flabbergasted( she tells me" why don't you just do THAT everyday"--my response---"If Only"----i don't know if there is much of a market for cedar side wall shingling here in Akron ,Ohio-----but perhaps i could have what little there is all to myself????????? LOL.
Best wishes, ALL
stephen
I yam in the exact boat your in, I dont wanta hire any more, i dont wanta sub anything i just wanta plod along and phase out, As far as saying no i just tell people im not takeing anything big on anymore, Im by myself, I used to recommend others but even thats tricky
we had one where this guy wanted a perk test that all. simple couple hour. then he wanted us to do the paperwork for the permit. Couple year later he sold the property and the county change the rules on septic systems. Now the new owner wants us to design the system, and then inspected the system.Thing is, nobody has paid us a penny since day one. A little favor keeps getting added on. So I ask about payment and the client goes crazy. Why should I pay you, you are the orignal engineers.So the word from my boss the head guy " If you take another perk test, your fired"used to be a perk test was $350, today on our price list perk test, no paperwork $13,470. $2000 to open file, non refundable.
bobby---maybe you will enjoy this---------
i am in the phase now where i am deluged with calls from insurance claims adjustors-----------who ALL want to know how it is that my proposals are WAAAAAY more expensive than what their insurance company "allows"
they patronizingly explain that their company has done considerable research into listing what the AVERAGE price per square is for this zip code---and WTF--why am i so much OVER that price
they don't seem amused when I point out that I am not considered an AVERAGE contractor here in this neighborhood and that what they want to "allow' has zero to do with what I can and do charge
they don't think that's funny at all!!! LOL
they just respond--but,but, but----huh?????--they litterally have no idea how to process that concept because they have become accustomed to meeting the "storm chasers" on site who will price their jobs EXACTLY like the insurance company tells them.
I know i must sound really arrogant
but i am tired of some claims adjustors in town from north carolina trying to tell me THEY know better than I do what I can charge in the 12 block radius i have been faithfully working for 20 years!!!!!!!!
Stephen
yes i know exactly what you mean, What i dont understand is how the insurance comes up with the price first, here the roofer gives a bid then the adjuster gos over it or maybe 2 or 3, I never heard of the insurance company giving the price, By the way the adjusters told me if the bid is for an insurance claim i have the right to bill 100 bucks to that insurance company, So far i only collected for a few, I do live in the boonies and the adjusters dont always get here so it may be different by you, what bugs me is there prices are like new work prices pulled off a houseing track i cant afford the insurance at that price
It seems that you may have inflicted this problem on yourself ... and you need to figure out what you did, then counter that! For example ... I remember one time a 'summer teen trash' film was doing so well that the local theaters were required to 'hold it over.' The problem was, a true blockbuster film was coming out, and they would miss the premier if they were stuck playing the junk film.
In that case, the theater chain solved the problem with an ad campaign for the junk film ... ads extolling the "one star" rating, and quoting from reviews that trashed the film. This 'reverse ad' worked, and they were able to run the big film, as planned. In my case, I don't want to deal with the general public; look in vain for a name on my truck, or an ad in the phone book. I have my customer base, and am pretty much invisible to everyone else. Thanks to the internet, anyone who wishes can confirm my license, etc., with a few mouse clicks. There are other strategies you can use, as well. Simply putting a bumper sticker .... however innocent .... on your truck will attract some folks, and deter others. Finally, the best way to reduce demand is to .... raise your price. It is simply amazing the difference a few dollars can make! If you're half as successful as you claim .... there's no reason not to be paid for it!
renosteinke,
you are correct---and i am absolutely aware that I caused this problem myself------that's primarily what pizzes me off!!! LOL
my prices ARE pretty high to begin with( some say outrageously high)------and a further raise might be in order to damp down demand
BUT problematically--- i would STILL have to go look at the work and price it.
the problem is-----when this blitz started I had no fraking clue it would get out of hand like this----------when it first started it was almost entirely former customers------and i figured i would be a good citezen and neighbor and check things out for 'em.
but after the first week---it snowballed out of controll!
20/20 hindsight--------- I would have done things differently 4 weeks ago from the VERY first call
also---- if I wasn't so busy with previous work i would have had the time and mental energy to better evaluate the whole situation.
Stephen
When all else fails .... what is it Clint Eastwood said? "Overcome, Improvise, Adapt?" Or, even ....maybe ... lie? For example, a phone message along the lines of "I'll call you as soon as they let me out of DeTox" .... or "I'll have to get permission from my Parole Officer before I call you back." A sign on your truck "Proud used of Materials recycled from the landfill." "Cash only ... we don't need no stinkin' license." I think you get the idea...
No. He needs to be more direct."Sorry I can see you now.I will be in court where I am being sued by my last 5 customers.
These trials should be over in about 6 weeks. We can make an appointment for then.".
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
There is a good guest column in the June '07 copy of Roofing Contractor called "Weathering the storm" written by a roofing contractor in Seattle.
Probably accessible at http://www.roofingcontractor.com
Thanks for the belly laugh.I needed it today.^^^^^^
a Smith & Wesson beats four Aces