a job you were asked to bid on but you didn’t want to go back to because the place was a hellhole so you decided to multiply your normal rate by two or three times just to follow through with the bid and then have the customer accept your ridiculous bid. This happened to me last week except the acceptance part. The guy told me to go- well, you know what what he told me to do. I’m glad I don’t have to go back there.
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My father the housepainter and his partner each year had the clandestine "Earl _______" (whatsisname?) award for the customer who accepted the most ridiculous bid, thereby executed swiftly and professionally by the company...
A new one every year.. they joked about having a plaque made, going out in suits and ties, to award that customer...
Sounds like a painter i had provide an estimate on our last house. His bid was literally 8-10 times what the others were. Nice shiny new red truck too. i figured he just didn't want to do it.
Then he called back a week later and asked when he was going to start.
I just recently bid one that way. The guy was a control freak and we went through a 2 hour initial interview in which he laid out all the details in an organized list and then verbally explained it all to me.
By the end of the meeting I knew I wasn't really that interested but I knew I could meet his standards because he really wasn't asking anything too weird but I didn't like him. So, I "estimated" each phase high, then doubled everything. I fugured if I got the job it would be worth my while.
I didn't spend that much time on the estimate...maybe 15 mins and I didn't create a formal proposal. I also didn't set up a second meeting to present. I just called him and gave him a verbal and told him that if he wanted a formal proposal that it would cost him a couple hundred and that was part of the verbal number. He thanked me and told me that I was way beyond his budget. I was happy and thanked him for the opportunity and told him to call me in the future if he had some different projects.
I don't think he'll find anyone to work for him.
we have a architect in town that like that, contractor been added 75 k to bid just because of him. The project been awarded with that 75k in it because nobody cheaper.a perk test is about $700 here, we bid them out at $7000 because we dont want to do them. every once in a while we will get one.
I generally don't play the game that way. I just don't bid it in the first place.
There is one 'lady' here who is a known trouble maker who is very pleasant on the surface. She asked me several times for an estimate for an addition, and I shined her on with things like, "I'll see if I have time to get by there."
Finally one day she cornered me in public and started throwing manipulative phrases (poor old widow etc.) around for the benefit of her audience, trying to embarrass me into doing her work. I reared up on my hind legs and told her I would be glad to do her work except for one thing.
What's that? she asked.
I don't think I could stand to be around you long enough to finish the job.
The audience was mine, since they all knew what I meant.
I have never before or since embarassed any one in public intentionally like that., but she attacked me, and I just held up a mirror to reflect the poison witch rays back at her.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
and I shined her on
Never heard that phrase."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
" poison witch rays"
thats funny, thanks for the laugh
Rich
I just tell them Im pretty busy. Reccomend someone else to them and try to be helpful. I had a contractor call me three times one time months apart and I told him the same every time . I think they get the message or I lost their interrest one .
I do that way too sometimes.The benefit of that rather than bidding it way too high is that the peripheral feedback is good. Your way, other people are saying, Tim is way too busy, so that means he is really good - in high demand and all that. Adds to the aura that "if I have a job, I want Tim to do it"But by over bidding to get jobs to go away, it leaves people saying,"Damn, that guy is a rip-off. His prices are out of this world and he is out to lunch. I would never even ask him for a bid if I were you"That has a big impact in a small town
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Im not saying I got any idea from my friend thats here but thats how he has managed to sell things at a good price.
He was a body shop owner since about 73. Hes a very honest man . Hes was very good at his trade . Often called the "best". Throughout his career that was his legacy to me in this small town. Very highly respected. One of those types.
He collected old pick up trucks and set them out in the yard beside his business which is right on the hwy. People would stop all the time and ask about one . He seemed to enjoy they had interrest in what he did . Never a bother for him to be interrupted by them and you could tell it . He would tell them where there was another truck somewhere. He would tell them this truck in question was to be refurbished. He had good intentions but every time he opened the garage door to let one out , another was waiting to get in. Thats the way it always was over all the years I stopped by there to have a cup of coffee. He ended up selling one rig after another by people begging him to take their money. Always top price . Sure those old trucks might sit there a year but every month to three one would sell. He never admitted it was a plan at all. They needed it and he had plenty. He would find another one . He enjoyed that. I figgured his profits on his sales after he was talking about taxes one day. The old truck business was impressive. I think he sold himself . Always did . Whether it was the work or one of those trucks .
Tim
I learned it from a contractor I subbed from in CO.Even if he was starving for work, when somebody asked him for a bid, he would start right out by saying, I'll see if I can fit you into the schedule first, then make them wait 2-3 days. It made them feel a hunger for HIS high quality of work.He knew people and psychology. Played a good hand of poker and started out life as a salesman.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I just held up a mirror to reflect the poison witch rays back at her.
thought you needed garlic...
p:)
" I shined her on with things like, 'I'll see if I have time to get by there.' "
Nice. That phrase is pure Mark Twain
Piffin,
I own a portrait studio and served on our city council & mayor for 25 years. Over the years we have a businesswomen like yours on one of our committees, she would always call me at home to complain about something, nobody could take much of her. One time she called my home & left a message to call her, I had enough and wasn't in the mood to hear it, I didn't return the call!!
Well in a public meeting she decided to let me have it for not returning her call, she decided to not tell the truth about the reason for the phone call. She stated it was "my loss because she was calling to make an appoint for some holiday family portraits." She called my home phone even though I have a business phone!
So, in the same public meeting,with a full house, I politely explain to her one of the benefits of being self employed is that I can pick and choose who I work for, and seeing it was you, I purposely didn't return the call and, No she was wrong, "It was your loss!!!"
Got a big laugh out of the crowd, didn't make relationship any better with her, but I felt better!!!!
I don't play these kind of games. If I don't want to do a job for whatever reason, I say so. That way there is no misunderstanding and everybody knows where things stand.
As for working in a hell hole, I generally decline those type of jobs. But in today's job market I'm happy to take pretty much whatever I can get. In that situation I charge more and I tell them why. They, in turn, usually respect me for my honesty - don't always go for it, but respect me just the same.
Clear communication is key to any good business relation.
~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.net
Meet me at House & Builder!
"I tell them why"
I couldn't tell the lead the truth because my Mom taught me that "if you don't have anything nice to say...."
my Mom taught me that "if you don't have anything nice to say...."
Mine taught me the same, then life taught that it's more important to be genuine. Put them together and you get a pretty good balance. ;)~ Ted W ~
Cheap Tools! - MyToolbox.netMeet me at House & Builder!
"I don't play these kind of games. If I don't want to do a job for whatever reason, I say so. That way there is no misunderstanding and everybody knows where things stand..... Clear communication is key to any good business relation. "
Ted,
Very well said,
WSJ
A friend of mine who is a GC was asked to bid on removing and reinstalling all the interior trim and doors in an old victorian house. The couple had small children and the painted trim was lead paint.According to Tom the house had so much clutter you had to step over stuff to get around. Three screaming little boys,a german sheperd that growled and all this clutter turned him off.
Tom, doubled what he thought was a high bid to begin with. He gets the job and wants me to sub it from him.I'm supposed to be retired and didn't want the job anyhow. Tom says he will pay me union rate plus $150.00 a day. I unretired for this job only.
Best part was that when I got there the house was absolutely clean.A 40 yard dumpster was filled with the entire contents of the house. Apparently the new owners thru out the previous owners junk that was left behind. The new owners had not moved in yet so the house was empty.
What I thought was a grin and bear it job turned out to be a sweetheart.
mike
I don't work on jobs i don't create... I'm the only one that will usually hire me and I kinda like work'n for my boss... he lets me eat lunch at the casino sometimes... but evary once in a while someone will beg me into doing something usually after they have asked me to look at someone elses bid...
Usually it's one of those bids where the guy didn't want the work so bid 5x what it should be...
and i have no problem telling them... that the bid is on the high side but if the guy does good work and you trust him... it's up to you...
more than a few times they have said... well... i don't mind the figure but I don't like the guy/company... would you do it for that price?
last was to put a pitch on a flat roof sunroom... frame over old flat roof add soffit to match the house .. deck and apply torchdown... 14 x 24 flat roof... took me 1.5 days including paint... I'm ashamed of what they paid me... but i did it for 3k less than the only bid they could get... I did a nice job... a roof that had leaked off & on for 10 years has never leaked again... if i did 4 of those a year I could live better than i do...
they thanked me
but i still feel bad.... not so bad that i didn't take the money... but they all but begged me to do it...
so... your high not wanting the work bids ... might just help someone else get a job :)
p
This is where understanding personality types come in handy. Some want all the nitty gritty detail other want to wave their hands and dream... some want to help while other want you gone before you start.
The key is understanding who you can work with and what price you need to make a profit.
I have told more then one potential client there is no amount of money I would take to do the job.... it was best for both of us.