Got a call from a woman today who wants a receptionist station custom built. She likes the one I did last year for another client. That one took 4 weeks to complete.
First question, “when do you want it?”
Her- “I can wait a couple of weeks if I have to.”
Me- “Can you wait a couple of months?”
Her- “Oh my god, No”
Like I’m sitting around on my thumbs waiting for the phone to ring. When I clear up some back-log I’m gonna take some time off. Its been a while.
I told her if I squeezed her in she’s looking at July. She said her attorney husband is moving in to a new building (probably sued his current landlord) and they needed it june first. Thats all I need to know…
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Someone on this site came up with a great line. Don't remember it exactly, but it ws something like:
"People think I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but have nothing to do tomorrow"
I thought that was a pretty good assesment of the typical attitude.
Maverick,
Wow! what you don't know about sales will fill a volumne!
Try this word, yes! or sure!
Add your concerns, It took 160 manhours to build that one and if you want it in two weeks I'll need to hire several people to add to my work force, are you prepared to pay for that? Cost? Oh, to find the right sort of people that do the same quailty of work that I do, I suppose I can find them for around $125.00 an hour,.....
Now you realize that two people don't work twice as fast as one person does since there is a certain amount of inefficency with mutiple workers. Let's assume say 200 hours, OK? Plus materials of course! Now I can have it for you in July at my regular price or in two weeks for,..... which do you prefer?
You just put it to her in a way where she became the bad guy instead of you.. you've explained to her the realiites of the world without offending her and maybe she's willing to pay or maybe she'll pass for now and buy later.. Whatever you haven't burned a bridge. and you never know where a positive attitude will get you.. Wouldn't it be sweet if she coughed up all that dough and said Yes?
and he might be suprised to discover how often they do say yes
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Frenchy's "answer" is the right one. Here are some wrong ones."I can have a piece of crap ready for you by _early date_ or a quality one by _later date_. Which would you prefer?""How did urgency on your part become an emergency on my part?""Sure I can have something for you on that date, which parts (or steps) would you like me to leave out?""Here is my estimate for completing the work. Perhaps you can improve it for me?"I sell and teach management skills in corporations, and often I'm asked if I can teach a 3-day class in 2-days.I have, in all honesty, answered that question this way:"We'll have to look at your (learning) objectives and find out which ones we don't need to cover." It is the polite way of saying, "Sure I can do the class in two days, what don't you want the students to learn?"Good luck.And if this cutomer is a real pain (sounds like she is trying to "pull rank" on you) We have a common phrase in the office "We don't do business with hassels" Hassels is a substitue for "A**H***s"... Life is too short and some business is just not worth it.Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
>>Wow! what you don't know about sales will fill a volumne!
Well, you could'nt be more wrong about that. In my area there's more work than there are people to do it. Its called pick and choose. The biggest complaint from clients around here is nobody calls you back.
I've been working 6 and 7 days a week for a year now. I have no problem getting my price. For me its all about scheduling. I like to maintain an even flow of work. To drop everything for an attorney (read between the lines) is out of the question
l"If I wanted it tomorrow I would order it tomorrow' Duh!
Several years back I get a phone call from a guy that wants a bar built. Turns out this is not a home bar but one for a new establishment.He wants it done in two weeks, asks me if I ever built a bar. I tell him that I never built one , but I know what they look like ,as I seen quite a few, some from the floor looking up.No sense of humor with this guy, he hung up on me.
mike
Well that at the very least gets the nod for humor.
Am a little surprised at some of the comebacks above. Not that I completely disagree, but lets say the person said yes to the project on short notice and the dramatically increased fee. I guess I don't know that I'm in a position that I could locate the bodies with the stated requisite level of talent to quit whatever they're doing and do this instead. Sure, I'm taking the headache on for a fee, but I think I'm going to get told the same thing by anyone who's worth hiring. If they can come tomorrow, do I want them?"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Sounds like a customer who called me awhile back - said she wanted to talk to me about some holes in her wall. I said my price would depend on whether she wanted the holes made or repaired, it would be a lot cheaper to make them. Lost that one. What I don't know about sales would fill the Rose Bowl! =)
Great answer. Got to remember this one :-)Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
I like Sphere's (I think) comeback I read here a few weeks back:
There are three aspects to this project; time, quality, and money. You pick two, I get the other one.
I used with with our current client who wanted a month's worth of work done in a week. His reply, "take your time and don't leave the place a mess".
Powerful medicine this internet
The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man.
- Fyodor Dostoyevski
I look at the "triple constraint" a different way.
Product features/performance, project schedule, project cost ($ or labor).
Some people will say good, fast, cheap pick two. Others say "I want all three."
I say no to both. You've got to balance all three within stakeholder's needs and expectations.
Sometimes this means you have to reset customer expectations. Frency's answer (and my cynical answers) are both attempts at doing this.
Unfortunately, stakeholders (customers) often come to the table with unrealistic expectations and it becomes your job to set them straight in a non-confrontational way (so you don't loose the sale). It's mostly an education effort.
Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
would charging the customer double or triple for this cabinet really get it done faster ?
what would it do to your stress level ?
carpenter in transition
Its actually a room full of cabinets. A complete wrap around with a locking access door for the receptionist. Built in file cabinets, mail center, two work stations and floor to cieling storage, all book matched doors. The front is trimmed with tambour. The other one was $12,000.
I dont need the stress. I have 2 little ones at home, my time is more valuable to them.
"I dont need the stress. I have 2 little ones at home, my time is more valuable to them." Good answer. I turn down the same kind of high pressure work often for the same reasons. They probably won't find anyone else to do it that fast anyway, so they'll come back to you.Molten