Two kinds of customers

[Richardtheelectrician]

I dealt with both this week. A guy called me Monday morning and said, "I have lots of money, will you work for me?" (Actually, he introduced himself first.)
Answer? Yes.
Then I get four calls asking if I give free estimates.
Answer? No.
It's a gradient we're all climbing, but anyone who uses the phrase "free estimates" has already called five other electricians.
I read some advice from a 2009 thread that I thought was good, and have taken as my policy. I will charge you for the estimate, and deduct it from the final bill.
Do you think that's fair?

 

[drewsserviceco]

One small change

One small change

I have adopted a similar policy. the only difference is that I wont refund all of the estimate fee. You should still collect some money to pay for the time to make the estimate, or at least cover expenses (fuel).

typical trouble call (under $1,000) $75 estimate fee, $50 discount applied once a contract has been signed
anything over a $1,000 would not be limited to above description and would be proportional to the scale of the job and what would be involved at building an estimate/proposal

 

[templdl]

All this stuff is good but it is of my belief as to how booked you are.
If you have a fairly filled up schedule then giving anything away free may not be a wise choice. Then you may be able to afford to charge for an estimate on a take it or leave it basis while providing the customer with some sort of credit should you get the work as an incentive.
I you are not booked and have some open time that translates into non productive time where providing free estimates may not be such a bad idea.

Personally I don't think you should put anything into stone as you are the business owner and should do what makes sense to you and makes your business profitable. When you're booked you can pick and choose your opportunities charging or not charging for estimates at your will. If you are not booked it may end up to be beggars can't be choosers then.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I do not charge for estimates but I do feel the people out to make sure they are not shopping heavily and if the job is a few hundred dollars I will just give them an estimate over the phone. Not worth my time to go out and estimate if it is a 2 hour job

 

[KVA]

"Sure I give free estimates... will cost you between $600-$1000." The $600 number I gave is high but they don't know and when I arrive I tell them it will cost $650. They think they got an incredible deal:thumbsup:

 

[KVA]

Lowes and HD charge a fee to come out so why not us?

 

[Richardtheelectrician]

Lowes and HD charge a fee to come out so why not us?

I fully agree with you. One fellow asked me if he could buy the parts at the supply house himself, the other just wrote me a big check.
Maybe it's just that time of the year, or maybe word is getting around, but I'm getting lots of calls; I walk away briskly from people who just want free advice.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I do not charge for estimates but I do feel the people out to make sure they are not shopping heavily and if the job is a few hundred dollars I will just give them an estimate over the phone. Not worth my time to go out and estimate if it is a 2 hour job

thank you.

i don't charge for estimates.
i've also put together some pretty involved stuff for
people, only to have them fluff it off with...
"oh, that's too expensive."

had one customer have me out three times to
devise a plan to do something, totaling half a
day of my life, then they wanted to know if they
could source the material themselves, to save a
bit of money, then after they got the source,
they decided to do it themselves.

they have called since then, wanting prices for
stuff, and i freely quote them with a written quote.
i figure they must need the quotes to beat someone
else down on price.

of course, every quote is 50~100% over what anyone
else would get quoted, including them before they got
icky to work for.

does it hurt me? not at all. i'll be happy to quote them
whenever they want. just so long as it's not more than
five minutes of my life, and doesn't require more than
sending one email out of invoice2go.

i can do those sitting on the freeway, going to a real
customer.

:happyyes:

and i do. you want me to turn the steering wheel in
your direction? give me a reason worth the time and
the fuel.

the problem isn't the free invoice or not, the problem
is not qualifying your customers. and that is my fault,
nobody else's, including the customer.

 

[electricguy61]

The worst guys for getting estimates are realtors. They take your quote for "repairs" that a home inspector listed, beat down the sellers price, then don't do the repairs.

I won't quote for most realtors. I have two high end realtors that always come through with work, so I'll give them estimates.

 

[jxofaltrds]

The worst guys for getting estimates are realtors. They take your quote for "repairs" that a home inspector listed, beat down the sellers price, then don't do the repairs.

I won't quote for most realtors. I have two high end realtors that always come through with work, so I'll give them estimates.

Then you will love this. I was asked to do a 'real' inspection after, the HI said have a Licensed Electrician examine electrical and repair, the request to remedy was completed.

First this clown is NOT licensed and the selling Realtor knew it. Too many violations to list here.

Short version is he removed the Siemens breakers (Siemens panel) and replaced them with SD HomeLine 15 AMP breakers.

Here is what he charged. Left his contact info off. Just copied the prices.

 

[kwired]

I fully agree with you. One fellow asked me if he could buy the parts at the supply house himself, the other just wrote me a big check.
Maybe it's just that time of the year, or maybe word is getting around, but I'm getting lots of calls; I walk away briskly from people who just want free advice.

Tell them they can buy anything they want at the supply house - their only requirement is they get paid for what they sold. If I give you a price for installing or repairing something it is what it takes to get the job done. If you wanted to supply something you should have let me know what it is before I gave you a price, so I could factor that into the price.

Bottom line is I know what profit I want to make from this job. Customer wanting to save money is understandable, what they don't understand is their savings cuts into my profit which is why I am there in the first place. If I wasn't there for the profits then I wouldn't charge anything and customer would be buying all supplies eleswhere.

 

[Little Bill]

Then you will love this. I was asked to do a 'real' inspection after, the HI said have a Licensed Electrician examine electrical and repair, the request to remedy was completed.

First this clown is NOT licensed and the selling Realtor knew it. Too many violations to list here.

Short version is he removed the Siemens breakers (Siemens panel) and replaced them with SD HomeLine 15 AMP breakers.

Here is what he charged. Left his contact info off. Just copied the prices.

View attachment 7102

What did the HI report that needed addressing?

 

[kwired]

Customers that want to inform you of how much money they have are usually people I don't want to work for. Sure they have money, doesn't necessarily mean they are willing to part with it, the fact they want to brag about that usually means they are nothing but a smartass and pain to work for, and most of what you do will never meet their expectations.

There are plenty of people that do have money that don't flash it in your face and act like they are better than you because of it.

 

[jxofaltrds]

What did the HI report that needed addressing?

The HI asked that an electrician be consulted. I found many things but here are just two simple fixes that were not addressed.

 

[Little Bill]

The HI asked that an electrician be consulted. I found many things but here are just two simple fixes that were not addressed.

View attachment 7103

View attachment 7104

I agree, in the second picture, he should have used 12-2 NM with the yellow sheath to match the other yellow line.:lol:

I should have been more clear in my question about what the HI reported. I meant did the HI say the breakers needed changing, or just the wrong wire size was used?

 

[jxofaltrds]

I agree, in the second picture, he should have used 12-2 NM with the yellow sheath to match the other yellow line.:lol:

I should have been more clear in my question about what the HI reported. I meant did the HI say the breakers needed changing, or just the wrong wire size was used?

HI never said anything about the panel. All the work was done, in my opinion, by a homeowner and this is what, plus the obvious stuff (the pics), caused the HI to ask for the electrician to come in. The report was your typical CYA HI report -- bring in an expert.

 

[jxofaltrds]

What you are seeing is a driveway poured at a later date. Glad they protected the CCTV.



Neither the HI or the so-called electrician said anything about this.

Forget about electrical. Can you guess where the bandboard is?

 

[Little Bill]

What you are seeing is a driveway poured at a later date. Glad they protected the CCTV.

View attachment 7105

Neither the HI or the so-called electrician said anything about this.

Forget about electrical. Can you guess where the bandboard is?

Are you talking about the "sill plate" for the house? If so, I'd say about 4-6" below the new grade.

 

[ritelec]

I will charge you for the estimate, and deduct it from the final bill.
Do you think that's fair?

Yes I do. I'm still trying to push it that way but as an early post called it, "a call fee". Regretfully, with lack of work, I still give "free estimates". arghh.

 

[jxofaltrds]

Are you talking about the "sill plate" for the house? If so, I'd say about 4-6" below the new grade.

You got the idea.