Giving estimates over the phone.

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zappy

zappy

Senior Member
Location
CA.
Do you think its possible to give a estimate over the phone for a hot tub.Just ask the homeowner some questions like,

can you tell me what brand of main panel you have?

Whats the amps?

do you see two spaces?

do you have a electric stove,heater,etc?

how far is the hot tub from the main?

whats the amps of the hot tub?

concrete walkways?

or is this a bad idea and just go see the job?
 
I always go look before I give a $. I've found that there's always something that the HO didn't tell me. :smile: Not that they're trying to trick me, it's just that they don't know what to look for, and they are not familiar with the terminology.
 
imho its a bad idea. 99% of HOs are either clueless or only know enough to be really dangerous. they will leave out details that are the difference between an easy 1 hour install and 2 day nightmare total rewire.
 
I avoid giving a price over the phone if at all possible. If a customer insists on a ballpark price over the phone I'll tell them hot tub installations start at $xxxx.xx amount and go up from there depending on job conditions. We will have to come out and look at the job to quote a price.

Sometimes we have to do a service upgrade to install a hot tub.
I've had to do service upgrades to install dryer circuits.
 
aline said:
I avoid giving a price over the phone if at all possible. If a customer insists on a ballpark price over the phone I'll tell them hot tub installations start at $xxxx.xx amount and go up from there depending on job conditions. We will have to come out and look at the job to quote a price.

Sometimes we have to do a service upgrade to install a hot tub.
I've had to do service upgrades to install dryer circuits.
Click to expand...

exactly my point.:D:D
 
I'll give an HO a ballpark from time to time. It begins w/ if he sounds like s/he has a clue. Then I try to feel out if they are calling me in good faith or just shopping. I ask them a lot of the questions you asked, qualify the tar out of it and then give them a price range and make sure they understand it is an estimate only, actual conditions will affect price blah blah blah. If they sound like they are just shopping then this is all I will give them. If they truly sound interested after the ball park estimate I will schedule a time to meet them and give them a hard number.

It usually works OK for me.
 
ishium 80439 said:
I'll give an HO a ballpark from time to time. It begins w/ if he sounds like s/he has a clue. Then I try to feel out if they are calling me in good faith or just shopping. I ask them a lot of the questions you asked, qualify the tar out of it and then give them a price range and make sure they understand it is an estimate only, actual conditions will affect price blah blah blah. If they sound like they are just shopping then this is all I will give them. If they truly sound interested after the ball park estimate I will schedule a time to meet them and give them a hard number.

It usually works OK for me.
Click to expand...

i do pretty much the same thing, and it works for me....

i'll usually preface it with this remark:

"you understand now, me giving you a price sight unseen over the phone
is a lot like you calling me up, and telling me what you see in your rear
view mirror, and i'll tell you how to parallel park your car...."

usually when i say that, they just ask if i can come over to look at it.

service changes are often this way.... they just want an idea of how
much something like that *might* cost, so they don't have you come over,
when there is no way in hell they can afford it.

right now, people are financially strapped. i did a call yesterday morning
and it amounted to $75, and the guy needed to put it on his credit card
as he had no other way to pay for it. i said, just paypal it to me. that works,
and they can put it on their credit card, and i don't have to maintain a
merchant CC account for the odd person who comes along like this.

no more credit cards linked to a home equity line of credit.
cinderella stayed out too late, and the coach turned into a pumpkin... :-(


randy
 
Tell him $X/hour plus the cost of parts if you don't come out first.

If he wants a fixed price, it is 1 hour of your time that he pays for if and the cost comes off the bill for the install. Of course, the install includes the extra hour in the pricing.
 
[ Some times going out is better. Then they can see how profesional you are. And what a very nice clean profesional truck you are driving.
Also some times they may like your honest demeanor.
 
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Lots of hot tubs...

Lots of hot tubs...

Let me preface this: We do lots of hot tubs...

I get a lot of calls asking for a bid. Most of the time, the HO is not just willing, but WANTING you to come out to see what needs to be done.

However, I get a few that are just shopping for that special person with the $19.95 labor rate!

The conversation usually starts with the HO asking how much to install a hot tub. I usually reply something like this: Oh, about $12,000 or $15,000... (big pause for effect) Just kidding!
There are 2 points here: 1) No matter what I quote the HO, it is no longer a high number. and 2) I brought some humor into the conversation. (dry humor, but I broke the ice on some level.)

The next question I ask is: Where did you buy the hot tub?
Again, there are several things I am looking for. I do work for a lot of the companies in town. If they tell me a store, I know that we potentially have a good client. If I hear: We bought it off of Craigslist, or a friend... I am immediately on the defense. I do not let it show in my voice. We have had 2 hot tubs that were in this situation that actually turned out to be good jobs... but 2 / 43 (this last year) is not a good number.
If they bought the hot tub used, chances are, you do NOT want the job. No matter how hungry you are. There will be issues with things not working, cracks in the pipes, the dog ate the homework... whatever... It does not matter: The HO will try to blame YOU as the causation.

If we make it past this point, I start asking them about the age of their home, the size, and the general area of town. This allows me to know what to expect panel-wise... generally.

After that, I tell them to go to their electrical panel. While they are walking there (sometimes they do not know where it is... I magically give directions too!) I tell them that if the panel is 100A or a Federal Pacific, we will not work on it. That the panel will need to be replaced. If they do not budge, I will end the call on that note. I do not worry about this anymore.

Then I start asking how many spaces are left on the panel, what the distance is from the panel, and if there are any attic spaces or crawl spaces, or if they want EMT on the outside of their house. Most do not care where the power is ran... they just want the cheapest price on getting the hot tub power ran.

Then we ask how far from the house, and all the bonding issues, disconnect issues, GFCI issues...

Most do not know the answers to these. But, I have enlightened the customer, and many times, even though I am not the lowest price, they come back to me... because I asked them 20 questions... because I took the time to talk to them... because I knew where the panel was in their house, when they even did not.

I give a flat rate for wire / labor per linear foot, then add the disco (if it does not come with one), $$$ for general labor, and then a permit price. If the thing is next to the house, we add for GFCI outlet protection / removal, we add for bonding, etc...

Then to top it all off, I tell them that I am doing this blindfolded, and that this is just a guesstimate... not even an estimate, let alone a proposal... that I need to see the unit to give a firm number. If they call me back, I have already gotten the job, and have not even given them a firm number.

Enjoy!
Greg
 
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We have plenty of Contractors that have Free Estimates pasted all over their ad's, truck display and in the yellow books, but when you call them they assure you the estimate is free, but you will still pay a Dispatch fee, or a service call fee, but you will not pay for the estimate.
It must be working, because even in these tough times, they are busy.
 
I never give estimtes over the phone. I want to meet the HO and make sure there is room in the panel and what is involved running the wire. My estimate is good for 7 days.. after that I won't go back. Some people collect estimates and have "Johnny" down the street do the job. He does side jobs :D
 
zappy said:
or is this a bad idea and just go see the job?
Click to expand...

for me, the question is, how much money is it, and do i really wannna.....
drive.... :rolleyes:

this morning, i got a call from a realtor, who has a house with a
punch list.... 2 porch lights are needed, and she needs to know how much.

hm. two porch lights. one switch. ummm.... duh..... $550, and you pick out
the porch lights, so you will be happy with them.... i'll hang whatever you
purchase.

patching not included. :D i explained that if i had to cut holes in the
sheetrock, i'd close them up, but drywall refininshing was up to them.

i just didn't feel like driving to long beach just to look. house is mid 60's,
sheetrock, typical. single story. what's to look at? let's say it's 2 hours.
if i drive over there first, it's three. there's a point of diminshing returns.
woe is me, it's horrible, and took five hours..... i screwed up.

i still cleared $100 a hour. ok. i can deal with that level of failure.
 
BLACK4TRUCK said:
I never give estimtes over the phone. I want to meet the HO and make sure there is room in the panel and what is involved running the wire. My estimate is good for 7 days.. after that I won't go back. Some people collect estimates and have "Johnny" down the street do the job. He does side jobs :D
Click to expand...

One of the main reasons we charge a dispatch fee, we have a van full of tool and eqipment, and someones time to cover, so when we get somewhere where the customer called 5 other companies, we don't fall into the trap of wasting time to get a job that usually cost us money
 
I ask a lot of questions too when people call and ask how much - I then will give a ball park figure. If they are still interested and aren't eager to hang up the phone then I'll ask if they want me to come by to give a hard number. I live in a heavily populated area and most of my calls are not more than a 15 minute drive.

For small stuff I charge hourly and I just give them the hourly rate plus material(and markup) and ball park of how many hours it will take to complete - if they agree to that then I'll book it sight unseen - They know what it will cost worst case scenario.

My hourly rate is set up to include lost time, overhead, labor, and profit so it works well for us.
 
satcom said:
One of the main reasons we charge a dispatch fee, we have a van full of tool and eqipment, and someones time to cover, so when we get somewhere where the customer called 5 other companies, we don't fall into the trap of wasting time to get a job that usually cost us money
Click to expand...

What is a fair dispatch fee???
 
I only give phone estimates to my best customers who I know won't call anyone else.

Any others would be a waste. They're calling for the cheapest contractor. Whatever price you give will be the end of the conversation & they'll be calling other contractors for a lower price. The contractor willing to do the work at a 20% loss will "win" the job. That "winning" contractor will go out of business like the other 30% that have gone out of business in the last 12-15 months.
 
I find that a great many people dont really know, and they really dont feel like looking. I dont have a problem giving a free estimate for something like hanging a light or changing a gfci. But for anything involed i reall have to see it. I asked a guy once how far his hot tube was to his house and he told me "Oh its right next to the house" and when I got there it was about 12 feet from the house. Apparently he thought the edge of the patio included the hot tube.
So since that and a few other "jewals" I like to look at things over a certain amount.
 
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