How many times to bother a lead?

[George Stolz]

We were called out to take a look at a basement remodel. I went out, looked it over, sketched a layout, discussed it, and upon leaving, told him it would be a few days before we had a price to him, and he said ok.

Well, a couple of days wound up being about a week, which I do feel bad about. But he wasn't looking to start for a couple months anyway, so I'm not sure if the delay contributed - but I haven't heard a response.

I called the morning after I emailed the proposal and it went straight to voicemail, emailed after a couple days, and then called and caught him "at a bad time" and he said he'd call back in a little bit, he never did.

I waited a day or two, and then sent an email saying that I didn't intend to harass him, but hadn't heard anything definitive and that our SOP was to have a conversation with the customer before walking away. Haven't heard a word.

I am not a born salesman, I don't enjoy bothering people excessively - but I'm just not sure what the status is and would like to scratch this off my to-do list, one way or the other.

How many times would you call/email a potential customer? At this point, I'm ready to let it drift away. Do you have a procedure for this sort of thing?

 

[K8MHZ]

We were called out to take a look at a basement remodel. I went out, looked it over, sketched a layout, discussed it, and upon leaving, told him it would be a few days before we had a price to him, and he said ok.

Well, a couple of days wound up being about a week, which I do feel bad about. But he wasn't looking to start for a couple months anyway, so I'm not sure if the delay contributed - but I haven't heard a response.

I called the morning after I emailed the proposal and it went straight to voicemail, emailed after a couple days, and then called and caught him "at a bad time" and he said he'd call back in a little bit, he never did.

I waited a day or two, and then sent an email saying that I didn't intend to harass him, but hadn't heard anything definitive and that our SOP was to have a conversation with the customer before walking away. Haven't heard a word.

I am not a born salesman, I don't enjoy bothering people excessively - but I'm just not sure what the status is and would like to scratch this off my to-do list, one way or the other.

How many times would you call/email a potential customer? At this point, I'm ready to let it drift away. Do you have a procedure for this sort of thing?

How much work could you have generated in the same amount of time calling other people or promoting your business in some other way?

More often than not, people that won't return your calls do not want you to work for them. No matter how many calls you make.

 

[M. D.]

3 e-mails two phone calls ,. explained SOP . Let it ride ,. He's getting prices.

 

[tkb]

Did you give him your layout?

I run into this all of the time.
I do some estimating for the data center world.

Some people take your design and give it to someone else and the undercut your price.

It is a fine line on giving too much detail on your proposal and being as vague as possible so they cant bid shop your design.

 

[electricmanscott]

3 e-mails two phone calls ,. explained SOP . Let it ride ,. He's getting prices.

I agree. Short of knocking on his door you did enough.

As a consumer at some point I would just ignore whatever price you gave and view you as just a pain in the ass. He might be at that point.

 

[Power Tech]

Did you give him your layout?

I run into this all of the time.
I do some estimating for the data center world.

Some people take your design and give it to someone else and the undercut your price.

It is a fine line on giving too much detail on your proposal and being as vague as possible so they cant bid shop your design.

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[George Stolz]

I appreciate the replies.

Scott, I don't think I've ventured into PITA territory, yet, but I figured I was getting close enough.

Some people take your design and give it to someone else and the undercut your price.

I just provided a device count and stated I'd be adding a subpanel, I don't think I could have given much more or less information.

How much work could you have generated in the same amount of time calling other people or promoting your business in some other way?

You don't call or email people after you've submitted a proposal for over $2000? Or are you saying, you call them once and drop it?

More often than not, people that won't return your calls do not want you to work for them.

Yeah, I usually am quick to pick up on the vibe, but this one just seemed busy, so it threw me off.

 

[satcom]

George,

On a basement remod, it is ok to call more then once after the inital contact, the reason is you need to have a lot of details on basement jobs, not so much for pricing but, to assure firrst, that the customer understands that the remodel work will be approved and all permits obtained, you don't want the get caught in a non premitted basement job, it can turn into a nightmare, you really need a lot of detailes on basement work, is the wall placement legal?, before you plan outlet placement, is there a bathroom planned for the basement? will it be vented? and will they need a crap pump? are they going to heat any of it with electric heat, smoke placement, and a ton of detailes, we had more then one basement job, that we had to go back and move outlets because they closed in the furnace room and had to make it bigger and install a vented door, and we moned all the wiring in that area, good plans from day one prevent all this, but getting information for the job is a good move.

Every day, families die from basement death traps, so by calling to check the customer will know you are presenting yourself as professional.

 

[Dnkldorf]

1 phone call, 2 emails later.....I get the hint....you found someone else.

If he wants me, he can call me now.

 

[iwire]

he said he'd call back in a little bit, he never did.

If you contacted me after this I would consider you a PITA.

 

[SEO]

You have made enough effort to contact this person let him alone. He may surprise you and award you the contract and you can accept or decline. This seems like a daily occurance in todays work climate.

 

[George Stolz]

If you contacted me after this I would consider you a PITA.

Maybe sitting out in his driveway for a few minutes yesterday wasn't the smoothest move either.

 

[LarryFine]

If you contacted me after this I would consider you a PITA.

So many possible comments, so little time.

 

[iwire]

ATTENTION!

POTENTIAL CUSTOMER

WHEN DO YOU WANT US TO START?​

 

[chris kennedy]

Very funny stuff gentlemen!:grin::grin::grin:

 

[iwire]

So many possible comments, so little time.

Larry's going to burst. :grin:

 

[LarryFine]

Larry's going to burst. :grin:

 

[growler]

George,

On a basement remod, it is ok to call more then once after the inital contact, the reason is you need to have a lot of details on basement jobs, not so much for pricing but, to assure firrst, that the customer understands that the remodel work will be approved and all permits obtained, you don't want the get caught in a non premitted basement job, it can turn into a nightmare, you really need a lot of detailes on basement work, is the wall placement legal?, before you plan outlet placement, is there a bathroom planned for the basement? will it be vented? and will they need a crap pump? are they going to heat any of it with electric heat, smoke placement, and a ton of detailes, we had more then one basement job, that we had to go back and move outlets because they closed in the furnace room and had to make it bigger and install a vented door, and we moned all the wiring in that area, good plans from day one prevent all this, but getting information for the job is a good move.

I agree and I get into all this with the owner before even starting to give an estimate for the work. If they don't want to get permits there is no reason for me to even bother with the estimate.

The first thing I ask is who is responsible for running the job. A lot more to a basement finish than just electrical. If the owner wishes to act as his own GC then on all paperwork after that he is refered to as the owner/contractor. When he pulls that permit he is a contractor acting on his own behalf. He is in charge of and responsible for the project. I think it's important to establish this first thing off.

If a homeowner doesn't have time to return phone calls he probably doesn't have time to actually run the job and that's not good. If I don't think they have the knowledge or the time for the job then I'll recommend a good GC that can do the work with no problems ( other than the normal one's ). This can actually work out because homeowners often don't have any idea what they are getting into and I don't want to be in the middle of a big mess.

 

[aline]

Here are my thoughts on this.

The customer expects to get several bids from contractors.

The customer expects the contractor to drive out, look the job over, discuss various options, drive back and submit a detailed bid.

The contractor can easily have 2 hours into this.

The customer expects this to be done for free.

The least the customer can do is acknowledge they received your estimate. Often times they don't. How hard is it to reply to an e-mail and thank the contractor for their time?

The least the customer can do is call the contractor back and let them know they decided to go with someone else or decided not to go through with the project.

It would be even nicer if they would let the contractor know who they decided to go with and why.

A lot of customers don't seem to show contractors much courtesy or respect.
They want free estimates and they want them now. Then they don't even bother to let you know they've received it with a simple reply to your e-mail.

Whenever I e-mail a customer an estimate I ask them to please acknowledge they received my estimate. Very seldom do they do this. When I call I get their voice mail.

I feel it's just plain inconsiderate of them to ignore you.
Is it really that hard for them to say they're not interested in having you do the work or at least acknowledge they received your estimate?

 

[LarryFine]

The first thing I ask is who is responsible for running the job. A lot more to a basement finish than just electrical. If the owner wishes to act as his own GC then on all paperwork after that he is refered to as the owner/contractor. When he pulls that permit he is a contractor acting on his own behalf. He is in charge of and responsible for the project. I think it's important to establish this first thing off.

This is very true. A few years ago, I wired a kitchen remodel for a home-owner who acted as his own GC. I was never introduced to any of the other contractors, nor shown any plans, but we did a thorough once-over of what he wanted.

About a week after rough-in, I got a call stating that the counter-top receptacles were too low for the new backsplash. I told him that nobody told me the new one would be taller than the old one, and I'd have to charge him to move them.

He said "No, I don't. That's why I hired professionals." I told him that, as the acting GC, coordination between contractors was his responsibility. He balked. Fortunately, the boss (his wife) agreed with me, and I got paid for the re-work.