Prevention

[mcelweec@gmail.com]

Is it worth dropping your number to prevent competition seeping into your regular customers?

 

[mcelweec@gmail.com]

Sorry,what I'm really ticked off about is being told to include everything in the bid,"there are no change orders on this job",with a print riddled with violations,and yeah a competitor bidding Verbatim winning the job.

 

[jmellc]

Sorry,what I'm really ticked off about is being told to include everything in the bid,"there are no change orders on this job",with a print riddled with violations,and yeah a competitor bidding Verbatim winning the job.

Can you tell from print what you'll have to do to make it compliant or will you have to figure out some of it as you work? If prints are full of violations, how did they get approved? Did the other bidder seem to be clued in more than you? Is he someone's brother in law?

 

[brian john]

Is it worth dropping your number to prevent competition seeping into your regular customers?

Lot of variables, but if you get profitable work from them normally, then yes.

If you need the work and you can still make money at the lower price than maybe

But if they are a penny pinching PITA, hardly worth it.


What we have done is explain our number is the best price for both of us, but we really want to work with them, so can we negotiate a price that works for both of us and SOMETIMES that works then make up the lost profits in extras.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I have had to lower my price, not so much to keep my builders happy, but so that we as a team can get the job from another buiding company and their contractors (team).

 

[iwire]

Is it worth dropping your number to prevent competition seeping into your regular customers?

Maybe, maybe not.

How can anyone answer that question for you?

Only you know the specifics of the particular situation.

I have only really been bidding work for about a year now and I tend to go in high with room that I can back down a bit. Some folks really need to feel they 'got a deal' and need to be able to tell those above them that they got the contractor to come down some.

 

[cdslotz]

Sorry,what I'm really ticked off about is being told to include everything in the bid,"there are no change orders on this job",with a print riddled with violations,and yeah a competitor bidding Verbatim winning the job.

Given the time, I try to RFI the crap out of the estimate to bring the problems to the attention of the GC, engineer, and my competition.
If they are not addressed of fixed in an addendum, then I qualify the crap out of my proposal.

Any GC that says "there will be no changes" is a GC I would never work for and he's not living in the real world and he's an idiot. He's also a GC that won't go to bat for you for legitimate changes, and therefore he's a GC who won't pay you for changes he authorizes you to do.

 

[Tiger Electrical]

Being told there will be no changes on a job is a GCs way of letting you know that he wants you to do the changes at no additional cost (your loss). Let the competition have him, IMO.

I sometimes negotiate with good clients, but never intentionally below cost. I don't worry about competition. I should be clear though, I don't work for GCs (except the occasional experiment at cost/loss). In this area most residential GCs demand that their subs work below cost and slow-pay. The subs that participate don't last very long.

 

[brian john]

Maybe, maybe not.

Some folks really need to feel they 'got a deal' and need to be able to tell those above them that they got the contractor to come down some.

Some folks might get a job for a $100.00, but knowing they want to haggle, we'd go in at $125.00, after discussions we drop it to $110.00 and they are happy as a pig in slop. Just so you know it going in.

And of course the dollar figures here are grossly over exaggerated.

 

[dmagyar]

Looks like lose/lose/lose to me.

Looks like lose/lose/lose to me.

Given the time, I try to RFI the crap out of the estimate to bring the problems to the attention of the GC, engineer, and my competition.
If they are not addressed of fixed in an addendum, then I qualify the crap out of my proposal.

Any GC that says "there will be no changes" is a GC I would never work for and he's not living in the real world and he's an idiot. He's also a GC that won't go to bat for you for legitimate changes, and therefore he's a GC who won't pay you for changes he authorizes you to do.

Imho, if you spend time RFI'g this job, you might raise the other bids, but more likely they will stay put, low. You spend time on a bid that chances are your not going to win unless you take the lowest number, read biggest mistake wins.

Like another posted only you can answer if this customer is worth taking the risk that maybe you'll end up with a profit, but the clincher for me is the GC stating no changes.

 

[cdslotz]

Imho, if you spend time RFI'g this job, you might raise the other bids, but more likely they will stay put, low. You spend time on a bid that chances are your not going to win unless you take the lowest number, read biggest mistake wins.

Like another posted only you can answer if this customer is worth taking the risk that maybe you'll end up with a profit, but the clincher for me is the GC stating no changes.

My intent to RFI is not to raise my competition. I don't worry about my competition. We only work for 4-5 GC's. All are very good and reputable. These GC's would never proclaim "no changes"
They only invite 3-4 of the same EC's, so my competition are the same guys over and over. They are good competition and are not stupid.
My intent for RFI's is to show the GC that I am flushing out as many problems as I can, and he appreciates that, because he doesn't have to do it. Often I get awarded the job when I'm not low, because the GC wil sell me to the owner because of a complete scope.
Once I'm awarded a job, at that point if they don't want any changes, DON'T MAKE ANY.

Haha

 

[renosteinke]

Short answer: Nope.

I had a regular customer who, from time to time, was required by his organization to use other vendors. These experiments had two effects:

First, they once again proved my value to the customer, as the 'other' guy stumbled about, and various 'assumed' customer preferences got hashed out all over again; and,

Second, the other guy lost money. He lost money because he didn't appreciate some of the quirks of the building- so his time and material estimates were too low.

Invariably, the 'lost' job would be followed by another for me- where I would have to bridge the difference between the job 'as specified' and 'as really desired.'

 

[nyerinfl]

Is it worth dropping your number to prevent competition seeping into your regular customers?

Always be prepared to negotiate when presenting a number, it's part of the job. If you do not negotiate your price, then you better be a really good salesman, offer a 'fair' price, or they better be desperate.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Always remember that you may be bidding off a set of plans that haven't even been to the building department yet.

I've had guys get plans approved, come in to pull their permit and then ask for a rough inspection. Now how do you do a rough in, if you didn't have any approved plans?