Reasons For Not Giving Free Estimates

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SmithBuilt said:
How much do most of you charge for the estimate on small jobs? Is it just enough to cover gas say $25 or more like 1 hour @ the regular rate?

I still not completely convinced I can charge for estimates in my area. However I've been burnt too many times by realtors and they will be charged from now on. Possibly at the hourly rate from port to port.
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As long as there are contractors offering free estimates, the ones who refuse will eliminate themselves from that marketshare.

There are people out there who won't have anything less than a Kirby at $1800.00, and there are others who no matter how much you hope and pray and beg will NEVER part with that kind of money for a vacuum, no matter how well your sales and marketing skills are.
 
These longer threads (often interestingly) get far afield from the original issue. Something that was probably at least touched on before in the previous 300 posts may need to be stated again... "qualify the prospect".

Way early in the process (like back at the initial phone inquiry from the customer) whoever is answering the phone should be able to do more than just take a name and address for a serviceman to then show up to cold.

"Yes ma'am, we can do that for you. It's impossible to give you an exact price to do X without seeing your property but typically that sort of work costs about $$... but is rarely more than $$." Do those numbers suit your budget for this project?"

Right then and there you have eliminated most of the no sale, wasted time, dry well estimating visits; or the EC and the customer both know their "comfort range" and can move on to the next step. "close the sale"

Yes Ma'am Mrs Smith (you know here name by now), we can be there tomorrow at 8am to give you an exact and total $$... we'll be able to take care of it for you right then... and we'll credit that invoice for the consult fee at that time. Will that be Visa or Mastercard?
 
BryanMD said:
Yes Ma'am Mrs Smith (you know here name by now), we can be there tomorrow at 8am to give you an exact and total $$... we'll be able to take care of it for you right then... and we'll credit that invoice for the consult fee at that time. Will that be Visa or Mastercard?
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"Will that be Visa or Mastercard", just about every service we use, they want the credit card up front, no valid credit card, no service call, great way to sort out the shoppers, and credit risk customers.
 
satcom said:
"Will that be Visa or Mastercard", just about every service we use, they want the credit card up front, no valid credit card, no service call, great way to sort out the shoppers, and credit risk customers.
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Amen! It should be that way although I did like the occasional cash job. Makes keeping books easier!;)
 
We've tried charging for estimates, and it hasn't worked 100% of the time. We always here:
1. The other contractors aren't charging, so we will go with them---even after telling them we will waive the fee if they hire our company to do the work.
2. I'm not paying you for an estimate--that's wrong (See #1)
We decided to start charging for estimates, because of a tremendous amount of money being lost on solely doing them--including paying a lead service to get the bogus lead (this can run you $12-$50 per lead).

Yet, it's not working, because most contractors aren?t charging.
I was told, that if a customer can't afford to pay you for an estimate, then they can't afford to hire you. This sounded good, and may be true in some cases. Yet, it never resulted in a job for us in all cases.
 
resistance said:
We've tried charging for estimates, and it hasn't worked 100% of the time. We always here:
1. The other contractors aren't charging, so we will go with them---even after telling them we will waive the fee if they hire our company to do the work.
2. I'm not paying you for an estimate--that's wrong (See #1)
We decided to start charging for estimates, because of a tremendous amount of money being lost on solely doing them--including paying a lead service to get the bogus lead (this can run you $12-$50 per lead).

Yet, it's not working, because most contractors aren?t charging.
I was told, that if a customer can't afford to pay you for an estimate, then they can't afford to hire you. This sounded good, and may be true in some cases. Yet, it never resulted in a job for us in all cases.
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What is your system? How do you present it to the customer?

What type of projects do you do? How much are you charging?
How many calls/day do you get for estimates? 1? 10? 100?

There are a bunch of variables. It's not as simple as just charging for estimates. But if the right processes are implemented, it can be exceedingly successful.
 
resistance said:
We've tried charging for estimates, and it hasn't worked 100% of the time. We always here:
1. The other contractors aren't charging, so we will go with them---even after telling them we will waive the fee if they hire our company to do the work.
2. I'm not paying you for an estimate--that's wrong (See #1)
We decided to start charging for estimates, because of a tremendous amount of money being lost on solely doing them--including paying a lead service to get the bogus lead (this can run you $12-$50 per lead).

Yet, it's not working, because most contractors aren‘t charging.
I was told, that if a customer can't afford to pay you for an estimate, then they can't afford to hire you. This sounded good, and may be true in some cases. Yet, it never resulted in a job for us in all cases.
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Not much information to go on here. Is this residential service? How long did you try charging for estimates? How much did you try to charge for estimates? Maybe the problem was the type of lead the service was giving you.

Dave
 
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A customer called today wanting an estimate to have a ceiling fan installed and power ran to some things in his backyard.

When my call taker told him there would be a disptach fee to come out and give an estimate he replied: "It's sure nice to see that you charge for estimates. These guys who say they give free estimates drive me nuts. Nothing is free. I also like the fact you don't charge by the hour but give an upfront price in writing."

The guy moved here from california where he used to be a contractor.

First time I've had a customer come right out and say they're happy to see we charge for estimates.
 
aline said:
A customer called today wanting an estimate to have a ceiling fan installed and power ran to some things in his backyard.

When my call taker told him there would be a disptach fee to come out and give an estimate he replied: "It's sure nice to see that you charge for estimates. These guys who say they give free estimates drive me nuts. Nothing is free. I also like the fact you don't charge by the hour but give an upfront price in writing."

The guy moved here from california where he used to be a contractor.

First time I've had a customer come right out and say they're happy to see we charge for estimates.
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Don't let our reality drive you nuts. Every area is different!
 
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