teco said:Why not just include the cost of doing your bid in your estimate and if you win the job thats great.
why not read the entire thread, and see the issues with this....
teco said:Why not just include the cost of doing your bid in your estimate and if you win the job thats great.
You know, you really don't have to be so wise with your remarks. You don't know me and I read the thread but maybe I missed something. I'm not perfect. I am just trying to give this person some input on how I have done it for 23 years. Isn't that what this forum is for?emahler said:why not read the entire thread, and see the issues with this....
How do you ever recover the $100 estimating fee if you only do a few hours work?tonyou812 said:ive listened to both sides and I have definately come to a conclusion that I personally cant afford to do free estimates. I work alone so I can only do so much, I loose enough time working out bids at home, I hate going to someones home and waste time, How would you recover the time spent? I am planning to charge 95 to trouble shoot something hopefully no more than 1/2 hour - 45 min. And I like the idea of a 75- 100 dollar estimate that is given back if the bid is accepted.
Wether you realize it or not, if the contractor you hired is covering all of his expenses and making a profit, you not only paid for his time to give you an estimate but also for the time he spent giving 5 other "free" estimates he did not get.weressl said:None of them charged or even mentioned of charging for a 'bid'. Nor would I have paid for one, even if it is deducted from the final price.
I see what you mean. I can't speak for the residential market because I'm not in it . We only do commerical and industrial but I am well aware that none of the outfits I bid against charge for the estimate process. Its in the job as part of the overall estimate.petersonra said:How do you ever recover the $100 estimating fee if you only do a few hours work?
aline said:Wether you realize it or not, if the contractor you hired is covering all of his expenses and making a profit, you not only paid for his time to give you an estimate but also for the time he spent giving 5 other "free" estimates he did not get.
So yes. You not only paid for one. You paid for six.
If a contractor only gets one in six estimates guess who pays for the other five?
If I get 10 calls and give free estimates to all ten and only close 5 that is 50 % now you get 10 calls and only 5 want a charge so you do 5 calls close 3 thats 60% your closing rate looks better but I have 5 jobs and you only have three,if you look at it from the # of calls to the # of sales that would be 5 of 10 for me or 50% and 3 of ten for you or 30 %. I also heard of a device that could save you 25% on your electric,it is all in how you place the #s.emahler said:unsubstantiated? there are thousands of contractors across the country who can substantiate it....patrick kennedy comes to mind....i believe his closing ratio went over 80 percent when he instituted a dispatch fee...
While you're still out doing 10 free estimates, I've finished my 5 estimates, now I'm doing 5 more estimates and closing on 3 more so now I have been out giving 10 estimates, like you, but I got 6 jobs.Rewire said:If I get 10 calls and give free estimates to all ten and only close 5 that is 50 % now you get 10 calls and only 5 want a charge so you do 5 calls close 3 thats 60% your closing rate looks better but I have 5 jobs and you only have three,if you look at it from the # of calls to the # of sales that would be 5 of 10 for me or 50% and 3 of ten for you or 30 %. I also heard of a device that could save you 25% on your electric,it is all in how you place the #s.
lbwireman said:Most of the calls of this type in our area are generated as the result of a home inspection. Typically, we're called by the buyer, seller or RE agent after a home inspection report has listed a number of "problems" (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, etc.). A few years ago we figured out a way to turn these "lemon" calls into lemonade. Since most of the home inspectors with whom we've come in contact have demonstrated a serious lack of knowledge of electrical practices, method, code or safety, (most of the reports I see have "corrections" listed that are not code violations, improper wiring method or safety issues, while missing things that are. When we get these calls, we offer to perform a review of the inspection report, survey of the property and provide a written report of findings with accompanying photos and code citations where appropriate and an estimate of the cost of making these corrections. We charge a reasonable fee for this service. Our experience has been that by the time we've finished the process, educating the customer all the while, the customer is sufficiently convinced of our professionalism and competence (not to mention the necessity of making the recommended corrections for reasons of safety, liability, convenience, etc.) that we, almost without exception, are hired to make the necessary corrections.
aline said:While you're still out doing 10 free estimates, I've finished my 5 estimates, now I'm doing 5 more estimates and closing on 3 more so now I have been out giving 10 estimates, like you, but I got 6 jobs.
You went out and gave 10 free estimates and I went out and charged for 10 estimates. You got 5 jobs and I got 6.
If you look at it from the number of estimates to the number of sales that would be 6 of 10 for me and 5 of 10 for you.
Originally Posted by Sparky555
So...in this system you imagine I can call several Staff Engineers to look at my $2,000 project. I can also expect them to drive to my home with their own vehicle, and spend an hour discussing their qualifications and how they intend to engineer my project. Then I'll decide which Staff Engineer I want to hire.
emahler said:will you please stop letting facts get in the way of a good opinion....
I'll try that next month's adaline said:You just need to quit calling them estimates and start calling them "In Home Consultations" then charge $100.
Like these guys do.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat138100050026&type=category
One less contractor bidding in the market that I am in thank you very much. Not everyone is bidding 200,000.00 jobs my average job is closer to $2000.00 what I count on is everyone else wanting to be big shots and bid on the $200,000.00 jobs and leave me an open field for the $2000.00 jobs.I own this business and I stoped thinking like an hourly paid employee a long time ago, I draw a salary every week wether I am typing on this forum or out looking at will probably be our next $2000.00 job, my job is to keep six guys busy and I do that buy bidding every job that I get called to look at.emahler said:for the record, we do free estimates all the time...however, we call these quotes/bids...the average size of them is for projects in the $200,000 range...each one costs me about $500 in real money for the time to do the takeoff, shop prices, generate our pricing, visit the jobsite, etc...
the difference is, by the time I even begin spending time on these, the owner has already committed thousands of dollars in development fees to the engineers, architects, etc...in addition to the $150 they spend to fed-ex me a set of plans...
contrast this to the average residential job where there are no prints, just a lot of "we were thinking", and there is no real investment from the homeowner. They call 5 contractors and schedule them all to come out on Monday at 6pm (after they get home from work - don't want to inconvenience them)...and each contractor essentially designs the project for free, and gives them an apples to oranges price...
no thanks...
Rewire said:One less contractor bidding in the market that I am in thank you very much. Not everyone is bidding 200,000.00 jobs my average job is closer to $2000.00 what I count on is everyone else wanting to be big shots and bid on the $200,000.00 jobs and leave me an open field for the $2000.00 jobs.I own this business and I stoped thinking like an hourly paid employee a long time ago, I draw a salary every week wether I am typing on this forum or out looking at will probably be our next $2000.00 job, my job is to keep six guys busy and I do that buy bidding every job that I get called to look at.
I do "get it" I just dont get flashy with it.emahler said:ya just don't get it....