Went off on a potential client yesterday

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growler said:
Why on earth would you agree to something like that?
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People with nice homes can have money problems, but at same time (for any customer) you might fix something more critical like middle of winter if they won't have any heat unless you fix a certain problem. Otherwise some things just aren't necessary if you can't afford to pay for them at the time of purchase/installation, and tell them to call back when they do have the means to pay for those kind of things.

I've had guys that appear to have the $$$ to do most things they want, yet they are the ones that will refuse to pay you, or will hold off on paying you as long as they think they can, yet had people that don't have a lot that will pay whatever they can afford on a regular basis and they make sure they pay it off because they did appreciate what you have done. I even had a lady that moved away from the region before she had paid me what she owed and thought I would never see the rest of my money - she kept paying though until it was all paid off.
 
growler said:
I don't think I would have quoted $300 unless he wanted to get the job done while you were in the area ( as in right now). Let the customer know that is a price for now and an extra trip will cost more (travel charge).

You really should have sold him a panel change instead of telling him there was nothing wrong with the split bus. Sure a split bus is legal but for some reason a lot of people just don't understand how they work. People like having that one main breaker (simple).
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This place was in the eastern suburbs of seattle which is a hassle to get to for me. Normally I would just decline small jobs over that way. The potential for a panel/service change was the only reason I went because we al know you make good coin on those. Yes the more business savvy thing would have been to sell the panel change whether he truly "needed" it or not.

It's just frustrating how naive some people are about what it takes to do thnigs. Many things are just tedious difficult and frustrating. It's not easy and takes lots of practice and experience to do correctly and efficiently. Then there is the time. I liked making him question how much money HE would want to drive a ways, probably in traffic at least one way, stop at a store on the way, and help me at MY house for 2-3 hours, clean up after himself and take responsibility for any mistakes.....
 
kwired said:
People with nice homes can have money problems, but at same time (for any customer) you might fix something more critical like middle of winter if they won't have any heat unless you fix a certain problem. Otherwise some things just aren't necessary if you can't afford to pay for them at the time of purchase/installation, and tell them to call back when they do have the means to pay for those kind of things.
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Sure people with nice homes can have money problems but they normally have credit cards or some other means of obtaining credit ( other than me ).

A few years ago I go to a house where the owner is having a hard time of it. A judge has issued a court order that he will put the man in jail if he doesn't get the power turned on so his kid can have power for lights and hot water for showers.

I really felt sorry for the guy but I told him he would have to come up with a certain amount of cash for me to do the work necessary for the POCO to turn on the power ( beg, borrow or steal it). He got the money from his in-laws and I was able to get the power tuned on. I did give him a good price on the work I did but I can't afford to finance people I don't even know.

Giving people credit is a mistake unless you have credit forms from a finance company. Let the finance company issue credit.
 
What am I missing here?

Why would anyone drive 3 hrs for a "potential" panel change?
Why would this guy not call someone closer?
If you were the closest, I would have at least have him send pics or something, then discuss what you see over the phone.
Then give him a ballpark price before driving out
 
cdslotz said:
What am I missing here?

Why would anyone drive 3 hrs for a "potential" panel change?
Why would this guy not call someone closer?
If you were the closest, I would have at least have him send pics or something, then discuss what you see over the phone.
Then give him a ballpark price before driving out
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The place is 30-50 min one way, depending on traffic and if it is partially on the way to something else. The three hours came from 2 round trip trips.
 
Electrofelon

did a project on the Sammamish Plateau one time. Had my travel trailer parked on site. Would come in Sunday evening and go home Friday evening. If we had to leave the site to get supplies, it would take 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours each way, depending on the traffic.

its got to be something pretty important to get me to travel into Seattle any more. Maybe a Mariners or Seahawks game couple of times a year.
 
if you are burned out at 38 you have a long rough road ahead of you

response
sorry, I always give a fair price first time
don't want to waste yours or my time
thanks


the issue is if you drop your price (w/o a scope reduction) that reinforces their belief you were gouging them
 
growler said:
Why on earth would you agree to something like that?
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I have a condition known as a bleeding heart. I am ultra gullible, kind, and assume the best in people. I may not show it on the surface, but I often give people far more than they deserve. As someone once told me: "No good dead goes unpunished" :rant: That and emergency calls where the owners were low income and ended up paying in full over time without hassle.
 
electrofelon said:
How did you do it?
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I was self-employed so making less money but had more control of my destiny than if I had a full-time job

I thought I had to have employees and had to work for builders. I thought being fast and cheap were what would lead to success

So as I got away from these assumptions, things got easier

And when people ask me about success in business, my stock answer:"the first 25 years are the hardest" (1979-2004)
 
I used to advertize 23 hour emergency service in all the phone books

23.....not 24....

So when certain sorts that called got on my nerves, i'd claim i was unavailable

when confronted , i'd do my best Forest Gump reply "sorry.....it's just not YOUR hour"

~RJ~
 
electrofelon said:
Drove an hour and a half round trip to look at a potential panel swap. Turned out it was fine: a 125 amp QO split bus. I told him it would be a grand to change the panel but that I probably wouldn't bother if it was my house. Then he told me about these three pendents he wanted put up (different house, didn't go there). Kitchen island with one existing light, remove, add two new locations, install 3 pendents. Sounded like it would be long skinny bit roulette to get thru to the other locations. I told him $300. Says he will let me know. Next day I get a text saying "price seems high, can you give me a better deal?" I debated how to reply for a minute. Sometimes just "lol no" is pretty funny. Ended up texting back this:

"How much would you want for 3 hours of driving plus three hours of your time and a bunch of risk drilling holes in someone's ceiling? ? I don't really even want to do it for 300 to be honest."

I'm 38. I'm too young to be getting this grumpy.
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I get the call "can ya do it for..." I just smile and say no. I have found a guy in town that does flat rate pricing. $250 and he will send two guys in a brightly wrapped van to "look, not touch" at your electrical problem and leave. I am going put him on my referral list. It will demonstrate the customer HAD a good and reasonable price, and negotiated his way out of it, also I never work for them again. Too much physical & mental energy, and assets wasted. There are always shoppers. I have been doing it long enough to ask questions. Red flags are when they cant answer how old or what type of construction is the house. These ones scare me because they are some marketing lead service company doing research on me and could put the whammy on ya with the internet. You are only as good as your last sale. Be firm, be reasonable, be thoughtful, don't get emotional gratification from your customers business. The price is the price.
I also dont like to travel more then 10 miles out of my preferred market area. They have the money. They know what they want. It is closed out when the truck leaves. The overhead is lower. Market to people with money.
 
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