lowering the quote

[Lucas 2]

Hello all! Just wondering if any of you are lowering your quotes 'cos of this ***** recession?
Gave a couple of quotes last week and just got that feeling gonna get undercut by someone who's prepared to take less moolah!
Personally, I still want decent pay for a job well done! But don't want to be priced out of the market either?

[kilty55]

aye youll probably find a lot of people dropping prices..ive only done 2 quotes since new year but lost both im assuming due to the price

[Lucas 2]

Happy days!

off to the pub now....

[kilty55]

haha thats yer best bet,mind n ask the barman if hell do you a cheaper pint since theres a recession on

[FreeD]

I've put my prices up m8 in line with higher costs of living, materials etc. Instead of lowering your prices think about other ways of winning the work better sales techiques, detailed written quotes ect ect.

[kilty55]

good advice but most people are after the cheapest quote they can get

[Dave]

Havn't they always been after a cheap quote...........work has slackened off yes!! but lets not talk ourselves into dropping prices because you get beat on a qoute....

You lower your price and so do they.....where does it stop.?..

[doug boardley]

haven't dropped mine, and I'll be damned if I'm going to!

[kilty55]

fine in an ideal world however unfortunately less work going round of course people are going to drop prices to compete to get the work,i know no one likes it including myself.plenty work going around then sure you can be more confident about charging your normal rates and hopefully landing a job but im sorry if theres scarcer amounts of work and you know full well more guys are chasing that job you need to do something to land it,i would rather lower my prices temporarily and ride it out so my mortgage/bills are paid and the family are looked after than not drop accordingly and have no work,sorry if this upsets some people but its just the way it is.

[graham31]

fine in an ideal world however unfortunately less work going round of course people are going to drop prices to compete to get the work,i know no one likes it including myself.plenty work going around then sure you can be more confident about charging your normal rates and hopefully landing a job but im sorry if theres scarcer amounts of work and you know full well more guys are chasing that job you need to do something to land it,i would rather lower my prices temporarily and ride it out so my mortgage/bills are paid and the family are looked after than not drop accordingly and have no work,sorry if this upsets some people but its just the way it is.

If you lower your prices who says it's gony be temporarily??

If everybody lowers their prices to get work,when the recession is over and their is more work who's the 1st to up their prices??Surely if you up your prices after lowering them your gony loose work still.Like Dave say where does it stop?Lowering them know will only lead to them staying low.

Harder to up your prices and get work after lowering them in my opinion

Like above try having a better selling technique offer advice,suggest thing for a better look,Give detailed quotes,make the client feel like the most important person.I the client likes you as a person your more likely to win the job.

People buy from people they like

[kilty55]

aye graham i agree it is a difficult one to gauge,especially when no one knows how this years gonna go regarding work?so say you dont drop your prices and quote as per normal but your losing all your work cos other local tilers have dropped theres how do you deal with that situatuion? customers aint daft when it comes to money they will be looking more than ever for the keenest price at this time.

[kilty55]

people do buy from who they connect with yes i know this and totally agree,,you can give them plenty advice/written detailed quotes/great sales pitch why you should be doing there job,although im quite new to this game im getting better at reading the customer and what they are looking for..and both quotes ive done last week they were not interested in the slightest they wanted the cheapest quote they could get,i have also spoken to local tilers i know in edinburgh and botht hose lads said the same thing,,the customers were after the cheapest quote possible,,time will tell anyway i hope im proved wrong,cheers

[BDS]

I haven`t dropped my prices and WONT and not once been asked too, i give my customers a fair bit of my trade on mats and bathroom products,so there happy i`m happy.

[graham31]

How many you lost Kilty is it desperate stage yet?I dono how you get on selling your self but i'd work on that.Customers don't always go for the cheapest quote.They like to know their employing some1 who knows the job inside out and can explain everything and answer all their questions.

Your not gony win all quotes i'd give it a bit yet before lowering prices.

Why not be a bit cheeky and get the competition round to your house for a quote and see what their actually quoting and how they sell.At least then you will know how far out you are.You may find your not that far away from the other guys/gals

[kilty55]

no probs thanks for the advice

[Polished]

I'm with Graham on this one, as a customer I don't go with the cheapest price, I want something which doesn't end up costing me more down the road and it's done right first time, if that means paying a few quid etc then it saves me money longer term and maybe that's just me, everyone including ourselves on this forum is always on the look for a bargin, how many times have you bought a cheapo diamond blade and end up spending another 50 quid buying the one you should have got in the first place. People look for value for money, sure some people look to get it done as cheap as possible that will always be the case, and they will play one person off another in order to get it at the right price and of course use you to get quotes measurements etc thats part of the job.
Some thoughts on what you can do - barter with the customer, ask them what price they were thinking of and maybe try to meet somewhere in the middle - do a little bit extra ( hang towel rails etc), look at your overheads - can you reduce anywhere, do deals on adhesives etc with your suppliers, can you pass on the vat rate cut for example. Look at doing a job rate rather than Sq m rate or a mix, there are lots of options - ultimatley you may end up charging what the market can bear - and that may be a reduced price in the hope that the cost of living also reduces in line with this.

It's not doom and gloom , go out there any sell yourself and your product, in times like this think creatively about how you can add value to what you do.

[kilty55]

sorry guys think youve got the wrong end of the stick,im not looking for advice on how to sell myself i was merely making a comment regarding if people are dropping there prices to lucases post and the answer is yes i think people are dropping there prices.

[Polished]

Hi Kilty, sorry if you thought I was giving you a lesson on sales, not meant like that - I was replying to Lucases point regarding dropping prices, the point i was trying to make ( albeit a long winded one as usual :-) ) was that prices will drop becuase competiton for work will force it and in economic downturn people will be more careful with their money , but you don't have to sell yourself short either.

[david campbell]

you get what you pay for i.e you pay peanuts you get monkeys

[grumpygrouter]

I think this dropping prices stuff and blaming the recession is a bit of a press style scare mongering in my opinion.

The simple fact of the matter is that if people are looking to have tiles fixed/layed for what ever reason, they will have had some sort of budget in mind. it is natural instinct for people to get as much as they can for as little as possible, but there are ALWAYS ones that will go for the cheapest quote and there are ALWAYS the ones that look a bit deeper into what is requires and take the most appriopriate quote to satisy their own percieved standards. Finding these more discerning customers is the skill. In this tight market, when you go out and "chase" work it can look like you are "desparate" and tharefore are open to "offers" if you like.

I feel people need to be more open when giving people estimate. Talk to the customer, tell them why you will provide a better service for their money, why you will do a better job and give them confidence that you will still be around to sort out any problems in the unlikely event that they arise.

If work is really tight and you have time to fill, don't drop your prices as this can lead to a downward spiral that is very difficult to break out of. Get a part time job doing something else if you must, there are always jobs filling shelves at supermarkets to tied you over if necessary.

This post is not directed at anyone in particular BTW!

[P'boro tiler]

i agree
i would rather stack shelves for a bit than tile for peanuts! cuz they can have there monkeys! (and banana adhesive)

[inspiredandy]

I agree with Dave.

Youre prices are set for a reason, to earn you a reasonable profit. You need to ask yourself wether or not your prices are genuinley too high or not. If not why should you drop prices. Just educate the customer and make them see the value in your services over someone elses. I have recently changed my estimates so they so they read as a discription of works with an overall price at the end rather than floor tiling £...m2 Wall tiling £...m2 Prep £... etc, etc. The customer sees more Value in this and it shows that you care about your work. My conversion rate has improved by over 50% since implementing this. Hope this helps.

[P'boro tiler]

so you mean instead of saying floor tiling £500 for xm2; your saying: # Clean floor # Prime # Fix tiles
# Leave to dry # grout # leave to dry # seal grout # dispose of waist

[theyomper]

Have you tried following up on your quotes? or do you just wait and see if they get back to you. Be pro-active and ring the customer within a few days......"I was just ringing to find out if my quote was acceptable as I am in the process of planning my work for the next few weeks........." if they say no they won't be going ahead then ask them why....was it price and if so was the price alot lower etc..........if they say they haven't decided yet then suggest that you phone them again in a week. Keep going until you have a yes or a no.

[LM Ceramics]

Have you tried following up on your quotes? or do you just wait and see if they get back to you. Be pro-active and ring the customer within a few days......"I was just ringing to find out if my quote was acceptable as I am in the process of planning my work for the next few weeks........." if they say no they won't be going ahead then ask them why....was it price and if so was the price alot lower etc..........if they say they haven't decided yet then suggest that you phone them again in a week. Keep going until you have a yes or a no.

i sort of agree on that i would try and phone the client back if i had not heard anythin but if they say they havent decided i leave it up to them

[inspiredandy]

yeah more or less, you can elaborate as much as you want, mention guarentees on adhesives etc as,well. It might sound a bit anal but in my opinion it instills more confidence. If it helps I could pm an example. Not with prices on tho !!!

[Lucas 2]

Some good advice there...I've always quoted for the whole job and just done X - labour + Y - materials.. TOTAL.... and I never even give a quote over the phone without seeing the job...you don't know how much extra cutting there is, sockets, pipes etc
With a quote I would never sell myself short particularly now I've got a few years experience...it's just a bit scary if people are coming alongand putting in lower quotes, partic with this economic climate etc
Corr..ain't this a good forum-site, eh?

[devonmark]

pay peanuts get monkeys....proved so many times...

[inspiredandy]

Just to keep u updated. Just called potential client to see how my (concise) estimate and lo and behold, a mate he has known for 20 years is going to lay 20m2 porcelain floor ( which needs levelling, also part of the quote) for £400.00 INCLUDING MATERIALS!!! I take it all back!!!

[P'boro tiler]

yes that really works for me. ive not done it a few times when im really busy and reckon ive missed out because of it