This thread is about asking how many of you provide clients with figures/estimates at first point of contact, prior to visiting the clients site.
If you don't, is this something you would consider doing?
We as sole traders/small business owners are often very busy people, running here, there and everywhere trying to keep the wheels turning and the money coming in. It's also really important that we spend time in our lives doing things that we enjoy, maybe spending time with the family....or maybe spending time trying to avoid the family depending on your circumstances!!
How many of us can count the number of times when we have gone out of an evening or weekend, using our time and our fuel, to visit a clients property to provide them with a price, only to turn up and realise that the client does not have anywhere near the budget to complete the work they are looking for.
In this situation, you turn round and drive home despondent, having waste your precious time and resources.So is there more scope for pre qualifying clients with figures and estimates over the phone, before visiting on site. As an example, I had a client who is a landlord get in touch with this week via email requesting cutting the unmown lawn of their property and a tidy of other the shrubs and borders. Having a very busy week, I asked if the client if they would be able to provide me with photos of the work required, I would provide a basic estimate, and if they wanted to proceed I would then visit the site.
The client was happy to do this, sent over some photos, I provided an estimate and client accepted.That process took me 5 mins in front of my PC and I now know that when I go and visit the site in person, I have a client who is already willing to accept my price of X, so I know my journey will not be wasted.Previously I would have trotted over there, spent an hour of my time, used my fuel and lost a proportion of my evening, with no idea whether the job would be viable or not.Now I don't say this method is viable for every job spec, but surely the are certain jobs and projects that can be calculated to a degree over the phone.
This would be especially viable for jobs that you are experienced at completing as you have done them lots before and have a good idea of the costs involved?So do any of you already do this as common practice? It's certainly something I will look at doing more often for certain jobs
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I do give very rough estimates on contact sometimes but only if the work is well defined with pics supplied and measurements if appropriate. To make it work i think we need to know exactly what questions to ask and make sure they are answered properly. Sometimes an address and google maps can be helpful too.
It does not work for most maintenance enquiries however as there are too many variables. Often deciding factors can come down to access, parking, the area and most importantly the people. Business is so much easier with people you like and are like minded. There is no way to find out what people are really like without meeting them.
There are ways to strip out the tyre kickers at first contact by means of your website, tailoring contact forms with the right mandatory questions and other methods. There was an interesting series of articles about this on another forum with landscape in the name.
I do similar on occasion Simon, particularly for small hedging jobs and lawn work. I ask for plenty of pictures such as hedge depth, in addition to height, access etc. I don't do an online quote as a matter of routine as I prefer face to face to give numbers, but this does save time on an evening etc. I would just be clear that you need comprehensive pictures and that any estimate price given is caveated by final quote at visit when you can confirm those other issues such as accessibility; from your post, you appear to have it already covered.
Often when people call to enquire I'm asked how much it might be. For things like panel fencing or installing repair spurs the cost can be fairly well predicted and I can give a guide price but say that this is a general price and I'd have to visit to confirm. Seems to work quite well. You can gauge the reaction straight away - some say that's fine come visit to quote, others make their excuses and off they go.
Clearances can be harder to predict though, so if pushed I'll say it would be in the region of x per day, but lots of caveats with that about things like access and waste. My waste costs are quite high as it's expensive to get rid of where I am.
As I have a basic fixed rate for the first two hours and an hourly rate thereafter, this is what I tell them. That gets rid of them who can't or wont want to afford me or want to pay a fixed price they have in their head or got pricing from the competition.
I ask if they can send me photos or a video via email or WhatsApp. That shows they are most likely committed to really wanting something done. It also gives me a chance to take time contemplating if I want to take it on. I may ask for more photos. Everything they get told has a caveat, because photos cannot tell you wants in the ground or covered up by grass, weeds and shrubs. I then make an appointment to view the garden, unless it's very easy to see that it's a fairly straightforward job. I tend to overestimate the time to be in the safe zone.
If they start asking for name of plants to buy I stay very generic. I talk about shrubs, pretty flowers and climbers. I am not there to provide them on my time with a free list of plants to buy.
I ask for full name address and contact details. If they cannot give me their full name or address, I won't continue with the enquiry. I google the address to get a streetview and a satellite view. Gives me an idea of side access and more importantly any parking issues. Especially here in London parking is a nightmare in some parts. Five minutes parking costing 20 pence, but limited to 2 or 4 hours max. That is something the customer needs to pay. It gives me an idea of the state of the garden over the last 2 to 4 years via streetview. I get to see the neighborhood. I must feel comfortable going there on my own.
This has helped a lot to weed out impossible jobs or time wasters. I have found the more uncooperative the customer is in supplying info, the more its just a waste of my time.
Everyone has to go through my vetting process. I learned the hard way.
Having said that getting a client to put some work in should tell you if they are a serious business opportunity.
@ Adrian
Exactly, that's why I keep everything generic and close to my chest. I just say "yes I have ideas already in my head". But don't really say what the ideas are. Tired of people mooching off my ideas, time, and goodwill..
I will add as an update to my initial post, that upon turning up today to complete the job I originally described above I find that the job has already been done! Aagh! Never experienced this before! I assume the landlord had not communicated it the tenants that they had contracted someone to do the garden work and the tenants had done it themselves... Oh well
I'm slowly getting the hang of the quoting lark - but have taken a few painful hits in learning.
Today gave a tentative quote over the phone for a garden "tidy" but the difference between "from" and "to" was 100 - still interested, so have arranged a viewing - I'll then send a more revised quote after I have sat down later to think it through - got caught out giving a price on the spot,so just remain non committal. And agree with the point about offering generic advice on plants - exactly what I do.
Garden designers have this problem too. I always have a money conversation during the initial call. The problem is that people see a garden on my portfolio and say this is what they want and when I tell them it cost £40K just for the hard landscaping they are often gobsmacked. Which is why I always talk money. Often it is enough to ask them what they want and what budget they were thinking of. If they say anything less than £20K I simply refer them to one of my contractors who will be able to put down some paving and turf and supply some basic plants, because this is really all they'll get for that kind of money, once you've taken clearance and muck away into account.
I recently had exactly this conversation with someone who lived in Northwood - a 1 hour drive from me. I also gave them a rough estimate of my fees because there seems to be plenty of people who will prepare designs for £200 and then get their profit from the build. I earn my living from design only and need to charge a professional fee. They claimed they were happy with all the figures and I did a free initial consultation. They loved my ideas, but when I submitted my fee quotation and an estimated budget for the landscaping work they came back and said they could not afford anything like this. I was so mad. I thought I'd pre-qualified. I was very upfront about potential costs. They still felt it was OK to waste most of my Saturday. It wasn't the fact that I didn't get the work, but that they had been so cavalier about wasting my time.
I have put a fees section on my Web site now and am about to add a piece about budgets for hard and soft landscaping. This has resulted in less calls from my Web site, but the ones I get are more likely to turn into clients. I will hopefully do less running around, but get more business.
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