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  Robert Cottrell February 4, 2012 at 8:14pm

  darren. look at it this way they want to drive in a skoda not a merc... i look at it this way you work out the cost to supply and build the job with a profit to give you a bit more. other people may not both to look at the job in detal and wing a cost and come unstuck or they dont allow for this and that and try to get it as extras which is not the way to do it but people do. i look at thing like this did they like me? do they think we are a good comany with great back up and referances? give a detailed quote?. if you feel you should yes to the questions then you must think that the client dose not want quialty job they want it cheap and as we all know buy cheap buy twice!!!!

   
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  Andrew Evans February 4, 2012 at 8:24pm

  I get quotes turned down from time to time because of other contractors quoting £££ less than me, but i know what I need to charge to run a profitable buisness. Some quotes people give would barely cover the cost of materials yet alone labour and profit!! You win some you lose some! Usualy if you get all of your quotes accepted then youre probably too cheap! dont get much then you are too expensive!
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  Darren Franklin February 4, 2012 at 9:43pm

  Thanks for your replies chaps, it's frustrating when you've spent hours doing drawings,and working every detail out and then for nowt,I know it's how the game works and need to accept that.
  My method may have been a bit belt and braces,but I felt the job needed it, some good advice from you guys thanks for that,great website and forum.
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  phil smith yewtreelandscapes.com February 4, 2012 at 9:52pm

  when working your quotes out and like you say you have done drawings for the job as well, give them the quote to keep but only show them the drawings unless they have paid for the drawings in advance, they could use the drawings to show the next contractor what they want, dont be swayed on your price, stick to it, there is a lot of landscapers that will give an estimate of works, that is how they can price it so low and then intimidate the customers into giving extra money when the job comes to an end, and it works out more pricey than your original quote, dont get down hearted just carry on.
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  Graeme @ BGS February 5, 2012 at 9:39am

  Darren,

  I think all of us get this from time to time.

  I sometimes inform protential clients that my quote should be around 5 - 15% higher or lower than others they receive and would welcome the chance to review my quote along side the others if they are concerned about major price differences and when taken up on this, it is quite amazing what the cheaper ones have excluded.

  Unfortunately when it's down to just price the client would have to judge who they want and at what quality.

  Only the other day, I lost out on a large commercial tender which was price driven.  I was aware of this and put in a very keen but fair price only to loose out by being 50% more expensive.  I know the company that won the contract and they are well known for their tricks in cutting out the competition and taking lots of short cuts and then requesting uplifts to cover the shortfalls. As the old saying goes, you pay for what you get.
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  Richard@www.seasons-garden.co.uk February 5, 2012 at 10:01am

  Darren,

  Winning & losing quotes is part of the job.

  However, you can minimise the chances of this happening by:

  Improving your communication with the client. Be more thorough when you meet them, understand what they want and show that you are someone they can trust to help them. I won a job over several other firms once because I simply did a sketch in front of the client to show them how it would look!

  ASK WHAT THEIR BUDGET IS FIRST. It's never made any sense to me that people would walk away from a consultation without knowing how much the client is prepared to spend and then costing & drawing up a job with fingers crossed that you're on the money. I accept that it can be tricky but unless you find this out you could be wasting your time from the off. Get a min & max figure and you're away. If ths client refuses to tell you then you can't proceed can you.

  Limit the amount of drawing you're doing. A list of costings and a sketch should suffice in order to present the idea and price to the client. Any subsequent drawings should only be undertaken once you've received a deposit. You have to pay yourself a wage for ANY work you do and you're working out of pocket otherwise.

  Try offering the client an option A and an option B. i.e. 2 different prices - one cheaper and once dearer. As long as you've costed each design properly you may still get the work.

  Accept that they're will always be someone out there cheaper than you but not neccessarliy better. Some clients just want cheapest and will never understand 'you get what you pay for'
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  Busy Bee Garden Services Limited February 5, 2012 at 11:33am

  We have just had a quote rejected not because we are too much money, in fact they told us were were the cheapest but because we could not do the job when they wanted it! So it shows its not only price that is the deciding factor!

  http://www.busybeegardenservices.co.uk
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  Darren Franklin February 5, 2012 at 11:50am

  Getting the budget out of some people is tricky, some just say 'not much' which is no help to anyone. This is certainly something to work on,as you mentioned Richard if the customer can't give a high/ low estimate then where do you start.
  I also need to hold back with the detailed drawings at the initial stage,as people have mentioned there's nothing to stop the client using them elsewhere...you live and learn,thanks everyone.
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  phil smith yewtreelandscapes.com February 5, 2012 at 11:50am

  personaly i wouldnt ask what their budget is, go meet the customers, have a chat get to know what they want have a cupper if they ask, it get all more friendly this way, instead of just going there measuring up and leaving, sending them a quote and waiting, i most of the time hand deliver the quotes have a couple of minutes chat and leave the quote with them to have a look through, unless they live miles away then i would either send it through the post or email them a short message with the quote attached, also i would never give an estimate, always give a quotation
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  Gary RK February 5, 2012 at 4:13pm

  Surely, you should 'qualify' any opportunity presented to you based upon at least;

  - your ability (vs sub contracting out etc)

  - client budget (vs your mindset figure for likely "works")

  - your availability (vs can I reschedule to fit client's timeframe)

  Certainly meeting client tells you a lot, just look at their eyes when discussing financial aspects. The eyes are a wonderful guide to a persons mindset...

  These are some of the first areas I would look at BEFORE submitting a formal quote for any job - otherwise, aren't you just wasting your time ?

  Never burn your bridges unless the client is clearly out to stuff you. They may be making a mistake going with a cheaper quote and could well come back to you when they realise the truth.

  The larger the job, the more formal you need to be otherwise the likelyhood of failing somewhere along the way is high(er).......