Why don't contractors / vendors care about making a sale?

We keep advertising because a) to be effective, advertising must be repeated and repeated and repeated and b) because we sign annual or longer contracts with the media to get the best rates.

There's no shortage of people in this newsgroup who will point out that doing estimates is part of a contractor's cost of doing business and that doing an estimate does not entitle a contractor to anything.

Similarly, reading an ad and phoning doesn't entitle you to anything.

Here's how my business works:

On referrals and repeats, I get three jobs out of four phone calls. On cold calls from ads, I get one job out of thirteen phone calls.

So, if you leave a message saying you were referred (by a customer I value), you'll get an immediate return call. All my clients are nice, fairminded people... and they generally are careful who they give my name to.

If you leave a messsage saying you're getting bids on a project, or you want a *free estimate* or you *need* a quote .... you'll be ignored. These all are tip offs that you are a tire kicker or worse. Maybe you're not ... but very likely, you are.

If you leave a message saying you saw my ad in so and so ... and are thinking about a project and wonder if I might be interested and available... I'll call you back. You're treating me with courtesy.

If you leave a message saying you are desperate to find a specific trade ... you know it's not a project for me but do i know anyone ... I'll probably call you back. If it's a small job, one of my guys may want to moonlight ... or someone will know someone. If you can help people, you ought to.

Here's how this works in real life ... my last 24 hours.

1) Phone call from a guy who lives an hour outside town. Wants to do a bathroom. Needs a price on labour. He'll supply all materials and fixtures. Would I like to run out there and give him a quote?.

Told him I don't like to work with owner-supplied materials. He said he had quotes from two other contractors who would ... why the heck wouldn't I?.

2) Phone call from a past client (basement development and kitchen). Wants a larger, more modern ensuite. Could I book the work for April and swing by when I get a chance so we can draw up a plan and work out the materials. Cost plus .. same as the kitchen. 3) Call from a woman who saw an ad. Wants her basement developed ... high end stuff, three way fireplace, maple wet bar .. etc. What are my margins, so she can negotiate a price?

So stupid she doesn't realize how far off base a question like that is.

4) Meet with a guy who called from an ad. Likes the quote, likes the plan, can we start within the month. Yup, sign here. 5) Meet with a guy referred by a previous client. He's rude to his wife in front of me. Talk with the previous client --- yeah, he can be pretty abrasive but he's okay, overall.

Add ten percent to my estimate. If the job goes ahead and he's okay, I can always knock it off ... if not, I got an aggravation bonus.

6) Phone call from an ad. A guy who wants to add square footage. Says he has no clue what's involved, but his family has grown, they've ruled out moving ... and their mortgage is coming up for renewal so he'd like some information to talk to the bank.

We spend half an hour on the phone. Give him a ball park figure and a timeline .. make a couple of suggestions. He's says thanks. I figure there's a fifty percent chance I'll hear from him again.

7) Call from a client who let my guys eat lunch out on their patio and gave them cokes, some lino is lifting in a corner ... what should he do? Tell him to leave a key, it'll be fixed today. 8) Call from a woman, she knows the sister of a couple whose kitchen I did. They speak very highly of me. She might want a quote on her kitchen. How much insurance do I carry? How much is my bond?

I ask her what type of insurance and what types of bond she means? She doesn't know. I tell her it's a little crazy right now, but my tilesetter should get bail next week and if my cabinet guy canl get early parole, we could look at her project in the summer.

Look, lthere are good contractors and bad. There are good customers and bad. There are no guarantees, but what goes around does come around.

We do care about make a sale. We might not care about making a sale to you. As for those who say we'll pay for it in the next recession .. I doubt it. If y ou do good work, you will always be busy. And remember, we've had an entire generation who went into computers rather than the trades.

Ken

Reply to
bambam
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True, there are no obligations either way. You find a good customer, you try to keep him. You find a good store, contractor, vendor, you keep him. Not everyone is suited to doing business with everyone else in the world. I'm in business myself (repairing musical instruments), and some of my customers are a pain in the butt. However, I always return a phone call, even if it's to tell the person I can't do the job they want done. I figure if I advertise, then I owe them a phone call if they responded to my ad. I expect the same from the people I buy from.

Bob

Reply to
RobertM

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