How do you guys deal with the customers who call for quotes you know are wasting your time. Like my window guy stopped showing up can you come quote. Most often you know when people tell you the window guy stopped coming there is a reason and most likely they are not going to pay a company rate when they had a fly bye “guy” that never paid insurance or any real liability coverage. I feel like driving to quote these jobs end up with “oh my your price is double” no thanks. A waste of time.
That’s why we have eliminated 99% of onsite estimates. Our estimates are done online and over the phone.
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How do you go about pricing the height and difficulty in landscape and ladder moves?
Ask…how many are 2nd story…on a hill?..
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Exactly
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if i get wind theyre a mess about type i say that my brother is handling that sort of work/ your area for me ,heres his number give him a text he will sort you out . but the number i give belongs to an old phone of mine laying in a drawer switched off. i then block any contact from them on my own phone/ facebook or wherever so they dont crop up in the future to bother me
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most cities have tax sites for square footage and age, some also have ariel photos, google street view ask questions. i went to only one house last year for an estimate and i got it wrong. still worked out but it looked difficult online and i probably would have priced it higher on the phone.
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We all get these calls and you can tell immediately it’s not a customer that will suit your business
Luckily, I’m always “booked out for the next three weeks” when they call
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Every hour you save by not driving to every quote saves you money.
So, you can afford to accidentally under quote occasionally and still be more profitable than if you drove to everything!
You can also give an estimate over the phone and say its subject to confirmation when you arrive. That’s what most of us responsibid users do. If the estimate is close to the exact price… no worries because we saved money by not quoting in person. If the estimate is based on them saying they have 4 windows… and they have 40… I obviously tell them the actual price. If they decline, oh well, before online estimates I would have had to drive here anyway.
You can also give an estimate via phone or online then go google their house to make sure your price is in the correct ballpark. If you say “approx $250” you can arrive and the actual price can be $230-$280 and there will be no worries.
If a job sounds worthy of a visit first, go visit.
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i generally will schedule an in person estimate for homes over 3000 sq ft since there can be such wild differences. we’ve done 3000 sq ft homes with 40 panes and 3000 sq foot homes with 120 panes
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That’s a Good way to identify which jobs are best to visit first
