Bidding Question???

S

Speed's wash

New member
I bid on a 2500sq ft. 2 story brick home yesterday including a cobble stone pool deck,driveway,concrete front patio,and sidewalk for $400.
I called the customer this morning and she stated that the price was way out of her price range.What should I do? Should I just call her back and tell her that I will clean the front of the house for about half the original bid or should I just forget about it!
I need the money and do not want to walk away with nothing!

Thanks,

Speed's Powerwash
 
Dont cave . You gave her a fair price. She is just trying to low ball you, sounds like she wants something for nothing. Go bid 10 more jobs in her neighborhood. Its tough starting out. Keep after it. There are plenty of people out there which will appreciate your service.
 
Hey Michael, get this. The lady just called be back and says that she would like to just have the front of the house pressure washed so I told her that I would do it for $250 which included the front of the 2 story,patio,driveway,and sidewalk about 2 hours worth of work. She again says that she cannot afford it so I said well how about we not include the house and I will just do the driveway and small front patio for $100.00. The lady said oh that would be wonderfull how soon can you get out here to do it.
I could hardley control myself from laughing because she just does not understand that for just a little bit more money she can alot more done.I can do this job in about 30min with my 24in. steel eagle suface cleaner. Not real sure but I think I am the winner here. Oh, and the house is only 1 mile from my house. Some peope just do not get it!!!!!!!!!!!

Speed's Powerwash
 
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How is somebody going to have a pool in their yard and not be able to afford to keep their property clean :) Some people amaze me! We did a bid today and the driveway alone was over $400 of the bid amount -

Did you explain to her what and EXTRAORDINARY deal $400 bucks was? For that amount of work, we'd have been double that at least and we're in Podunk Central USA.

Understandably, we all need money, but be careful setting yourself up to get the reputation of being the guy who's starving and will work cheap. Let your clients know that you have overhead, ie, chemicals, insurance, equipment which set you apart from the weekend warriors. If you start out being the cheap guy, you'll always be the cheap guy........(I'm not calling anyone a lowballer by the way).

Best of luck -

Celeste
 
LOL - yes I do.......we'll just be the northeastern section :) But just remember, Mayberry is just right up the road from me ! Hope you guys aren't floating away!
 
Celeste is right .. I had a guy tell me that he had his drive thru and store front cleaned for $75.00 My Price was $185.00.. On the scheduled day of the supposed 75.00 cleaning I showed up at chik fil a in my wifes car to watch the $ 75.00 guy do his work.. About 10 am this guy pulls up in an old station wagon , pulls out about a 6 hp pressure washer and about 100 ft of walmart garden hose.. He hooks all his stuff up and starts to clean ( with a wand and about a 15 degree spray tip) I got tired of watching so I went for coffee at seattle drip. I got back and he was washing the drive thru and pouring gallons of bleach everywhere..Cars were pulling up thru the drive thru, running over his hose .. I felt bad for the guy he had been working like 2 hours on one section of concrete . He had already blown his profite what with the bleach and gas and all..
Guess how I got the Job .. I went back the next day and recleaned the drive thru for nothing ... took 15 minutes The manager saw that i still got more dirt off the concrete . I clean 4 chik fil a drive thrus and sidewalks for 185.00 per store every month..

Moral to the story.
1) Have the right equipment before you start the job.
2) Let your potential customer use the low baller , Find out when the low baller is going to be there and watch him.. Watch his mistakes and right them down..
Then always call the customer back with in that week and tell them you see she got her house or concrete or vent hood cleaned . Ask them how they liked the job.. Then Leave them alone.
They will Call Back because one thing ( you have been curtious) another is the only thing people hate more than a higher price is a crappy job..

New Potential customers will always use the cheapest priced company ..
For the First Time ..
Usually What happens is the lowballer has No insurance , Wrong Chemicals and The Wrong Equipment For the job.
Your Potential Customer will notice this and probably never use them again... Then They will call you.
Post Some Flyers
Hand Out Some Cards
Be Patient
Don't settle For Less
 

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Hey Celeste I took your advice we are going to stain the concrete on the dumpstr pad next week.Im going to clean it real good again and then i called a pro in the concrete staining business to work for me for a day... Ill get some photos as soon as we get started.
 
Good deal! Your client will be happier in the long run and you won't have to work as hard to keep it clean :)
 
I 've worked for less then I wanted, I've done more then I 've been paid for, and told a few customers that "if your not happy you dont have to pay me". After too long you know what you need to make no matter what the outcome. The time away from the family is worth too much.
 
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