My appointment today

DunRite

New member
As a lot of you may or not know i do a lot of contracting work- painting, drywall, flooring, etc

I get a call yesterday from Mr Patel who asks if i can over to look at his ceilings that are water stained from an old roof leak that has been since fixed. ( a few rooms)

After looking at his ceilings i give him a quote which was for "up to 2 coats of prime and 1 coat of flat finish" on each ceiling. Normally for small stains 1 coat of primer will work but in the event it doesn't ill apply a second coat

He asks me "what does that mean up to 2 coats of primer"

I explain to him that my price includes applying "up to" 2 coats of primer but may not need 2 depending on how the primer takes as sometimes 1 coat works sometimes it doesn't

He says he will only pay for 1 coat of primer and pay for a 2nd if only i need to apply a 2nd coat of primer

We left it that he should call someone else-good bye
 
As a lot of you may or not know i do a lot of contracting work- painting, drywall, flooring, etc

I get a call yesterday from Mr Patel who asks if i can over to look at his ceilings that are water stained from an old roof leak that has been since fixed. ( a few rooms)

After looking at his ceilings i give him a quote which was for "up to 2 coats of prime and 1 coat of flat finish" on each ceiling. Normally for small stains 1 coat of primer will work but in the event it doesn't ill apply a second coat

He asks me "what does that mean up to 2 coats of primer"

I explain to him that my price includes applying "up to" 2 coats of primer but may not need 2 depending on how the primer takes as sometimes 1 coat works sometimes it doesn't

He says he will only pay for 1 coat of primer and pay for a 2nd if only i need to apply a 2nd coat of primer

We left it that he should call someone else-good bye


HAHA sorry to hear that story Mike. Some people just dont get it...

You made the right decision walking from this guy
 
Er..I don't get it. So he was willing to pay for the second coat, bit wanted you to let him know first? Did I miss something?
 
The story in print does no justice to the actual interaction

It was a comedy show- Truly talking in circles

trying to reason and explain with dimwits!

Scott- he wanted a price reduction if i only used 1 coat of primer
LOL I'm sure the next thing out of his mouth would have been...well I want two coats whether I need it or not. Since I'm already paying for it.
 
I can see it in my mind. That is the type that is so worry about paying to much and getting screwed, they will screw everyone to get a good deal. I don't deal with that type of people.
 
Its a great lesson in knowing your customer and adjusting your pitch accordingly. Indians and the Chinese will always go with the cheapest option, so keep the options limited and clear. Also raise it a little so you have room to discount it while still hitting your desired number.

Every job is different just like every customer is different.
 
Its a great lesson in knowing your customer and adjusting your pitch accordingly. Indians and the Chinese will always go with the cheapest option, so keep the options limited and clear. Also raise it a little so you have room to discount it while still hitting your desired number.

Every job is different just like every customer is different.

I agree, ALWAYS go a little higher with Chinese. A lot of times they won't even consider hiring you unless they get a discount or talk you down on your price.
Not saying ALL Chinese do this, but all the business I've had with Chinese this is the case.


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When I used to sell cars, a coworker had an Indian (dot not feather) guy come in and ask to test drive a Saturn Vue. Drove it. Loved it. Proceeded to negotiate, but we were a dealership that didn't negotiate. The price was the price. The guy walked.

About a month later the same guy shows up to look at another car foe his daughter, but he pulls up in a brand new Lexus SUV. Said he got a GREAT deal on it.

The price wasn't the issue. The no discount was the issue. Probably paid $20k more but he got $5k off, so it was a win in his mind.
 
I agree with both of your assessments- i've sold to a lot of Indian & Asian clients in the past

I find that as long as i was direct and didn't waver on price and had the attitude of take it or leave it i fared better than most

Ive had a few give me a run around and i basically draw a line in the sand-you want it or not
 
I had a customer like that one time. I quoted his house at $450 and he wanted to negotiate and I told him the price was the price no discount. So he asked if we would wash only 3 sides of his house for $400......that was the dumbest request I had ever heard
 
One time we were selling a minivan, and I wasn't home. We usually give a pretty good value when we sell something, because I don't try and extract every single penny out of someone.
Some middle eastern guy came to buy it from my wife, saying he only had $2500. She was 8.5 months pregnant at the time, and has an extremely low tolerance for being manipulated generally. She just looked at him, and blankly said, "the price is the price." She then returned to watching our kids. He started yammering and trying to talk, and she ignored him until the other $1000 dollars magically appeared.
This is the woman that some carwash guy said it would take all day to do her, and she said that life must be hard with a one inch penis.
 
One time we were selling a minivan, and I wasn't home. We usually give a pretty good value when we sell something, because I don't try and extract every single penny out of someone.
Some middle eastern guy came to buy it from my wife, saying he only had $2500. She was 8.5 months pregnant at the time, and has an extremely low tolerance for being manipulated generally. She just looked at him, and blankly said, "the price is the price." She then returned to watching our kids. He started yammering and trying to talk, and she ignored him until the other $1000 dollars magically appeared.
This is the woman that some carwash guy said it would take all day to do her, and she said that life must be hard with a one inch penis.

LMAO


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Sent out postcards Friday. Got a call today. Zoomed in on google earth, gave estimate. Went through the whole thing of scheduling and such. At the very end of the 10 minute conversation, he say's, " I don't want t quibble abut a few dollars, but some guys came to my door and said that they would do it cheaper than that, can you do it cheaper? I said no, that's the price. He said he would call me back. He was indian or something.

Last month, same thing. Only this guy hired me and scheduled and everything. Showed up to do the job at 8:30 am, there was a guy with a home depot machine, cleaning the driveway with a wand. Never ends.
 
Sent out postcards Friday. Got a call today. Zoomed in on google earth, gave estimate. Went through the whole thing of scheduling and such. At the very end of the 10 minute conversation, he say's, " I don't want t quibble abut a few dollars, but some guys came to my door and said that they would do it cheaper than that, can you do it cheaper? I said no, that's the price. He said he would call me back. He was indian or something.

Last month, same thing. Only this guy hired me and scheduled and everything. Showed up to do the job at 8:30 am, there was a guy with a home depot machine, cleaning the driveway with a wand. Never ends.
Oh hell no! I wouldn't charged his time for travel, inconvenience, and late/no cancelation!
 
Sent out postcards Friday. Got a call today. Zoomed in on google earth, gave estimate. Went through the whole thing of scheduling and such. At the very end of the 10 minute conversation, he say's, " I don't want t quibble abut a few dollars, but some guys came to my door and said that they would do it cheaper than that, can you do it cheaper? I said no, that's the price. He said he would call me back. He was indian or something.

Last month, same thing. Only this guy hired me and scheduled and everything. Showed up to do the job at 8:30 am, there was a guy with a home depot machine, cleaning the driveway with a wand. Never ends.

People do business with people they like. If they've never met you, they can't like you. STOP GIVING QUOTES OVER THE PHONE. Its impersonal, you can't up sell and bundle, you can't shake their hand at the end of the deal.

Also, stop being so inflexible in pricing. There's this bullshit notion on these forums that "THE PRICE IS THE PRICE!!" And charging anything less than the originly quoted price makes you a hack or less valuable. That is ridiculous. Learn to add value, learn to price so that you DO have room to negotiate. Everybody likes a deal and it makes the sale easier and you make MORE money in the process. 10 jobs with $200 in profit nets you more $ than 5 jobs with $300 in profit. Of course that's assuming a 1 man show. Even still, the 10 jobs allow you twice the exposure as 5

Personally I typically wont do business with anyone who won't cut me some sort of deal. Throw something in free, cut the price a little, etc...and most people are that way.
 
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