Low bid wins

Lou Zehnder

New member
Well I lost a complex a couple of weeks ago. No biggie right............ Figured DJ got it and thats cool because he really goes hard after PM's. Well I found out that the other bid was $5500.00 . I kinda went what.......My bid was not even in the ball park. 28 buildings(8 units) and 28 garages(8 garages). So I decided I would do a little spying when I drove up to look at some water towers in Ohio. Nobody was around but talked to a couple of painters and condo owners. All not happy with the work that was being done. I took some pics of the work and left. Today dad drove over and snapped a picture of the guy working......My question is should I send the pics I have of the bad work to the board members and the pm or just leave it alone. And yes.....these are all after shots.lol

hack1.jpghack2.jpghack3.jpghack4.jpghack5.jpghack6.jpg
 
They know what they hired, I would give them a courtesy call and tell them thanks for letting me bid on your property, and if you ever need us in the future to please give us a call.
 
I would suggest you just pick up the current unhappy customers! No need to take pictures to the lost account. It will likely not be received all that well! If the mistake of hiring a hack does not cost them anything, the lesson wont settle in and you'll have to get pictures of every new guy that bids. Just be sure you add references with you bids so the customer can do due diligence if they truly care. There is a very wide range of quality in this business. My niche even has "standards" set by "authorities". We inform our customers that our service offers the highest quality results. It's not necessarily that our competition sucks. It's that their service just creates a lower quality result. If you don't want to pay to drive a Cadillac, you can buy a Kia down the road. Some customers wanted Deawoo and Yugo... That's an important market segment too!
 
Nick and Kyle nailed it Lou. Call them could make them fell like you're rubbing their nose in it. No sense making the PM mad. you may never get a call back period if you pi$$ them off.
 
Wow, that price is rediculous! For this reason I recently decided not to bid on any more apartment complexes. Only 100 units and under for me. No money in it with a legal 2-3 man crew. Give me a shout sometime and we can talk about apartment and condos'.

It is very tempting to send an email with comparison pictures and a note but ultimately I guess I wouldn't.
 
Id say just keep your name in front of the pm and maybe next time theyll know better.

We are washing an individual condo for homeowner next week. They live in a complex we lost to a cheaper price last summer. This condo owner made it clear to me she was very unhappy with their washing. She had damage to her condo as most of the rest of them did.

We lost another one a few months ago on the lake. They started washing in late May and arent finished yet. Ive been by a few times in the boat and its funny how the whole place is washed up to about 8 feet high!

I know the HOAs are making the final call on this but surely the PMs care what kind of contractor they are presenting to the HOA. Makes me think that they just dont know any better....
 
Chris, you nailed it right there. The Pm's should care enough to get bids from quality qualified cleaners. . If they cannot supply HOA's with that then eventually they will be dropped and have zero properties to manage.
 
After I finish a job I usually ask the PM or HO what the other bids were. Often I get an answer "You were right with the rest of them" but sometimes I told "You were the highest bid but you took the time to explain everything to me."

I think some people think washing a structure is like washing a car...how can you screw it up? After the hacks finish with a job the PM indeed sees how it can become screwed up. It only takes one or two times but they will learn where to go in the future to get the job done right. My wife and I were talking about this last night because of several large roof jobs I bid yesterday morning; rather large bids. I made sure to have the company truck cleaned nice, have insurance papers ready and have pictures of previous roof work to show. I got both jobs. Funny thing was at the second bid there was another powerwash "contractor" pulling away as I pulled up tp meet the PM. I wish I had a photo to show you of what this guy looked like and the truck he was driving. Eww.
 
I'll go against the grain here and say that I think it's important to follow up with property managers and other contacts. Why? Because sadly, many do not know the difference between rinsing and CLEAN. I have been told so many times, "Well, that's as clean as it gets, they did their best". Wrong. You have to tactfully say nope, there's a higher level of clean. They didn't have the equipment or knowledge to property complete the job. That way so next time the job is up for bid - the PM knows what to look for and what to expect. Otherwise, they're going to expect the same "rinse" job they got previously and assume "well, that's as good as it gets".

On the other hand, I think it's good to commend a contractor after a job well done. I've called PM's before and told them the work done was spectacular.. keep that contractor because they're doing a great job.

It's nothing personal against the contractor or the PM. It's about keeping the people in your service area educated about our industry.

28 buildings with 8 units per building.. that's 224 units total. That's a lot of people thinking this is what kind of work we do. Sadly we all get lumped into the same category unless we speak up.
 
a couple years ago I bid an apt complex. I think about 13 buildings. I lost the bid to another guy. Handy man type. Supposedly he was a friend of someone who worked there, his bid was 5 dollars from mine. I think someone showed mine to him. They done 2 buildings then tapped out. Couldnt get it clean. Took them FOREVER to do them, especially with the yellow noddle and turbo nozzle on all that vinyl siding up high. Guess who they called? Some people think its as easy as just spraying it off I guess
 
We are cleaning for a new P/M right now, She came right out and told me that we were the only true professional company that bid this job, and they weren't even going to consider the others. She also told us that she manages 15 other properties so I guess great work and professionalism will always win out in the end.
 
They got what they paid for. Some HOA's are smart, many are not. I would not show the pictures or comment. I would keep my name in front of the manager. Most managers want good contractors, a small percentage of them are low ballers themselves

Love the picture of the guy, no shirt and bending over to blast the vinyl, classic.

I lost many properties 2 - 2 1/2 years ago. I would say I got 50-65% of them back. HOA's are fickled, they change BOD every couple few years, sometimes you get new ones that are going to show everyone they are smart, going to save money, some are and do, others F things up.

Crap use to drive me crazy not to long ago, now I just understand my market, most has to do with the ECONONY.!!!!!!! But the economy will be great soon, The Dems & Republicans are working so well together now for OUR best interests LMAO

Apartments are cheap 90% of the time



Move on to the next bid and project Lou
 
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We are cleaning for a new P/M right now, She came right out and told me that we were the only true professional company that bid this job, and they weren't even going to consider the others. She also told us that she manages 15 other properties so I guess great work and professionalism will always win out in the end.


Some people would think that you just "Lucked Up" Nick. Guess what, you didn't!! I am finding more and more of these same situations. People have been "Burned" by these guys, so now they search out "The Professionals". It's happened more this year than any other I can remember.
 
Some people would think that you just "Lucked Up" Nick. Guess what, you didn't!! I am finding more and more of these same situations. People have been "Burned" by these guys, so now they search out "The Professionals". It's happened more this year than any other I can remember.

10-4 Guy I think your right.
 
I have told someone that had a low bid to make sure that they checked references, before they awarded the contract. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't
 
A lot of the PM's I've worked with lately, can't (Most Times) go with the "High Bid", are suspicious of the "Low Bid" and try to find a "Happy Medium" in between. We were actually the low bid on 2 properties recently, and asked by the PM why our price was the lowest. I was caught off guard by this since this has never happened to us before. After explaining our "Process" of washing, and giving her our reference list, she gave the thumbs up 3 days later.
 
Check these out Lou:
1127302661_FYAaM-L.jpg

1127302565_Ln3QY-L.jpg


This was an apartment complex we lost. This was the work that was done. You could see the damage from the road, but the PM didn't realize what/how it had happened. She appreciated us explaining what went wrong and how it may be fixed (or not fixed).

I agree, showing the PM pictures may seem a little harsh, I wouldn't jump straight to that. But follow ups can be beneficial to you AND the PM if they're tactfully done.
 
Check these out Lou:
1127302661_FYAaM-L.jpg

1127302565_Ln3QY-L.jpg


This was an apartment complex we lost. This was the work that was done. You could see the damage from the road, but the PM didn't realize what/how it had happened. She appreciated us explaining what went wrong and how it may be fixed (or not fixed).

I agree, showing the PM pictures may seem a little harsh, I wouldn't jump straight to that. But follow ups can be beneficial to you AND the PM if they're tactfully done.

You like the job I did huh. We call that siding art. Just kidding. I love showing pictures like that to my potential clients to show them what can happen from an inexperienced pressure washing guy/company. Do you mind if I steal that picture?
 
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