Quoting, It’s a Shit of a Thing – The MAIN Game
I see it all the time – someone wants a new kitchen or bathroom or roof or house or a builder wants to try out a new tradesman, perhaps because his current guy is never bloody there when the surf’s up or he’s fucked off to Bali again for a month.
So they have a chat with you and what’s the first thing they say? “Why don’t you give me a quote?”
So, at this stage, you don’t know if they are actually planning to build this thing or not and two or three hours is a lot to invest in someone who might just be testing the water.
So what does someone who is ready to move and is worth your three hours look like?
Well, they have 4 things:
MAIN
- Money – they have enough to pay for what you’re going to build. How to find out – ballpark it and ask them
- Authority – they can make the decision on their own. If they have to go to someone else (husband, wife, boss) before they can give you the go ahead, they can’t buy and you shouldn’t spend your three hours. Give ‘em a ballpark and spend some time getting in front of the other decision-maker.
- Immediacy – “Oh no, we’ll do it in 6 months” – you know you’ll have to do another quote in 6 months so a detailed breakdown of the costs is a complete waste of time, isn’t it? Ballpark em again and quote nearer the time
- Need – they have to know why YOU are the trade supplier they want. If all you are is a price, you aren’t helping yourself
So you need to help them understand what sort of tradesman you are and find out what sort they want to work with. If there’s not a match, your quote will be wrong and you will have wasted your time.
Do they want a high-quality, full-service tradesman who manages the other trades, takes care, leaves the pace clean and is proud of what he does but costs a bit more? Or do they want a cheap kitchen?
You won’t be both of them.
If you are high quality and cheap then we need to talk because you are leaving money on the table which is no fun at all.
In the Trades Business Coaching Program, we’ll talk about how to charge more instead of running to stand still.
P.S. Book a ten-minute call with Jon to talk about quoting in your business.
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4. Book yourself a 10-minute chat with me. We’ll talk about whether coaching is right for you now and if it is, we’ll go further into the process before you have to make your mind up.
See you later.