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talent. Get paid by the ‘window shoppers.’ Stop giving away the business and dragging down the industry! Charge for estimates!”
My thoughts Obviously, Tom has hit one of the business problems that
face the PHC industry right on the head. Good job, Tom! After speaking with many contractors across the U.S, I found that the “not so free estimate” is not unique to Long Island. Foolishness has no geographic boundaries. Aside from that, Tom is right! Diagnosing problems over the phone is a bad practice.
Regardless of how good you think you are, you could be wrong, because you have not seen the circumstances related to the situation at hand. Add to that the fact that you have spent your time, at your expense, to tell someone how to avoid using your services. That isn’t smart, and it doesn’t help you pay the bills you incur serving that consumer. I’m not suggesting that you don’t talk to potential clients. I am saying, be smart. If you spend all your time giving free advice, you will soon be out of business. Good doctors do not diagnose potential new patients
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over the phone. They make an appointment for an examination. The cost of traveling to the doctor and paying for the visit is the responsibility of the patient, not
that of the doctor. Since you are a doctor of buildings, and since you incur
the cost of bringing the examining room and the doctor to the client, you should charge the client for the costs you incur to address their requests. You deserve to be rewarded for the risks you take in delivering your knowledge, expertise and professional services. Dependent upon the costs you incur, every time you give
I’m not suggesting that you don’t talk to potential clients. I am saying, be smart. If you spend all your time giving free advice, you will soon be out of business.
a “not so free” free estimate you incur a cost to your business that cannot be recovered. When you take into consideration the expenses you incur to operate your business, the cost of not charging for estimates can range, minimally, from $50 to $150. It could be more. But it is never less. If you think you can add that cost to the next job, keep in
mind that you would be diminishing the chances of getting that job. That wouldn’t be fair to the next potential customer, and it would only exacerbate your problems. If you don’t get the next job, you would have to add the cost of two free estimates to the third potential job and so on. Obviously, that concept is absurd. If you projected those costs and only gave free estimates, the minimum annual expense to you could be from $85,400 to $256,200. I thank Tom for his opinion,
and I agree with him. Charge for estimates! I hope he and I have shed some light on this problem. If you need help resolving this or any other business problem you are experiencing, give me a call at 845/639-5050. I look forward to your call and wish you well.;
Richard P. DiToma is a contracting business consultant and active PHC contractor with more than 40 years of experience in the PHC industry.
To receive more information about his:
Contracting Business Coaching Consultations Business Books
Seminars with Solutions Customized Price Guides Customized Business Forms
CONTACT RICHARD by phone at 845-639-5050 or via e-mail at
richardditoma@verizon.net Fax: 845-639-6791 R&G Profit-Ability Inc. P.O. Box 282 West Nyack, NY 10994
e Circle 18 on reader reply card
phc february 2011
www.phcnews.com
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