[4seasons]

Here is something I never even thought of before,but could be why some of my larger estimates never call back even though I can tell they love me.
I just finished a good sized design and estimate for an existing customer.
gave(mailed) it to them before Easter then called this week to see when we could meet.
She said; we loved everything you designed for us. We guess we never really had a concept of how expensive lanscaping is!
We know it's worth that much but we'll never see a return on it at our location.(crappy part of the county)
In actuality we were kind of embarrassed and wondered do all your middle class customers spend that much with you?( estimate was around 50k)
I was like: no thats a larger scaled job and most customers like you guys are spending between $10k and 20k with us. She said wheew I was beginng to think there was something wrong with us.
I told her that I just priced everything how she asked me to, but have a few ideas on how to get the price down closer to their budget.
She said not straight out but I feel their budget is 20k, but think I can land them at 30k w/out compromising the awesomeness of the job!
Back to why I started this:
do you guys think this is a viable reason some people don't go with you? They are embarrassed to let you know they can't afford it.

[Mac]

Bruce, just this week, I was working on a lighting proposal for an existing maintenance client and initially asked her if there was an upper end to the amount she was planning on spending. Her response was simply, She had no idea and wanted to know what is an average amount to spend on a lighting project?

I think you are right - most do not know how much a project will cost. Its easier to not get back to someone then to tell the contractor they had sticker shock.

For example, recently I had a roofing contractor come take a look at a tear off and reroof at my home. I seriously had sticker shock when the price came back just over 10k. I did not get back to that contractor for a number of reasons, one of them being they are more than I budgeted for this year. However, that doesnt mean I am not going to use them ever - it will just be in a few years when I can afford them.

[Lanelle]

Just as Mac is saying, some people will put away the estimate and call you back in a year or two when they have put together enough money to proceed. That is a good reason to keep a 'dead file' for a couple of years of unsigned proposals. If things get slow, call some of them to see if they are still interested.

[Dot Pecson]

This does sound like a legitimate issue. What about offering your client several levels of work? Maybe price things out individually so the client can pick and choose if necessary, then offer them a discount if they decide to go with the whole package.

This gives them options, and hopefully it eases (or at least explains) the sticker shock factor.

Dot

[4seasons]

all my estimates are broken down into sections so they can see what it's gonna cost them to do any one part of the project.
My final price is the discounted price, because it will be more if we have to come in more!
I don't always ask for budget because I don't always get an answer. Plus we are a small community and my phone is not exactly ringing off the hook, so I don't always prequalify people so well. I figure just get me before them and I can brush-up on my salesmanship!
I have the dead folder it just saves me from having to work so hard refiguring the estimate again.
Mac,
I try to treat everyone how I would want to be treaTED-- always call back even if your not going to use them.( I'm guilty of doing it - just my goal for the year callback in 24hrs or less)

[GLAN]

People and us have no clue as to what costs are for any contracted work today.

Friday before Easter......my sewer line from the house became blocked.....Called one company to snake it out. ( had been done once before about 2 xmas's ago )....This guy got to the blockage and stopped.......said he couldn't do anything.....Had to pay him $125.00 just for openning up the trap (shakes head)

Was instructed to call a certain company.......they showed up within 30 minutes of calling......They broke through what apparently was the first obstruction and ran a camera.........14 feet from the trap was roots....sand and small pebbles (not good, right?)........they tell us.....They can be back by 8:30 the next morning to run a liner through the inside from the trap.

Saturday.......the dug down street side of the blockage and cut the pipe......it was found that there was a seperation in the area of the 14 feet from the trap......further along towards the street.......2 more problem spots............more roots and more sand in the line.

OK.........job done $7,000.00

Pipe that was cut was replaced with a new pipe and a liner running 44 feet from trap to just past curb at the street.

They took $6,000.00 cash.


Our pricing to us.........in our heads is reasonable.......reasonable enough for us to earn a living.


All my estimates so far this year. I have been getting some strange looks and comments. I've been able to acquire a couple new maintenance accounts and some design/install work.........it's early........so.......I am OK with how things are going.

Took me a while.....The fine folks here made me realize that not everyone fits my company.......and I know realize that my company does not fit all people......that's the way I want my business to be......my knowledge and quality blows away most that's out there.......there are people that will pay for that

[Raj Venugopal]

Money makes the world go round. Sounds cynical but true. The only things that aren't are family, friends and character. Everything else has a bottom line.

[thegreenman_us]

I always ask for a rough Budget, even though my jobs are usually very small (1-5k almost all softscaping) The last client I asked told me he had no clue what his job would cost. I asked if his budget was $2,000 or $20,000. He said $2,000 at the maximum. This is a young couple in their first house who have a young child. I immediately guessed they were most likely going to do nothing, or go buy some plants and mulch at Home Depot and make a hodge podge out of their lawn.

I brought in a bid for about 60% of the work they wanted to have done for $1,915.00. ( I always bring in my bid under their maximum and then offer additional items ala carte) This was two weeks ago and I haven't heard back from them. I'll make one check up call this week, just offering my services if they need someone in the future. Win some - lose some - reserve some for the future.

[Greensmith]

I need to get better at this budget thing as well. I have been embarrassed/annoyed when customer jaws drop when I tell them the walkway alone is going to ring them 3K+ forget the whole yard!

[LandArts]

I usually talk about money right up front-even during the initial phone call. Last week I came up against a customer that told me she would never, ever discuss budget with me...fair enough but trust is a two-way street and I don't think I'll waste much time on her.

[jwholden]

I agree that our customers have no idea what the services we sell cost. Why should they? Isn't that why they called us.

Why not set an appointment, show up on time clean shaven and not in a hurry and talk to them about the job they want installed. Then, once they have given you a general a idea of what they want give them a RANGE of what a job like that will cost to install. Judge if you will persue the job or not based on how they respond.

I refuse to blame a prospect for not knowing what my services cost. I blame myself for not educating them about what a good contractor does and why a good contractor like me charges what I do.

Our secondary business is to dig holes and sweat detials on jobs. Our primary job is to assist our clients in figuring out what they want and help them to get it.

[Digger Dan]

As a consumer, here's my .02 on the sticker shock issue:

I called 20+ hardscapers to review my labor intensive job. I had 4 people show up that looked like they either left a joint burning in the truck's ashtray or had just gotten out of prison 20 minutes before they arrived. The estimates varied from 20-35k.

I looked up what I would need materialwise, and it will cost between 4 and 5k to do the job. I have to wonder - Is labor really that costly? I want quality work, and I would have paid to get it. But no one would offer me a reasonable price, IMO. 4-7 times the cost seems a little out of whack.

[Paul]

Labor isn't just the cost of the pay check the man gets, what about overhead, the cost of the trucks , the fuel that goes in to them, insurance, rent, work comp, taxes, the list goes on.......... yes and then profit.

Your 9 weeks at a fair wage get's to be a very large chunk of money most here would say around $23,000. If I was still in business you would add in another $10,000 to $15,000 to the above figure but then I was a union contractor. So lets see a couple of walls at $4200 for material plus engineering will add another $1500, plus overhead and profit your at + or - $50,000........... Is that what your where thinking of spending? Now then the guy that looked like he was high on pot or just out of prison might have just came from a tough job site really looking tired and worn out. Most here on this site are small contractors with one or two laborers, they work along side of their people, after you finish your 8 hour day on your job you are doing go drive a half hour to some one elses home and make a great impression on them.

[Stonehenge]

@Dan,

That's a perfect illustration of why when I hear that a prospective client is trying to decide between hiring out and doing it themselves, I try not to waste any time on them, because educating them on the real costs of doing business and why our price is what it is just isn't possible.

Did those people you met seem like they were millionaires? Did they roll up in escalades for the first appointment? Rolex watches? If not, you might wonder why.

If you were to build your own house, you'd also be surprised at how affordable it now is.

But if you're doing mortar work for the first time on these walls for your house, along with paver patios and such, with tight access - you should probably plan on needing more time, and those walls failing. The world of landscape isn't as easy as the DIY shows make it out to be. But don't take my word for it - do it yourself and find out.

[Raj Venugopal]

Our town is littered with DIY nightmares, as well as fall-apart jobs done by contractors who have very little skill. In one prestigious part of our city, one of the contractors with the biggest ad in the yellow pages had a $60,000+ two tier wall fall over on a hillside property. Literally. No base course, no wall stagger, no geotex to speak of I believe... despite it being over 15 feet high (if memory serves right).

Nothing is free in life, and there's nothing like a bargain. You get what you pay for, and if someone's price is cheap, they give up on either their skill, their ability to make a living, their pay of staff, their materials...or something.

If a person can do it themselves, great. I love people being empowered to do their own work. Just know the limitations and walk in well-educated on the costs, liabilities and up/downsides.