How do I present my bid to a hotel, or car dealership, or office building, that will be in the multi hundreds to thousands of dollars? Orally? Or in writing?
And if in writing, can someone please send me an example letter of this, so I can use as a template?
Third part… Then if my bid is accepted, it would be most helpful if I had an example of the format of a work order (contract) that needs to be signed by management before I do the work.
Also, would it be too much to ask for payment upon completion of job? Or if not that, maybe Net 7, or am I looking at more a Net 30, or even Net 45+?
I’ll give you my email address if you want. Just PM me to let me know. Thanks.
Always written. I use quickbooks online - so I can quickly generate a professional looking estimate. It has an “accepted” signature area as well, which could function as a loose contract.
I believe quickbooks offers a free version for 20 clients - maybe you could use it to get started?
There’s a ton of examples in the business documents area, you’ll just have to send Chris a business doc to share to gain access.
I use net 15, although most commercial pays within 30-45 days.
You know Leo you might want to line your ducks in a row before you go running out bidding jobs. I couldn’t even imagine starting my first job on that kind of a scale. I mean you said yourself you haven’t cleaned any windows in the official way, whatever that means. I’m almost waiting for you to come on here next week and ask us how to bid this one
I like your enthusiasm but you need to be realistic. start out with storefronts and smaller homes.
Hahahahahah!! I feel like I’m starting out right where I should be. It’ll all work out. Hey!.. Is that the new Cowboys Staduim?? Man! That is a weird looking building. If you want to know what I would bid for that job, I know this guy who does skyscraper work, who I can subcontract. And I can have him check out the staduim, and tell me what he would charge me, using his crew. And then I will tack on my fee on top of that, and then I can get back to you on that one. ;-)~
Well, I admire your enthusiasm too, and wish you all the best Leo.
Since you are new, though, your problem will be keeping your promises with the workmanship.
You could make an amazing proposal, get the job, and then end up messing up the work, and damaging your company’s reputation along the way, hurting your chances of getting more work from those kind of people.
It’s a smarter plan to acquire some technical expertise first, as suggested.
Then I’ll be happy to give you some tips on working some marketing magic on these car dealership prospects and similar.
Can you use the non online version, anotherwords, the software version, to do your estimating with, where it would look more professional to hand the prospective customer something in writing? It’s been days, and I haven’t been able to find anything online I really like. Either it’s way tooo professional, based on someone with tons of references, years of experience, and/or simply the wrong format for my tastes. I know I can create something. I just havent been able to isolate my thoughts long enough to do so. And I fear I need a writen estimate to look more the role of someone they would want to hire for some jobs I’m bidding now. I feel like I’m going to the big dance without tickets to get in. Yeah, I paid for them, but there in the mail, and the show is tonight. Anyway… as far as the document side to this website, I haven’t been able to get in there, as I havent made anything to submit yet. I could just send something that I ran across online, but that seems a bit cheesy. Or whatever you want to call it…
Ok… well before you could answer me, I just installed Quickbooks 2009 Premier. And I made some simple Estimate sheets which they provide, that just have the most rudimentary of information. But it’s probably better than nothing for now. I’ll have to figure out how to customize it more, and tweak that Estimate page up a bit later on. Gotta run, ciao.
Im not quite sure I understand your question. I use the paid online version to print out both estimates and invoices. I can print these right from the truck on the spot. But you could print estimates and invoices from the free version too.
I wouldn’t say my estimates are fancy - but they convey the needed information and plus a little extra to maybe sell another service. It’s important to not rely on your estimate to sell the job though.
As far as submitting something to Chris for access to the business documents area, anything that’s your own will work. Business card, estimate, flier, business plan, a sales letter, thank you letter…
Sorry I missed your phone call the other day, I was soft washing a house and didn’t hear it ring. Feel free to try again though, I’ll try to catch it.
ALWAYS in writing…i never give an estimate w/out having it in writing, unless theyre asking over the phone (usually residential) and I give them my min starting price…but tell them it more than likely will be higher. i use my invoice form for my estimates…I dont see a need for 2 separate forms. Its in the biz doc section.
I’d say that at least %90 of my bids have been submitted on the back of one of my cards. Good practice? na-a-a. I use invoices also.,and it looks better, but the card fits in their wallet better. Some companies require bids on your company stationary, so I am always pre-paired, if that is the case.
[I][B]“because glass looks it’s best when you can’t see it”[/B][/I]
I wouldn’t tell them that it will likely be a higher price. I would tell them that the price is rough, but not “likely lower than reality”. Pitch a higher price once you are on site if need be. I haven’t lost a job because the price is different on arrival.
Leo, I know your post is over 4 years old but, I now find myself in the position that you were in 4 years ago. Im in need of a bid template and can not find one anywhere. Its frustrating because like you, I am wanting to get started, supplies are on order but i am planning ahead and wanting be prepared professionally but, no one is willing to help me locally and I can imagine thats because we are from an area almost saturated with window cleaners! Can you help me with this?
Or feel free to e mail our office manager Alfred at: [email protected]
He can assist you with any questions or set up a time for a complimentary account set up. I believe we still have an appointment available tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning. We look forward to hearing from you.
