How would you respond?
Sent this lady an estimate for like a million dollar home and she replied with:
Thank you for the quotes. I’m waiting for two more companies to give me a quote and I will get back to you but I have one that’s much cheaper than the one that you gave me so I’m not sure if the price is negotiable or not.
Up to you if you want to negotiate the price. Sounds like she’s trying to haggle you down.
On the one hand, she could be making up this other “cheaper” guy in an attempt to get you to lower your price.
On the other hand, it’s weird that she’s 1) being vague about the other guy’s price (how much cheaper is he?) and 2) telling you at all (why would she bother telling you if she just wants the cheaper price? Just say, ‘no’ and go with the other guy, then). It could be she wants to hire you, but is trying to get your price down a little before she chooses you over the other guys.
As for how to respond, I’m not sure. You could either:
a) lower your price, or
b) say, “Thank you for letting me know, I’ll wait to hear back.” and see what happens. or
c) stay with your price, but inform her of what you do; workflow, quality, attention to detail, etc. Try to sell her on the value you offer for the price, so it doesn’t look like she’s just choosing a dollar amount; she’s choosing quality of service.
Just my 2 cents.
last fall my office kept calling me about an estimate for a large home with a lot of glass. at first it was just because the house was off standard, secons and third foolr balconies with glass rails, inside a very large stairway and cat walk with glass rails etc so we figured out a price. then i get a call could we do it for x? now i don’t negotiate in most cases and easily get pissed off so i said no but fortunately my admin is very good at turning my angry refusals into calm concerned declines and continuing a good relationship. this is also happening at the very end of our season when the weather could stop us at any momoent and we are tring to fit in all our regulrs and prev scheduled work and this is a job that will will take may full crew and myself the better part of a day. over the next day or 2 i received a few more calls what if this ?what if that? variatons on how how much work etc on and on. even though i was spitting nails my admin stayed calm and in the end booked the full job for our top price and the customer had this to say on google:
“Ken’s window cleaning is simply the best! I have personally used other companies in Winnipeg and can only recommend Ken’s. All the staff are friendly, respectful and responsive! Can’t ask for more. Thanks Ken!”
just because someone has money does not mean you deserve it! i have been working with rich people for over 40 years in different businesses and in my experience, they are wonderful to work with (obviously some exceptions).
i don’t know what you shuld do because i don’t know if your price is fair and if you are covered with liability and workers comp (i know you weren;t previously) if you are not i don’t think you have any business accepting work unless you warn the customer of your situation and the risk they are taking in hiring you first.
There’s no right or wrong…
If you want the client then id let her know that it’s often hard to price things out before doing the job and ask her to forward you that estimate to see if you can match it.
Sometimes the difference is literally 50$.
bUt i hAvE oNe tHaT’s mUcH cHeApEr - some lady
This.
I went with c, let’s c how it goes lol. But it’s a nice house to take some nice pics of 
covered just not with work comp cause im a sole prop.
some people always ask just to make sure they didn’t miss a deal, you say no, they say ok, they’re just checking off boxes in their head, along lines of those that ask for military, first responder, senior discounts
some people feel if you lower your price you must be desperate and wont pick you
some people are not satisfied unless they get something off, even if only $25 (kind of feel they won and didn’t pay full price)
some people are bean counters and matching to their preplanned budget, however unrealistic it may be, or drive you nuts changing their scope of work to shoehorn into a price they want
some people are remembering the lowest price they ever got and refuse to pay more than that . . . ever
some people could virtually care less about everything else they are “auctioning” off their work to the lowest bidder (means you’ll never see them again, cause they’ll do another “auction” next time they want a service too)
trying to decipher which it is can be a challenge but if on the right track you’ll know how to win the bid or if its worth it to win or walk away without wasting more time
The thing with this lady is I can tell we have good rapport and all that jazz but she just doesn’t want to pay the price I’d do it for…
We’re talking about needing a ladder for about 10 or 15 windows on the inside and there’s 10 skylights lol no no.
Apparently there were also 2 other skylights that she didn’t even know about but that I pointed out and flat out said I won’t do because it’s like 3 stories up and steep
I wrote her a lengthy paragraph after her message and she said I understand thank you so much
Lol listen whoever does that for “much cheaper” good luck
This one.
“I am not offering any discounts at this time”.
“I am not surprised you found someone cheaper, I do tend to be one of the highest priced in the area”
Of course if I’m feeling desperate it’s more like " I’ll beat anyone else by 15%"
