Pricing cock up

[skyhuck]

How come you'll stick to the price when you've gone over-time on the job, but take money off if you complete the job under-time?

 

 

This IMO is one of the best forms of advertising, as it shows you are never out to just make every penny you can and they soon tell their friends.

[Rob D]

Well to be fair Dave you're taking my argument to a far extreme in order to prove a point. If you look at my previous posts what you have just summarised is a very long way from what I'm saying.

 

Life for me is all shades of grey - there is no such thing as black or white. There is always an exception to the rule.

 

I've had loads of jobs that have turned out much harder, longer, more complicated than I thought them to be when I first looked at them. Poor judgement on my behalf - yes, have I stuck to my price - pretty much always, did I feel bad about increasing the price in those 3 cases that happened - no. It was done in conjunction with the customer. If they had said well sorry but you gave a price and you'll have to stick with it then I would have finished the job for the original price.

[skyhuck]

be brave skyhuck, ask for more money if you need it,

 

Maybe you need to be brave and put in a proper price and have guts to stick to it

[scotspine1]

That way, if all goes well , you can give a discount if so inclined.

 

haven't you heard that the words 'tree surgery' and 'discount' should never be used in the same sentence?....but hey, if your inclined to give back that 'built in allowance for when things go wrong' go for it

[felixthelogchopper]

DIS, WHAT !!!!! discount ? doesnt that imply you have over charged in the first place

 

No, it implies that, as I clearly said, you have allowed an extra margin for unforeseen circumstances and recognise the feelgood factor for the customer of them getting the job cheaper than they expected. Surely it makes sense to say "ok, if everything goes perfectly then it will take me x hours to do the job" and then build in an error margin for things such as hitting concealed metal when cutting etc? I'm new to this trade but that's how I did things when I did landscaping, and the customers always appreciated it.

[felixthelogchopper]

haven't you heard that the words 'tree surgery' and 'discount' should never be used in the same sentence?....but hey, if your inclined to give back that 'built in allowance for when things go wrong' go for it

 

Why spend £100 on advertising when a £30 discount will do the same job?

[skyhuck]

haven't you heard that the words 'tree surgery' and 'discount' should never be used in the same sentence?....but hey, if your inclined to give back that 'built in allowance for when things go wrong' go for it

 

So you want a one way steet, the price goes up if you under price, but not down when you over price

 

You would not work for me.

[Johny Walker]

No, it implies that, as I clearly said, you have allowed an extra margin for unforeseen circumstances and recognise the feelgood factor for the customer of them getting the job cheaper than they expected. Surely it makes sense to say "ok, if everything goes perfectly then it will take me x hours to do the job" and then build in an error margin for things such as hitting concealed metal when cutting etc? I'm new to this trade but that's how I did things when I did landscaping, and the customers always appreciated it.

 

profits not a dirty word ,& thats what i work for

[THE88MAN]

So you want a one way steet, the price goes up if you under price, but not down when you over price

 

You would not work for me.

 

i think we're back to skyhucks original point about quotes and estimates here guys.a quote should be a nailed on maximum,an estimate can go either way,usually up in my experience

[felixthelogchopper]

profits not a dirty word ,& thats what i work for

 

Don't we all? But my initial figure contains my profit, and the allowance for problems is exactly what it says, a safety margin for something I may have missed initially.