Tuesday, June 11, 2013

You Want That Written Down?





My husband and I are doing a few home projects this summer.  One includes painting a large part of the inside of our house and having a few hard wood floors refinished.  We decided to call in a few professionals to get quotes.  One man came in and gave us a quote verbally to do one room the floor and the painting.  I was not happy that he did not put it in writing but he and my husband had worked it out so I thought, let it be.  What a mistake!  He came in unprepared each time, took a long time to finish, and then charged us more than he apparently had quoted my husband.   


So, I thought I would just see if it was possible to get a written quote out of him.  He came to finish up the project and my husband was out of town.  So I told him I wanted a written quote and he informed me that he had spoken with my husband and gave him a quote verbally to do the rest of the house.  I handed him a piece of paper with all the rooms listed, what I wanted done and a place for the quote.  He then said he didn’t have time that evening to give me the quote.  Really?  He didn’t have time to quote what was going to be a large project?  What he told me was clear.  As long as he could get away without anything in writing, he could charge us what he wanted.   As you can guess I told him thanks but no thanks. 

How do you treat your clients?  Do you and your employees always stick with what’s quoted?  Do you make sure that each potential or current client understands what work will be done and what the price will be?  These things can make or break a client’s confidence in you and your company.  As for our house, my husband and I have decided to do it ourselves.  And we found someone who has provided us with a written quote to handle those things we can’t do ourselves.   The other guy not only lost our business, but a larger job I had planned to refer to him if he had done a good job with our house. 

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)
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