Help!!!!!! I'm Frustrated Over Pricing!!!!!!

I have recently bid two jobs and have not had a response back on either one. Obviously, I am over bidding and need some input.

The first job was a large dentist office with about 100 windows to do both inside and out. Some windows were very dirty and hard to reach. Needed a ladder for those plus a pole. The inside of this office had some dental equipment that needed to be covered when I washed the inside windows. I estimated the job would take about 36 hours to complete and I bid it at $691 plus I threw in a free mid winter cleaning for the immediate waiting room area. Never heard from them.

The second job is a large commercial building with 200 windows. They only want me to clean the outside of these. It is the largest building in this small Wyoming town in which I live and has the most windows of any building also. It is a 3 story building with windows reaching about 40 feet above the ground plus windows on the top of the roof which can be reached by walking around the flat roof. I will need a boom lift to get the 2nd and 3rd story windows. The windows are 2x6 feet and 4x6 feet on average. There is also 3 very large windows in the lobby of this building. Each window is about 2 1/2 feet by about 22 feet tall. I will have to use a ladder and extension pole on these. I estimate the entire job to take about 40 to 50 hours. I bid the labor part of the job at $990 plus the rental of the boom lift which is $265 and $45 for delivery and pickup of the lift. The total bid came to $1300. Once again, I have not heard from them.

Right now I'm only charging $20 an hour for labor because people around here are not willing to pay much more than that. I spent considerable time on both these jobs trying to put together a fair estimate for the customer and for me also. People want you to do their windows but they don't want to pay squat to have them done. I guess they expect you to do them for nothing. Anyway, I would appreciate your thoughts, comments or suggestions on these two bids. Am I over bidding these jobs???

sshaw said:

I have recently bid two jobs and have not had a response back on either one. Obviously, I am over bidding and need some input.


Right now I'm only charging $20 an hour for labor because people around here are not willing to pay much more than that. . Am I over bidding these jobs???

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So much to learn, young grass hoppa. Stick around. Methinks your weakness is not in the pricing but CLOSING THE SALE.

To PressurePros

Interesting. I never thought of that. I figured once I submitted the bid then it was up to them to get back in touch with me if they were interested. How do I "close the sale"? I don't want to seem to pushy or desperate.

Ask them why they did not choose your company. That can be something to work on in the future. No harm in asking, learn from your experience, don't loathe over it. Every bid I follow up on. Ask if they made a decision, if they did, was it price, image, job quality, that drove that decision. Let them know that you care and want the business. I just landed a decent repeat contract because I called every two months to check in and guess what the guy just stopped showing up to do the work and guess who they remembered? ME!!!

The other guy realized he could not make money at the price and just quit doing the job and I got it at my original asking price. Follow up, follow up and there are many books about closing the sale. Don't be shy about asking for the work, having them sign the deal, or asking why you did not get the work.

Jeff Robison
Titan Exterior
678-360-2518

Also ask how much the wining bid was for, sometimes people will tell you.

There is a book on commercial window pricing that can give you a guideline on what to charge. I would think your best bet would be to go for res work. Around here typical charge for me is about $70 an hour.

You need to be able to cover your cost of materials and labor to be successful, otherwise you will work yourself to the bone for little or no money.

sshaw said:

Interesting. I never thought of that. I figured once I submitted the bid then it was up to them to get back in touch with me if they were interested. How do I "close the sale"? I don't want to seem to pushy or desperate.

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Another interesting tidbit.. customers are like women playing the dating game. They want to fel wanted and pursued. Always follow up with a call. ven if you call two days later to say "Hi, Mrs Jones just folowing up my estimae witha courtesy call. Do you have any questions or concerns I can adress for you?"

also, i wouldn't tell people a per hour rate. it may seem safe, but could hold you back. customers begin to evaluate whether you should be earning at that rate. people wouldn't hire me if i told them I wanted to charge $50 per hour. I give them a price based on the windows. Little do they know that I'll end up with $75 per hour. The best part is, that's ok! Most people will not sit around thinking about how much you're making per hour. The more you lower your prices to get jobs, the cheaper your customers will be. As it says in the pricing defined post, it pays to get no's. get in with the right kind of customers and they really won't care half as much about what you're charging. I also find that commercial work pretty much always pays less. I still price it they way I should. If I get the job fine, but I'm not chasing them down trying to convince them to let me work for a rate I don't even like.

I stopped at a few local businesses today to inquire about cleaning their windows. I gave normal prices (from $20 to $30 depending)...apparently a guy came through about 2 months ago and is charging $6.00 to clean the entire outside AND INSIDE of these shop's windows.

In total, he got 5 accounts, so he's cleaning 5 shops with between 2 and 5 windows a piece for $6.00 inside and out.

The windows look horrible. He hasn't been back since he 'sold the jobs' two months ago...

I told the business owners maybe he meant $6.00 a month, and he'd come once a year or something.

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Oh well, I'll stop back in a month.