Would like a little feedback from the veterans in the business. When doing an estimate for a cleaning job you give the customer a price on what it would costs for this service. Do you also have the form of payment that you will receive (cash, check,etc.) upon completion of the cleaning? Do you have the customer sign the estimate form prior to starting the job so that both of you have an agreement as to the final costs and payment? I would think that this may be the way to do business rather than giving a quote and then haggleing about what the final cost should be. After all if the roof is cleaned (to yours & their expectations) then what is there to negotiate.
Mike w/ Indiana Roof Cleaning
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Danny and Mike Spiczenski
Indiana Roof Cleaning Safe Roof Cleaning Non Pressure Roof Cleaning Indianapolis Black Streak Removal
Hey Mike all great questions. Making them sign the estimate sheet does not entitle you to payment. The forms of payment you accept depends on you and what your set up to do. CASH only businesses look very unprofessional. Depending on the type of job, size, always try to get paid upon completion of work. Some places want deposits before you do any work, but again it all depends on how your set up.
And no matter what you are always going to get complainers.... And price hagglers... Heres a thought would you go into Walmart and grab a pair of jeans that say $39.99 on the tag then when you go up to the cashier say hmmm how about I give you $20 for them.. U wouldnt... I wouldnt.... Some people just want to be able to say they got a discount.. They are programed that way.
I'll try talk / listen and walk around with the customer for a few min. if u LISTEN they will generally tell u all that u need to hear, then when u have a price n mind add $30- $50 to it if need be. worst case, they don't haggle and u come out better off for a job well done
Mike, We quote jobs, we don't give estimates. Estimates are just what they say an estimate. We don't estimate jobs we know what it's going to cost us to do a job and that's what we quote are customer. They either except the quote or they don't. We know what our cost is and we know what we want our profit margin to be and that's it.
In N. Y. here. The homeowner has to sign a contract. It has to say what work is being preformed. It needs to have at lest a 1 year warrantee. You also need to have a 3 day resend notice explaining that they have 3 days to cancel. If you don't have all this in a contract . They don't have to pay
I its called RIGHT OF RESCISSION, this is also ONLY mandatory on contracts signed WITHIN there home, so if they come to your office then it is NOT mandatory.
Well we provide free estimates to customers on an written, proposal/estimate form. The estimate is written what it would cost to do, roof cleaning plus other services we do provide. It is also written at the bottom "estimates are only good for 30 days and if the work is scheduled to be done, once that work is completed payment is expected, either by cash, check or credit card since we carry a wireless credit card machine in our truck. Once a price is given for a roof cleaning job it stays that price. I also keep the Technical bulletins by ARMA and GAF/ElK in my clip board with me, front and back so if there is any questions about what we do I can just point it out to them on that form. It is a nice sale point when you hand it to them with the estimate/proposal. Good luck.
I'm sorry... I personally think having too much information in a residential situation is daunting to the homeowner and can be inefficient use of time. Written proposals are always recommended, however, waiting for theHO to present and to collect the signed paperwork could be more of a hassle than cleaning the roof.
I prefer to put a proposal together, get the job done, and let them send me a check to do the next job.
We always provide a quote. We stand firm on the price and explain that our prices are already as low as we can afford to go. If they still balk, we give them a warning about the hacks that are always around and will destoy their roof. We also use the GAF sheets as sales tools. We end the conversation by telling them that we hope to hear back and our quote is good for 30 days. We have gotten alot of call backs just by being honest and making an effort to educate the customer. We accept cash, check and charge cards. We like to take payment away with us, but we will bill if the customer is not home. Our quote from has to be signed, it has to state the start and completion dates and it has to include a three day right of cancellation. In Connecticut it doesn't matter where the form is signed, the customer always has the right to cancel within 3 business days.
Hey guys. I'm very new to roof cleaning but have been a general contractor here in NY for over 25 years. I've found that if I'm not sure about you no matter how small of a job I'll take a deposit.
When a customer tries to lower your price before or after. I just say "Oh why didn't you tell me you didn't want a 100% great job" This has always shut them up..
The one way to prevent this up front while doing a estimate it to have them agree to this statement. "Mr. Jones, isn't it true what you're looking for is a job well done with a fair price from a company you can trust for years to come".
We have a proposal sheet and contract for our other businesses but for the roof cleaning we use a simplified sheet. It's an estimate sheet that has check boxes for the the different services we offer. I check all the boxes that apply and list the cost of each in a space next to it. I then tally it up and leave the customer an "estimate".
I say "estimate" because we offer a "multiple job discount" 5% under $500 and 10% off over $500. You'd be surprised how many times a $350-$400 job gets an additional job added to hit $500 so they get the 10%.
We may be switching to more of a contract however as our simple sheets have gotten us some issues a few times with people not wanting to pay and according to the legal folks our paperwork won"t stand up in court if pushed.
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Matthew C Perry General Manager Callahan Pro Wash Professional Exterior Cleaning Services Roof Cleaning, Pressure Washing, Paver Cleaning and Restoration 813-727-5161 callahanprowash.gmail.com
What I do. We carry small mounted laptops in two of our service vans with cheap ass small printers mounted under the seat. We write up all invoices and quotes on location using Quick books for contractors. The great thing about it since the laptop has a broad band card in it, it sync's with my other computer in the house as soon as I pull in my drive way. As well if I write up anything at home I'll have it in my truck laptop when I leave in the morning. Wasn't easy but my wife is a programmer for IBM and she helped with the sql (datebase)
When I give a computer generated invoice / quote in seconds they are blown away.
With Quicken all materials and expenses are recorded per invoice so at tax time it's really easy. Just food for thought, but that's how I do it.