Shafted on a quote, what to do?

[JLD984]

Hi all, I'm sure similar things have popped up plenty of times but I'd love any feedback on this, it's fairly complicated but I'll try to keep it short. Recently I was asked to quote on replacing signs at three offices, one is two doors from me, the others are 30 and 50 minutes away in opposite directions.

The company had just been taken over by another with a completely different logo and colours. I asked if they wanted the same again or a different design and was told to 'see what you can come up with'. I see the people at the local office regularly and assumed I was the only business they were approaching when they said I had to measure up all three offices and work on designs. Being the only signwriter in town most businesses go straight to me and don't get a second quote. I asked whether I was to install the signs and remove the existing signs and they said 'yes definitely, everything has to come down and be done again from scratch'. Therefore extra labour and equipment hire was added.

They also needed the logo on the front doors of 20 vehicles, for this I quoted $130 per vehicle. Another thing, it all had to be changed over within ten working days. After a week I called to find out if anything was happening, knowing I had a lot of material to order if I had the work, they made out they had no idea and said it was up to another office on the other side of the state. Three weeks later I noticed some of their vehicles were done so I called again reminding them they hadn't got back to me as promised. They pretended to not know anything about the vehicles until I pointed out they were already done, then said 'oh I think they went to so and so because he'd done a couple in the past and thought it'd be easier for him'. This tells me I was never in the hunt for the job, I then learnt the offices in the other two towns were also done.

The person they went to replaced everything as it had been, logo where the logo was and stripes where the stripes were, no new designs or layouts were required. One office was 25m long and had two thick vinyl stripes all the way along. I had quoted on removing and replacing the panels, the person they went to applied new vinyl stripes over the old. The signs at the local office were installed by the owner of their building, a builder with his own equipment. I could go on and on about little things like this where they had me quoting on something completely different.

further to this, the guy who initially rung me and said to call in and see the receptionist, has pretended to have had no involvement or knowledge what's going on but has since gone around town slandering my business, saying how expensive I am, and trying to get the other guy in on other work at sporting clubs he's involved with around town (which I sponsor).

Wondering what others would do in this situation, my thoughts are to send an email asking for the name and number of the person supposedly making the decisions and charging them for my wasted time if decent answers can't be provided. I'd also love to give the two people I dealt with an earful but not sure if that'd help things. Sorry, this didn't end up being so short!

 

[player]

Sorry about your experience.

I found over the years there is no loyalty. I could do work 110%, throw in freebees, save the day, and the next job would be low bid wins. That's business. No loyalty... not always, but stay on your toes.

My advice is forget them and move on. Just don't get stuck again. Signed contracts with a deposit before proceeding are a must. I never do artwork on spec. I show my portfolio and sell them on my work. Keep your existing customers happy. Get some friends to get some quotes from the new guy so you know where he is at. Stress your quality, and perhaps find niche markets like CNC carved signs others cannot do, and you can relax and make some nice money. Get proactive with sales.

You have had it good, now the market is changing around you. Adapt and prosper.

Good luck!

 

[Locals Find!]

You and the company got scammed by the same two people.

The guy you were talking to had to get multiple quote to make it appear he was doing his job. Knowing the whole time his buddy was actually going to do the work. He gave you the wrong information to ensure your quote would come in extremely high. While his buddy was able to properly quote the job on the real specs.

I wouldn't take any phone calls from this guy anymore. If you go above him you will look petty and upset you didn't get the job. I doubt it will do your business any favors. Just walk away and let this one go.

As for the bad mouthing you, I am not sure if you have any solid recourse. A bit of marketing might help to soften the bad word of mouth, but don't engage in bad mouthing the other guy or the business who didn't hire you.

 

[visual800]

Forget them. Forget loyalty, there is none. You quoted as doing best clean job and they dont care they want cheap. This is the society we live in I would not waste any more time on this

 

[signage]

^^ totally agree!^^^

just let it go as a lesson earned.

 

[Jillbeans]

I would also let it go. It's not worth the time and effort as well as angst on your part.
Customer loyalty died out about 10 years ago, now the only thing 99% of potential clients care about is price.
Be glad you are still the only sign person in town....for now.
If these people ever do call again, quote them as high as possible (in writing) as you can.
If they bite, get a 50% deposit.
Try to stay professional at all times, even if in your head you are telling them to eat sh*t.
Love....Jill

 

[TXFB.INS]

Mosh said it best awhile back, as soon as you are contacted and before anything is done find out if they are after a quality job that will last and look the best or if they are looking at the price. this will allow you to cut through all the wasted time/effort that you just had

we also have the "circles" in the reception area with easy view as customers walk in the door http://www.signs101.com/forums/show...u-cake-and-eat-it-to&highlight=reception+area

and the good better best option has been VERY HELPFUL http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/selling-good-better-best-27988/1

 

[Z SIGNS]

Don't you mean you "allowed" yourself to be shafted.
No one can "shaft" you without your permission.

 

[Rick]

Forget it and move on or...

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Voodoo-Doll

 

[Techman]

part of doing business is learning to profile the client on every job.

Profile leads to the praise of yourself as the one for the work
Then prompt for the sale and a deposit.

A good analogy is a base ball game. You cannot skip a base to get to home. You have to cover all the 4 bases.

 

[Bly]

Mosh said it best awhile back, as soon as you are contacted and before anything is done find out if they are after a quality job that will last and look the best or if they are looking at the price. this will allow you to cut through all the wasted time/effort that you just had

Although it sounds like they had already decided you were too expensive.

Plenty of times I've priced a quality job only to drive past a month later to see it done in cheap materials, already starting to peel off the shopfront. It's annoying but you need clients that appreciate your service, not just the cheapest price.

 

[a77]

This sucks and has happened to me when there is a personnel change... someone is promoted or fired, and a new person is in charge of the ordering process.

Techman is right.. but it's hard to profile someone on the phone... or when you are really busy and they call as if they are "ready to order", and "just need a price for the PO."

I would think there is some loyalty.. but loyalty only goes so far and the loyalty is with the previous 'purchaser', not with the business itself.. I learned this the hard way.
When I get wind that there is someone new person in charge of ordering or "another department is handling it", I try real hard to go down there, give quotes slowly but with tons of options (low cost, mid range, etc...). It's almost more work than winning over a new client by cold calling. It sometimes seems like an uphill battle because the new person brings in some contacts they know/like already and want to prove something, like that you are overcharging, or not as good as the other guy - which isn't true.. but they can spin it that way.

You can only do so much because I've heard the same story.. "oh.. I've passed it off to another department, it's all up to them", which is not true, but it's their way out. How can you challenge that? At that point it's too late and all you can do is offer clarifications or modification to you quote specs, and then thank them for the opportunity and ask that they please give you another chance to quote for future projects.

It sucks and I'm sorry it happened to you!

 

[DigiPrinter]

Just gotta move on.....I wouldn't stir the pot, wouldn't do any good or bode well for your company. Perhaps an up-front question should have been, "Is anyone else looking at this project as well, if so, I'd like to make sure that we are seeing apples to apples?"

 

[James Burke]

Know when to hold 'em...know when to fold 'em...know when to walk away...know when to run.


Perhaps the best business advice ever.



JB

 

[JLD984]

Sounds like it's best to move on but the thing that's frustrating me the most is the bad mouthing they're doing around town about how expensive I am, which isn't the case at all. The guy they went with travels through here every day and everybody used to go to him before I started eight years ago, I've never been dearer than him on any job until this.

 

[neil_se]

I think most here would have experienced the same situation. Our salespeople are quite upfront in asking about budgets, expectations, what's important to the customer, etc., but we still have situations where the client is adamant that they want X but a month later you drive by and they've been elsewhere and bought Y. Or you quote a [full] wrap at $X and they end up buying a [half] wrap at 1/2 X$. You end up looking expensive because the client doesn't understand that they're not comparing apples with apples.

We've had it happen many times, we just move on but keep it in memory for the next time that company calls. If a company repeatedly gets quotes that we lose then we'll be upfront that we don't aim to be the cheapest, and we don't want to be the second/third party who provides quotes just to fill their quota.

Sometimes we'll tactfully approach the company after missing out on the quote for some feedback, but also to point out that what they got isn't comparable with what we offered. There are times where they will have gone with someone else because they presented a better option than we did.

 

[heyskull]

My answer to this is "Move on".
Over the years I have made exactly the same mistake countless times and it hurts a lot.
Only consollation is that some times the client realises that cheapest is not always the best (or sometimes even cheapest).
Take the the job sheet and file it away carefully, they may be back.

SC

 

[Gino]

As mentioned, it's best to move on. No sense wasting any time on wasted efforts. Use your time in a positive manner. However, you must learn from your experiences, both good and bad, so store them away so you can relate better when you see the same red flags appear.

If you have this inner feeling of having to do battle with them for the bad press, simply go there, when you know for a fact the person you wanna see is there. Insist on seeing him/her and tell them in a stern and unfriendly voice, you will not tolerate any bad-mouthing of you or your company because their company refused to go with a lesser product. Their ability to muddy the waters and play a price game over quality is on them and you won't tolerate it it if you hear of it one more time. End it by handing them a written letter stating the same and tell them to read it and govern themselves accordingly.

Exit the premises and don't look back.
​

 

[JoeBoomer]

Don't forget them. An occasional bag of feces on their doorstep should do the trick. Maybe every monday morning you could bring a local dog-walker by to deposit some goods for your neighbor.

Or you could just put it out of your mind and drink yourself to sleep every night. Your choice.

Happy Tuesday everyone!