On December 16, 2012 at 23:38, 77W said...
I gotta ask a really weird question here.
Paul, are there bids you do NOT win? Do those come down to price or are there other factors at play? With such artisan quality, you'd think everyone would want to work with you. Maybe they do and you have your pick and choice of jobs to keep your schedule full.
Maybe it's an outrageous amount of competition in our market, but it is REALLY hard getting people to buy into us as a premium product. They have an "aha" moment afterwards and get it then, but no matter how hard I try to convey our process, show them our documents and photos of impressive solutions we've created, they are still weary of spending a huge dollar on "electronics".
Some of the other guys already did a really good job of answering this for me, but thought I'd reply as well.
Sure, there are still some bids I don't win. I'm in the fortunate position that I probably close 70-80% of the jobs I have to bid on and I'm a shoe-in for around half my work because I'm the go-to guy for the architect, builder, designer, etc.
I think there are a few reasons I have such a high close rate:
1. Most of my work comes via referrals from existing clients so new potential clients already have some comfort/trust associated even before meeting me.
2. Many of the clients that refer me are some combination of wealthy, famous, or hold some position of authority so their referral holds a lot of clout.
3. When I'm brought in by the architect, designer, builder, etc. they usually just tell the client "this is my guy, he's great and you'll love him" and that's usually enough to secure the job.
4. For the jobs I do bid on, I'm rarely the highest or lowest bid. I do have some very strong, high-end competition here in town but due to my low overhead I can come in with a lower bid and still do great work. There are also several small 1-2 man shops like me here in town that can underbid me, but I like to think I do better work.
The bottom line is that it just takes time to build up these relationships with high-end clients and architects, builders & designers. I don't take these referrals lightly and never take them for granted. It only takes one screwed up job or unhappy customer to ruin years of hard work.
