pricing wrong

dgreenberr · Apr 27, 2011

hi chaps,

i have recently become mcs accreddited and have managed to price 12 jobs, sadly did not get one , i have been trading as an electrical company for 25 years and tend to price materials add labour, i have used a company called mcg part of city electrical to price and size job added my labour, the cost of scaffold and a roofer i must only getting the price of materials wrong, as now on mcs website i have been flooded with offers on materials at much lower prices any advise

Worcester · Apr 27, 2011

The Nationals work on a closing ratio of 1 in 12. My inside sources say that even BG have trouble improving significantly on that figure.

Question - did you make your last significant purchase based purely on price?

Price is the easy objection for people to give you as to why they won't do business with you, and it's dificult for you to argue.

There is a lot of information in other threads as to who the best suppliers are, have a dig around there and you gets lots of insights.

SRE · Apr 28, 2011

Sometime you need to write off the first few surveys to experience. Listen to what your customers say at each survey, notice which bit you're not quite comfortable about, mug up again about it and you'll feel more confident at next survey. It took us about 20 to get going we did get some sales out of those but our customers bought because they could see we were honest and local and that's what uor customers want. Most of our customers have researched well and are know what thye are talking about they can sense bull**** and a lack of cinfidence so if you've come across with either (not saying that you have) that can have an impact too.

Our philosophy to start off with was that the first few surveys were a learning curve and we didn't expect to get any from them. In our area it is very price sensitive and we're being pushed down all the time. I can argue £200 ish difference from the nationals based on better service but no more than that. Find out what all of your competitors in the area are offering and see how far out you are. You don't need to match them but be aware of their pricing and what makes you different. If you're MCS registered you should be getting emails from wholesalers every day - we do - check everyone out, be nice to them all - you never know if they might bale you out with stock one day and don't lose heart. Good luck.

Markc · May 1, 2011

No matter how long you are at it there is always someone willing to do it for less. Nature of the beast and we are all to blame for it as well sorry to say.

Had a telephone conversation with my business partner two days ago (I'm away currently). Recent survey I did for 10x Sharp 245wt. Client rang up and asked if we could match a price he has from another company. When I found out the price they had (Don't know if it's genuine yet) the cost is over £100 less than what I can buy the PV kit for with no AC electrical stuff, scaffold or anything else!

Keep at it and it will happen.