Teflon Shoulders and Carrot Dangling
Discussion
Why are people nowadays so insistent on not asking clients for additional monies (on major contracts) for additional work involved due to information not being available at the time of tender.
They say "ooh that'll jeopardise the next job which they are talking to us about!" well frankly if they didnt give you the info the first time, what makes you think that you're going to get all of the info second time? - even if you ask for it you invariably dont get it, but do we decline to tender on the basis that there isnt enough info to make a judgement, no we just enter our bid based on what is available - with the proviso that if there are additional works we will charge for the.
Except we dont because theres a carrot being dangled for the next job - are we complete asses?(geddit)
In any case the client certainly wont want to be paying for the additional works from the first contract on the second contract so if you try to recoup your money on the second contract you'll be uncompetitive when compared to others so the contract will go elsewhere QED.
And then you get the in house finger pointing of "well you have to expect that there will be unforeseen complexities" (effectively sliding the issue off of sales to estimating), yes so how much would you like to allow for that seeing as were working off plans which dont indicate the nature or extent of the complexities.
JEEEEEEEESUS.
Rant over.
They say "ooh that'll jeopardise the next job which they are talking to us about!" well frankly if they didnt give you the info the first time, what makes you think that you're going to get all of the info second time? - even if you ask for it you invariably dont get it, but do we decline to tender on the basis that there isnt enough info to make a judgement, no we just enter our bid based on what is available - with the proviso that if there are additional works we will charge for the.
Except we dont because theres a carrot being dangled for the next job - are we complete asses?(geddit)
In any case the client certainly wont want to be paying for the additional works from the first contract on the second contract so if you try to recoup your money on the second contract you'll be uncompetitive when compared to others so the contract will go elsewhere QED.
And then you get the in house finger pointing of "well you have to expect that there will be unforeseen complexities" (effectively sliding the issue off of sales to estimating), yes so how much would you like to allow for that seeing as were working off plans which dont indicate the nature or extent of the complexities.
JEEEEEEEESUS.
Rant over.
We have similar battles.
My business partner feels we should charge everything, I like to maintain the relationship as far as possible not just for that contract but because it is tight knit industry and all our work comes from them talking to each other and recommending us. An odd half day here t do something we can alos give to other clients, or a £40 job that doesn't get invoiced when they have made a cock up and don;t want to tell the boss I think maintains the relationship, but I could be naive(my partner thinks so!) and they could be sniggering to themselves.
My business partner feels we should charge everything, I like to maintain the relationship as far as possible not just for that contract but because it is tight knit industry and all our work comes from them talking to each other and recommending us. An odd half day here t do something we can alos give to other clients, or a £40 job that doesn't get invoiced when they have made a cock up and don;t want to tell the boss I think maintains the relationship, but I could be naive(my partner thinks so!) and they could be sniggering to themselves.
It works both ways, i have clients that I charge for every extra and i have those that I don't, all depends on the margin in the 1st place, I think alot of it is about good tendering, we qualify every price, what is and what is not, so it's all clear, on the jobs where margins are not great then i'll charge as they can't expect to nail us down and not charge for their mistakes or problems not foreseen at tender stage by them, trying to explain that to those that nail you down though is the key and that comes down to relationships so you need both approaches.
One of our competitors chared £80k for extras (on a £100k contract). You can bet what happend next time the contract came up....
The "art" is getting them to pay for the extras and being happy to do so, but if you have to give things away, make sure they know they are getting a freebe. That way the relationship is much more "give and take".
The "art" is getting them to pay for the extras and being happy to do so, but if you have to give things away, make sure they know they are getting a freebe. That way the relationship is much more "give and take".
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff