What would you say

I had a customer call today wanting to get a house tinted, approx. 5 to 6 hundred square.
Customer asked for a ball park price per square foot. I gave him my range on a basic solar bronze he wanted. He knew this because he has had another tint shop install diffrent film samples on his house already for him to choose. He gives me the ol' poor mouth routine while explaining that this is his lake house. Then he says that my price is roughly the same that he has already gotten, and wanted to know why it costs so much to tint.

What would you guys, and gals, say to this customer? Bare in mind that he is not polite, very confrontational.

And I just found out by someone who has done work for this guy, that the house is 2.5 hours away from me.

when he asked why it cost so much I would have said I don't think I am going to be able to help you have a nice day Click.

Well sir,
I can't pay my bills and stay in business by giving things away, and oh by the way how far away is the house, there will be a trip fee for that, so why don't you think about the price and get back to me

and if that don't work tell him to

I would have to walk away from someone like that, he has a lake house and worried about the cost of tinting his windows? He should worry about the damage from the sun's reflection off the lake on his furniture and what ever else the sun is beating on.

I'd tell him that he has a good question... He can be comforted to know that you are not ripping him off because your prices are in line with the competitor's. There are many expenses involved in bringing quality products and quality work into consumer's homes, especially at great distances. As a business owner, you would settle for nothing less than the best possible product and install in your own home and that is simply what you are trying to provide for him and the rest of your customers.

It is understandable that everyone wants the best value for thier dollar, but I always use the quotes in my signature to help them understand value does not equate to the cheapest price...

Now I know how you close all those deals out there.

Keep in mind there is nothing wrong with wanting to know what they are getting for there money but when they are RUDE just becuase they don't like the price even if you are patiant and can close the deal YOU DO NOT WANT IT

He nastly asked" I dont know why is costs so much to tint them, I could almost get the windows replaced for that". He told me that he was just trying to give me a shot at it, but since my price was almost the same as the other guy, oh well, and the other guy was local. He is also a high priced contractor, just trying to get something for nothing. He can hang that up, especially with what stuff cost today, I will stay home first and slow the spread of arthritist.

There must just be something in the air because yeaterday I had a guy call wanting a price on tinting a new caddy, using the same film I put on his last one in March. I quoted him a price $20.00 higher than in March. In March I worked for someone else, not myself, and we were running a sale, so the regular price was the same. He says, "well there are plenty of places in this other town, I'll just get it done there, thanks anyway, and he hangs up". The other town is two hours away.

There will always be the customers wanting something for nothing and you cannot please them all. Just please the ones you can.

If a customer asks me "why so much" I always turn it around and ask why so little and then explain what the costs are. 9 out of 10 times it works. Usually on the ones that it doesn't work I didn't want them as a custmoer anyway.

Advanced Audio and Tinting
Madisonville, TN

That was a perfect answer vclimber...

thats an easy one. "thats what tint costs, you may find it a little cheaper and a little more expensive. its up to you to make a deciscion whats the best product and the best price...... my work....."

i had a customer that called around, found out the price per sqaure foot calculated materials and said my price was only a couple hundred less than everyone else. he wanted r20 so i was able to lower my price a little cause the windows were all 57x57 and it was cheaper film. then he then gave me the stats on how much i would be making per hour and then stated that was rediculous. he said the last guy said the job could be finished in a day and a half, one man job. he then calculated what he thought it was worth paying per hour to put the stuff up. he put out a figure less than half my quote and said youd still be making such and such an hour. i told him to buy the tint you needed off the guy that told you how much it was a sqaure foot, try putting one up yourself, then let me know.

i already had the business address so i cruised by and saw one window tinted, bad too. to this day its not tinted at all, the bad window is even off.

you just cant please some, we can try but im in this business to help people out AND make money at the same time.

When that guy started his spill about how much an hour and such, I would just hang up on him. Easy fix

id go with vclimers answer

Although I wouldn't say this to a customer, and it seems to apply more toward autos. And yes I did swipe it from someone else on here. It sure would be nice to let them know, People think you open the box and film flies over and installs itself!! You have to cut it,shrink it remove all the dog hairs,lint,stickers etc..tape it/remove stuff like panels/brake lights/decks/ felt it etc..stand up/bend/crawl/reach/push/pull........Oh by the way the shop is rent free/no utilities and there's some window film trees in the back/The family is fasting this year!!so we're good!! thumb.gif

well hello! yea!

of course your suppose to be that way, you have to "political" and not be bothered by a person of that nature to bother you. saying "sorry i cant help you" is just i think unprofessional. most likely he is bluffing about you being in line about being in the same price range, most likely you have given him a better deal than the rest. this business is sometimes about mind games. if you are desperate for work then you might lower your price. you just have to explain to him why it is that you are chargin, the type of film you are using, etc etc.

Oh man, for me it would depend on the way my day was going to answer this correctly.

If it were a good day. I would probably say something on the lines ,As much as I looked seems I cant find anyone willing to give me the material and labor for free. but as soon as I did, since he being the only one to ever ask me this question I would surely put him in my Fav 5 and start the day after?

On a bad day. I would simply ask him How much his time was worth to him? and what line of work he was in and if he was negotiable on his terms/salary? with a follow up of "I dont do this for practice,fun,health or a Hobby".

Following up with #2 after i found out what he did, i would play his Alpha male inside by stating "yea i can see you guys taking partial salaries you guys make big bucks!. with that comes a little gloat along with alittle pride and just enough room for you to be back in on the deal.! However if he works the second line of Mcdonalds resort back to a good day.

I'm glad someone dug up this old thread so I can update you all.

He called me the other day, because he had the other local shop tint his windows. There were bubbles, scratches and streaks all in the film, and he wanted to know what to do. I told him politely to call the shop who installed the film, and he said he could not get in touch with them. I told him I could re-do it if he was dissatisfied, but now there will also be a film removal charge. And his comment was, why so much, you are to expensive.

It seems people with money think they are entitled to special treatment.

If I felt like a smartass that day he called back........My answer would've been something like.....
"You get what you pay for", "Why screw with the rest, when you could've had the best"..

Cheap work isn't good and good work isn't cheap.....

I'd have to say that guy got his just desserts. Everything that man does probably goes the same way, want something cheap, it IS, then he's not happy...blah, blah, blah. People like that are never happy. Thats why Mr P. said to basically not touch that job with a ten foot pole. Some people are not worth the stress.

Lady, you hit the nail squarely on the thumb!!! They want it cheap, and they want it to be PERFECT!!! Cheapo people are the customers from hell!!
As for the guy who thought he could replace the widows for that price my reply would be "Try it!"
And to the guy who already had someone else screw the pooch on his house and STILL thought you were too high , you dodged a bullet on that one!! Be happy!

Of course there are the folks who want to know "Do you who I am ?" as if they are some Big Cheese or somethin !
I know they are a person needs a Memory Course if they can't remember their own name !

I know this is kinda an old post but for future ref.... I usually say (if I'm to booked to deal with it) I'll be glad to take your name and # and have a dealer in your area get back to you. (I call whoever I deal with or know in there area and warn them, and give customer info.) I NEVER do over the phone quotes on more than 1 piece of glass EVER!! You don't know what your getting your azz into over the phone. If you might want the job just say sorry I can do an over the phone estimate I would be more than happy to come out and give you a free no obligation est. If they bolt then theyre just phone shoppin' never doin' anyhow. Ya know the cost of doin' biz is maybe drivin' 2 hrs for an est. that never goes.

tell him theres a big difference between you and the competition.
tell him he,s paying for quality workmanship.

let em know you dont slap it on you apply it. your cuts are clean your work looks awesome and you take your time to make sure it,s top quality by the time it,s all done.

and you realy charge $150.00 more than the competition on a job like this . but by doing it you know everyone that sees it will want to know who did it and whats the number.
so please tell them i did it but dont tell them what i am charging you cuz it,s not my normal price im giving you a deal.

People that have a lot of money are some of the hardest people to please with price, but this makes absolute sense to me. Hard working "rich people" didn't "just get rich". They made smart money a business decisions and they truly understand the value of a dollar. Them shopping around for the cheapest price makes sense. However, some of them go overboard with it.

There are people like my father that played with car parts in his dirt front yard as a kid, worked a full-time job and went to college full-time while managing to be married to my mother and having 1 child already and working his way up to owning his own construction business and making great sums of money. He didn't get this money easily... he understands the value of a dollar, but also understands the value of value. My father pays for quality, but he doesn't pay anymore than he has to. He shops around for the quality he thinks is best and then finds the best price for that quality.

Then there are people that got great sums of money by cheap-skating their way through business and life. I know these types of guys as well. They provided cheap products for their customers due to price and charge a premium for it to make money. I know some tint shops that do this too. However, this doesn't just exist within their business practices, but overflows throughout their life.

Of course, then there are the people that won the lottery or inherited large sums of money and they can go 1 or 3 ways. My fathers way, the cheap skate way or the "I don't care, I just got free money!" way.

I think vclimbers response was golden. Granted, this guy you dealt with was rude, but it makes sense that he thinks you're expensive. Don't take it personally... this guy is just trying to find the best bang for his buck. Which isn't an irresponsible or dumb decision at all. He just should have been a little nicer about it.