Had a chat with a plumber who made me rethink my whole approach to quoting

Was at a networking thing last Tuesday and this older plumber named Dave told me he never gives a flat price over the phone. He always goes to look first, charges a small fee for the visit, and then quotes. Said it cuts down on fights and people backing out. I always just threw out numbers quick to get the yes. Now I am wondering if I have been leaving money on the table and making things harder on myself. Has anyone else tried charging for a consultation first?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth15d ago

I read somewhere that Dave's method builds way more trust upfront. Smart guy.

the_sage15d ago

Tried his approach with my last few client calls and it really did change the tone fast. Did you find it worked better with certain types of clients?

jesse_smith1015d ago

Yeah Dave's onto something, I started doing the same thing and way fewer people flaked on me.