We have many tiny small competitors in our area but only two larger main ones.
1 is a similarly small sized company to us, east of us, and our territory overlaps as we head east, and north east. The closer to us the jobs get, the less we charge compared to them, the closer to them the jobs get the more we charge compared to them. In other words we are competitive pricing, both our reputations are good, there is lots of work to go around, and all is as it should be.
2 is a different beast. They have a horrible reputation for poor workmanship (probably because their guys are under so much pressure to perform quickly instead of well), are three times the size of us, never too busy that they can`t steal jobs from us, and the worst part is they price waaaay less than us, or anybody else. They price entire jobs for less than we could purchase the materials. Not just one or two, but all the jobs. So we get too many people going, `we want to use you, you have a better reputation but you have to get closer to this pricing.` During the slow times we often have to drop jobs low enough that we are just covering payroll so we can give the guys some hours. Competitor 2 also has a habit of coming at the end of the job with a huge list of extras that they bill the customer for, things that obviously needed done and should have been in the original quote (and was in everybody else they bid against) but are now added to the bill. They are also far and away the number one source of repair jobs that we are called to do.
However...
The last two weeks every job we have quoted against them they are the same price or even 1-2% higher. Are they starting to change their ways? Are we going to get to compete fairly in the market now against a company that is willing to charge enough that they may actually make some money? Will their work ever improve? Only time will tell, but already this is way less stress for everyone in our company.
1 is a similarly small sized company to us, east of us, and our territory overlaps as we head east, and north east. The closer to us the jobs get, the less we charge compared to them, the closer to them the jobs get the more we charge compared to them. In other words we are competitive pricing, both our reputations are good, there is lots of work to go around, and all is as it should be.
2 is a different beast. They have a horrible reputation for poor workmanship (probably because their guys are under so much pressure to perform quickly instead of well), are three times the size of us, never too busy that they can`t steal jobs from us, and the worst part is they price waaaay less than us, or anybody else. They price entire jobs for less than we could purchase the materials. Not just one or two, but all the jobs. So we get too many people going, `we want to use you, you have a better reputation but you have to get closer to this pricing.` During the slow times we often have to drop jobs low enough that we are just covering payroll so we can give the guys some hours. Competitor 2 also has a habit of coming at the end of the job with a huge list of extras that they bill the customer for, things that obviously needed done and should have been in the original quote (and was in everybody else they bid against) but are now added to the bill. They are also far and away the number one source of repair jobs that we are called to do.
However...
The last two weeks every job we have quoted against them they are the same price or even 1-2% higher. Are they starting to change their ways? Are we going to get to compete fairly in the market now against a company that is willing to charge enough that they may actually make some money? Will their work ever improve? Only time will tell, but already this is way less stress for everyone in our company.
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