3/27/2011

A Poll……

MargaretMargaret
Filed under: @ 9:57 am

As happens sometimes a client presented me an estimate (of sorts — I’ll explain later) from a competitor which, for the basic definition of the service described i.e. a dental cleaning for her dog, varied wildly from the estimate for the same basic definition of the service that I had given her the year previously.
She asked me why my estimate was so markedly different from the other that she had brought.

And it got me wondering…….

When you’re presented with two very different estimates for the same service whom do you assume is trying to rip you off? The person with the very low estimate or the person with the very high one?

I need a couple of answers before I can elaborate further, so stay tuned.

2 Responses to “A Poll……”

  1. Sheri M Hinshaw Says:

    The higher quote usually but not always has a larger scope, or better materials, or includes more options than the lower one. I always assume the lower one is the bare minimum of what I asked for and if something unexpected comes along, well, the cost will go up. So I’m not assuming I’m getting ripped off, but I do expect a higher customer service level and excellent work for the higher price. My expectations of the low bid are, well, low.

    Sheri

  2. YakBoy Says:

    If I got two wildly different quotes I don’t think my first thought would be that one or the other is trying to rip me off. My first response would most likely be that one bidder didn’t understand the specifics of the job well enough to give an accurate estimate (whether the higher bidder was assuming things would be more complicated than they actually are or the low bidder failed to take one or more elements of the situation into account). If, after investigating and clarifying the requirements of the job, I still got two wildly different numbers I would want to look more in to WHY one was so much higher/lower than the other and possibly get a third bid to see which ballpark it was in before jumping to any conclusions.

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