The One That Got Away
An interesting thing happened to me the other day. I awoke on Sunday morning at about the usual time, 6:45 am, which is when my 2 year-old son decides the day should start, and checked to see if I had any business e-mail. Lo and behold I had a message from a wholesale client of mine that I was dying to hear from.
Way back in June or July I was courting business from local remodeling contractors, built-in cabinetry and the like. Well, I received a call from a contractor asking if I would be able to give them a quote for a huge angle-topped entire-wall bookshelf unit.
“Sure”, was my reply.
“And can you have it back to me within two hours?”
“No problem.”
Actually it kind of was a problem since I was in the car at the time and it was going to be at least an hour before I would be able to get working on it. But, being new to the custom woodworking business, I was not about to tell a potential client “no” and that they had to work around my schedule. So, an hour later, I typed away and had a quote to them within about 2 1/2 hours from the initial call. Not perfect, but close.
I didn’t hear anything for a couple of weeks, so I followed up with a phone call. I was told the project was slightly delayed and should hear word back soon. I waited for another five weeks or so before following up again, and found out that the guy I had been working with was no longer employed with the company and was told to talk to a different guy. I spoke with him, reviewed my initial quote, decided I was satisfied with the initial numbers, re-emailed him the quote, answered some follow-up questions, and waited to hear a yea or nay.
Nothing.
No big deal. I was busy pursuing other jobs so I wasn’t going to worry about things out of my control. Like whether my quote was to high, or whether it was to low, or whether my voice sounded like I was desperate for work during the follow up call, or a million other things that might affect their decision.
I quickly became absorbed in the dozens of daily tasks that keep a small business running smoothly, the weeks passed by, and I eventually just accepted the fact that I didn’t get the job. Oh well, that’s over and all of that.
Until Sunday morning when I checked my e-mail. I received a message from the guy at the remodeling company, let’s call him Sam, informing me that they made a huge mistake by choosing the company that quoted the job below me. Sam informed me that he spent multiple nights, up until midnight or later, fixing the poor job done by the other company. He also said that next time they will make sure and give me the work.
This situation probably happens dozens of times a day, all across the nation and in all kinds of industries, but it really helped me in a couple of ways.
- It showed me that being the least expensive bid on a job is not necessarily the best move.
- It showed me that no matter what, never bid a job based on what you think the client is willing to pay. If you bid low just to get the job, you are guaranteed to lose money, time, and self-respect.
- Bid a job based on what you need to run a successful business.
- Your reputation is an incredibly powerful thing. I have never even done a job for this contractor, but he will immediately remember my company fondly when he thinks of the messed up job he didn’t award me.
Little things like this serve to keep me focused on the necessary tools that are needed to build a long-lasting and profitable business.
December 12th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Wow…. great reminder Jared!