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Post Info TOPIC: Have a meeting with a large gutter guard company for cleaning roofs, advice needed.


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Have a meeting with a large gutter guard company for cleaning roofs, advice needed.
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Hey Guys and Girls, 

I posted about this a while ago, but nothing ever came of it. I was leaving my house this morning and one of the guys that works for this company said they want to talk to me more about working with them cleaning roofs and cleaning streaks off of gutters. The guy says that the owner is going to try to get me to come down on my prices and that I should expect that when I call. He said just be ready for it, so it was nice of him to warn me first, I guess?

Either way, I already have work, so where do I draw the line on what I charge per Square Foot? I'd rather not lower my prices at all and just give them a percentage of the total, but I don't know if this is how it usually works when doing this type of networking. The worker said that he will take my price and bump it up some so they make a profit and then they will bill the customer. I then bill the company and that is how it will work.

This company has recently added roofing to their services and they are finding customers who aren't wanting to replace their roof yet, or just want it cleaned to look better with their gutters / gutter guards. I don't want to lose this opportunity, but I don't want to cut myself so low that I am not making money, either.

Would you lower your price per square foot or would you just offer a percentage of each sale? 10%, 15%? I charge higher or lower per square foot depending on the job, so now that I think about it, I think I'll have to explain this to them and work on a percentage deal.

Any ideas, tips, or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!



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I would offer a percentage of 10 - 15%. Easier than trying to guess at what they will take. Who knows, they might even be trying to get into roof cleaning next... They might have found everything they need here and just want to see it done.

 

Brett



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Make sure you get a non compete contract with them. If they learn your trade then bump you off, and they can give you a bunch of excuses as to why, you will need that.
Also, if they added roofing to the gutter business, then it tells me they are not selling enough of the gutter guards to sustain. Which means they are branching out and you would be the middleman, who is always the first to go, when crunching the numbers.

If they are getting many requests to clean roofs ,how many? Maybe you need to increase your advertising to hit those people instead.

Kim R

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Hey Brett, not in this case since I know the guy who came to me and then he and another friend (an ex girlfriend, surprisingly), mentioned it to their boss. The guy drops his little girl off at my wife's child care, so I don't know him well, but well enough to know that he's the one who said "Hey, I know someone who cleans roofs."

I'll stick with the percentage and let the owner know that it is just easier this way. Plus, I don't want them just pricing all jobs the same without me even seeing them. I'd like to give my price and they can go up on the # to the customer. I'll still give them 10% of my price and everyone should be happy. They use a pressure washing company to blow out gutter debris for them, so I feel safe that they aren't trying to get in to any type of cleaning.

Thanks for chiming in, Brett. I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.

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Roof Cleaning Severna Park MD wrote:

Hey Brett, not in this case since I know the guy who came to me and then he and another friend (an ex girlfriend, surprisingly), mentioned it to their boss. The guy drops his little girl off at my wife's child care, so I don't know him well, but well enough to know that he's the one who said "Hey, I know someone who cleans roofs."

I'll stick with the percentage and let the owner know that it is just easier this way. Plus, I don't want them just pricing all jobs the same without me even seeing them. I'd like to give my price and they can go up on the # to the customer. I'll still give them 10% of my price and everyone should be happy. They use a pressure washing company to blow out gutter debris for them, so I feel safe that they aren't trying to get in to any type of cleaning.

Thanks for chiming in, Brett. I just want to make sure I'm on the right track.


Did I understand you right that you will give your sq ft price and let them price the job? I wouldn't let them price one job. You do the estimates, give them the price, they get their 10% finders fee. You know what you are doing and what to look for, they don't! Also, I think Kim has a good point.

One of the bad things that could happen is that you get a call from the same person to give them a price after the gutter guy inflates your price. Been there with other work in the past. You might need to discuss this with him.

 



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Brett and Kim, thanks for the advice. I was going to give them a range of my prices, so they know approximately what I charge, but the one thing I did not want is for them to price the jobs for me.. That would be a complete deal breaker. I feel like I am helping them by offering them 10-15% and unless the conversation turns me, I plan on holding tight to that offer.

Kim, I don't know how many requests they are getting, but I'm guessing it's enough for them to look for a contractor to take care of it for them. I'm doing the best I can to get my name out there, but since they are so established, they naturally get a lot more leads than I do. People tend to look much harder at their roof when someone is fiddling with the gutters for a day.

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I do not price by the Sqft.Although it is part of the overall equation. Smaller roofs will actually be allot more (psqft) then a larger roof. Then there a too many variables that affect my price to allow someone else to quote for me.
Now if they want to give their customer a price of their choosing then have me see if I can do it for what they are offering....that's a possibility.

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I do a lot of exterior construction and sub out gutter work to one of my local companies. They charge regular customers a set price and contractors a lower price. That is in a business though where there isnt a whole lot of elements that come in to play on giving an estimate. I know what they charge me, I give the customer an estimate and then pay the sub company. It works out to the contractor being able to charge a finders fee of whatever they please.

A window company, I used to sub contract for, would give $50 to a customer or anyone that set them up with another client. This is something I thought to bring into play in roof cleaning. Tell all customers I will send them a check for every future customer that was referred by them. Its a good way to get some cheap salesman on your team if you need it.

You got the right idea with YOU estimating jobs individually and giving them a finders fee. I don't think Id give them more then 10% unless you in a real need for their business.


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Aaron, my price starts at a certain square foot price and then goes up or down depending on the difficulty of the job at hand. I do, however, have a minimum price if the roof is smaller and needs to be cleaned. Knowing that, they wouldn't have a choice because I can't let myself suffer for their benefit.

The idea of extra work coming in is exciting, but I guess it's a fine line between it being beneficial, or a big headache.

 

RR, a $50 finders fee is high! I tried $25 for a while and surprisingly, it didn't pan out that well? It didn't motivate people and when it did, the referrer did not want the reward, they were happy to refer us.



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Roof Cleaning and Pressure Washing in Anne Arundel County, and Howard County, Maryland
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