So why this guy contact me about fixing something of his. I gave him a price of how much it was going to be. And then he wanted a breakdown parts versus labor. I don’t like doing that because I know the customer is going to nickel and dime me. Sure enough he goes online and says why are you charging me x amount for this part. It only cost $30 on Amazon.
I explain why my parts cost more etc. And I don’t hear from him again. He sends me a text today asking when is the earliest I can do the job. I don’t want to do the work, I know this guy is going to be a pain in the ass. What are business appropriate reasons/ excuses I can give as to why I don’t want the business.
“I’m going to pass”
“I can’t get my arms wrapped around it.”
“My partners and I couldn’t for a consensus.”
Sorry I’m fully booked until 2027. Just to keep him waiting ;)
Sorry I am booked up for the near future. I don’t typically work off my scheduled hours, but if you want to book me off hours my price is (double the price). If that doesn’t work for you, I can try to recommend someone else.
Do you feel compelled to answer him at all?
If so, the most common answer is “we’ve recently committed to a large project and so we’re completely booked for the foreseeable future. We can contact you if there’s an opening in our schedule, but we can’t guarantee when that might be.”
Don’t do it how most of our local builders and tradesman do, just ghost you after not turning up for a quote
Just be blunt (but not in a rude way): Thanks, but I’m not interested.
It’s like what he’d say if the roles were reversed, so it’s appropriate, in my opinion.
Say you’re full. Run out of parts.
“Thanks for reaching out, I’m completely full and cannot accept any bookings right now”
I am busy for the next two months, sorry, I’d suggest getting someone else if you are in a hurry.
Sounds like a ghost 👻 to me.
You are booked solid for several months now…
As a business owner please don’t listen to the comments that have anything personal. You’d be opening the door for him to be offended. You just simply need to say you’re completely booked and then maybe offer another person for him to work with. If he comes back with anything remotely confrontational, block and move on.
I tell them that since they contacted me a huge project came in and I’ll be busy for months.
I wouldn’t have given the breakdown in price.
I price so that I can offer the service that my business wants to offer. I do a fixed price and it includes lots. I will refer them to a low cost operation if that’s what they want.
Being nickle and dimed by a customer and offering a discount because you want to have the same outcome but extremely different impacts