Hi
Georgia,
Asking
for 50% down is a lot to be asking for ……. A down payment is only an
assurance to you the “Seller” that the “Buyer” won’t
give the job to someone else, so it needn’t be large. Some states limit
the amount a seller can ask for …… If the a large down payment is
required for material than that should be specified in the contract along with
a release of lien. We normally don’t ask for a down payments for residential
or commercial work. If the work will be completed over an extended period of
time we tie payments to specific stages of the project, so payments can be held
back if the work is not progressing or not acceptable. We also require the
buyer to sign off at specific stages of the work stating that the was/was not completed
and was/was not acceptable and corrective actions if required. For all new commercial
accounts we require an application for credit, we need to know who were doing
business with. Most commercial accounts require 30 – 45 day terms, zero
down, and zero interest. Any company without sufficient resources should not be
going after these accounts in my opinion. For residential customers with approved
credit we offer 0% for 12 months on qualified purchases. Last year we lost over
$10,000 in bad debts, this year ZERO, if I don’t feel comfortable with a
client I walk!
Joe
From: rivera.gm@gmail.com [mailto:rivera.gm@gmail.com] On
Behalf Of Georgia Rivera
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:00 PM
To: Restoration and Maintenance
Subject: [sccpartners] My mind is boggled
Hi partners!
I am having a little bit of a confusion and am hoping I can get some feedback
you all to see what I could have done.
We bid on a commercial project last November. A local Stone franchise
under bid me by 15%. Three months later the commercial account calls me back
completely unhappy with the quality of the work performed by this other company
and wants me to bid again. However, they just paid $26k to have 12
bathrooms of marble floors and 4 bathrooms of terrazzo floors done so they just
want us to take over the maintenance until next year to do the restoration
correctly.
I say, sure we will do that. But they put me off until June of this
year. June I call them to follow up. They say August. But in
the meantime they have me coming to give my dissertation and show my samples
(Alex made me sample boards and little sample marbles with different finish types
so I can sell) 4 times to different people. I gladly go there and take on
the expense of driving 45 minutes each way in hopes I eventually close this
sale.
Finally we are closed. They tell me they want me to start in about three
weeks. Not a problem I tell them. I let them know that we will need
to complete the contract and get a 50% deposit to begin the project.
About a day later I hear back and they tell me they can't give us a deposit and
ask if we can come to do two bathrooms as a sample...paid of course. They
let me know they want 0% down and 45 day terms. Knowing that they have
had really bug cut backs due to recent financial hardship, I really do not want
to start without some kind of deposit. So I state that I will gladly come
to do the paid samples, when would they like to schedule that and could they
consider a 30 day term with a 25% deposit. The last response I get is,
"We cannot give any money upfront, we have gone with another
company."
Our prices are very competitive. We really do not have much competition
out her as most of the companies out here that offer stone restoration are
cutting corners and doing a quick crystallizer as a quick fix and we end up
getting calls from many customers saying that they now need to hire us to go
behind that contractor to really do the job correctly.
Although we aren't pricing out the cheapest, we offer the best warranty and
results. We will not cut corners because we completely want and care that
the customer will want us again and again and we want them to tell all their
friends, colleagues and family about us.
What are your policies about deposits? Especially large projects? Would
you mind sharing with me?
Thanks all!
Georgia
Stone Buff
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