Dealing with a Tradesperson – Asking for a Discount

• Published: August 10, 2010 by Umma Queenan Comments (0)

How much you get in the way of any reduction is likely to depend on how busy the tradesperson is and how badly they want the job. Someone who’s always got plenty of work won’t usually need to discount, whereas a company that’s keen on a job, or just starting out, may be more prepared to negotiate.

Where you’re unlikely to win is when you’re desperate. If your hot water system’s broken, and you call up a heating engineer in a mad panic and then try and knock down the call-out charge, you’re unlikely to get far as they know you need the job done and quickly.

With companies selling big-ticket items like double glazing, kitchens and bathrooms, there’s usually a big margin for discount. If you make a play of being indecisive or say you’re getting quotes from other companies you’ll often get a reduced price or an offer to price-match any existing quote you’ve got. This is where get¬ting several quotes is essential as you can play one company off against another, but remember it’s not just about the cheapest -decide which company’s products are the best quality and which company you trust to do a really good job on the installation.

An ex-double-glazing salesman I used to work with told me he could give a discount up to 20 per cent on the spot without referring back to the office; and the potential discounts can be much more than that. He said as the majority of people never ever asked for a discount, it always meant a big fat commission for him as he’d always go in with the higher price, and the potential for a huge discount for those who actually asked for it. Put it this way; if out of five customers four paid the full price and only one asked for a discount, it was worth his while to agree a bigger discount as he’d still gotten the full price from four of them.

And it’s the same story when buying kitchens, bathrooms and other large purchases. Sales teams have targets, but in order to meet those targets they’ll have a degree of flexibility on the price. If you don’t sign up for that new $5,000 kitchen, they lose the sale and the commission, so better they get you to sign up for, say, $4,000 than not at all; or get you to pay the $5,000 but on interest-free credit or throw in some appliances rather than offer a discount.

With smaller businesses, offering to pay cash will usually secure a small discount, as a cash payment saves time and there’s the added security of knowing they’ve been paid without risking rubber cheques.

Sue’s savvy stories – it happened to me.

When I had double glazing installed, I rang several companies for quotes. The first one quoted what I thought was a high price but claimed they could get the job done quickly – though ‘quickly’ did seem to be an amazingly short time, and I was concerned the windows would be thrown in at a breakneck speed.

The second company was going to take longer, but as it was a price per job, and I’d negotiated a better deal than with the first company, I was happy. But despite any discount, what clinched it was the feeling that I trusted this company, hence I chose to give them the work.

The first company, having heard nothing, as you’d expect to get back in touch to offer a further reduced price (by text) and undercut their own predicted installation time.

So it just goes to show it’s not always merely about price but what you’re getting for your money, or feel you’re getting for your money, in terms of their time, workmanship and service.

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• dealing with Tradesmen