[TJ Paint]

There are other options, depending on where you live.

Are there other paint stores? BM, Diamond Vogel, Pratt & Lambert, PPG, Vista, other regional paints.

My Dad always says, it don't hurt to shop around. SW isn't the only paint maker of quality.

 

[TJ Paint]

Is it feasible to let the customer choose from within the same paint manufacturer's line?

"This premium SW, low odor, washable paint used in your 3 bedrooms and hallway will run you $3,340 for the job.

To save you some money, while still giving you a good quality paint, we can use the Dimension line, which should suit your needs fine in my experience and give you the ability to wash up fingerprints. That would be $2,980. A nice bonus is that they have great designer color charts to help you match your trim and accent walls. That should make all of our lives easier! ::smile and laugh::


. That would bring your job down to just under $2600.

Which way do you would think you would be leaning?

You have a good point, but... The difference in price between the paint lines will not have that much deviation in overall price for most jobs.

What does happen is by using the cheaper lines, it makes labor cost go up because the cheaper lines aren't as easy to work with. So, in effect, using the cheaper lines actually costs more.

 

[TJ Paint]

That's what I figured and is why I asked.

The numbers themselves I just pulled from my azz and are not really relevant.

I do think your idea of giving the customer options and choices is valid and has merit!

For one, the customers response to the options may give important information as to their expectations and goals for the project. You can then hopefully communicate to them that you understand that and can provide it for them. This clicking of the minds, I believe, has sold many jobs for me through the years.

The customer feels empowered and they can tell you understand what they want and they like that, you have a clear understanding of what they want, and you can price it in a profitable way. There is little miscommunication as a result, and they are most always satisfied with the results because of it.

As for using the price differences of paint lines, sometimes that may work, other times it won't. But I think the principle underlying your suggestion is effective and yields results for sure.

 

[TJ Paint]

Our ultimate goal or wish should be to lose to a reputable player...not a low baller.

Why is this or why should this be our goal? Say we eliminate the lowballer completely from the equation, and only have "apples to apples".

Why is it desirable to lose a job to some company we would consider to be on a level to our own?

 

[TJ Paint]

Because it means you both have integrity.

Yeah I get that part, but, the goal is to make money and provide a great service (least thats my goal for a business).

If you lose jobs to companies you respect, you're still losing jobs and an opportunity to grow, and also means that, if they didn't make a mistake, they are either more efficient or have some sort of competitive advantage you don't.

That is the part I'm having difficulty seeing as a desirable outcome.

 

[TJ Paint]

If they're more "efficient" by a couple hundred bucks, that's easy to overcome. The ones that are cheaper by a couple grand ...there's no competing with that.

In a way, if your competition is exactly level with your own, "apples to apples", would that not imply you are the same? How do you distinguish yourself in that scenario? If we take that to the extreme, would that not transform us into a commodity as harry suggests? If it does, then price is the only other factor to consider for a customer.

 

[TJ Paint]

ok lets say somehow all the lowballers were gone. They decided to move to Mars, on a mission from God.

Now lets suppose a customer calls three identical, legit, paint companies for bids.

there is a 400 dollar spread amongst them. If everything is the same, why wouldn't the customer go for the lowest price at that point?

I'm saying that, in the service industry, the perceived wisdom has always been to distinguish your company/product from the others (and this assumes legit business).

And what it sounds like you guys are demanding or thinking to be ideal, is for the lowballer to be gone, and for the remaining to be basically the same.

I'm not sure if I'm seeing this accurately, but if this is the case, ironically price will come back to being the deciding factor again - something that everybody here wants to thwart.

 

[TJ Paint]

I wont shop at sw just off principle alone. I know a water based gallon of paint cant cost **** to make, especially considering the scale on which they make it. How much can it really be? 5? less? Somehow it makes its way up to 50-55 bucks when it gets to me and they dont want to negotiate...what are they putting uranium in their recipe now? The hell with SW and BM.

Sounds great dude.

Good thing there is more than those two making paint!
Lets celebrate the good times bro. :thumbsup:

 

[TJ Paint]

You're absolutely right with one caveat.. its never equal. Three companies can be qualified. Three owners can present the same level of knowledge. Still the deciding factor is going to be who the customer likes best and trusts most. The goal, as it always is in sales, is selling yourself first and selling the benefits of the job as a close second.


It goes without saying, regardless of how good a salesperson you are, as a business owner you should work first towards efficiency with a product, gain customer count, then negotiate your materials supply.

Yes, I agree. That was the point I was trying to render from creating a unnatural scenario with 3 "identical" competing contractors on a bid.

I think it comes back to the lowballer basically being irrelevant. It just felt like the general sentiment here was: all we have to do is eliminate the lowballer and everything will be fine. But, we can see that, if that element is gone, what we really have is a real sense of competition which requires improving ones own systems in order to outperform. It requires constant improvement.

 

[TJ Paint]

Well, I guess we beat the crap out of THAT topic, lol.

I guess it all comes down to comparing the painting industry to other industries that have their stuff together...

I think this thread has a few more pages of life to it.

So what would be a relevant industry to compare the Painting/finishing/decorating industries?

 

[TJ Paint]

:yes:

I recommend Sherwin Williams products to my customers almost every day. It seems to me that painting contractors across the nation are by far their best sales force. SW could never employ enough sales reps to even come close to the number of contractors out there. Lately its like they are the enemy. We have a price increase about 3x a year. I think there should be lower contractor prices. I also see residential customers walk in and open an account and their prices are pretty close to mine. They have declined to provide a price list that is good for a certain period of time. Any thoughts?

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