Contractor’s know that the best way to get the job, is to have the best combination of good rapport, good referral(s), the best price.
From the very beginning, all contractors want to be your ‘friend’. They’ll want to come to your house and talk, be cordial and friendly enough, and some will soak up your time if you let them.
Contractors didn’t always appreciate referrals. With companies like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, that’s changing, but a contractor is still only as good as the current job. Past performance can mask current problems, and contractors can use a good referrals as a reason to have higher prices. Construction and renovation take time. Contractors do what they need to get jobs done and make more profit and a lot can go wrong between the start and finish. That can leave you with a bad taste in your mouth, and you’ll remember the headaches more than anything else.
I’ve seen people tell a contractor they are the only bidder, only to wonder why the price is higher than the budget. You want to help ensure you get a contractor’s best price, add competition and use Construction Conductor. They’ll keep their pencils sharp. Competition makes contractor’s work a little harder to get the job, but there’s a catch and contractors know it. Not all bids are equal and contractors have tricks they can use to make their bids look lower.
The best contractor does well in all three areas: they have great rapport, super referrals, and a fair and reasonable market-based price. Most contractors tend to perform well in one or two areas, but fall short when it comes to all three.
It is up to the You, the owner, to decide which attribute is most important. But you must be careful in deciding which aspects outweigh the others.
Like the balance in the figure on this page, if you place more weight on the rapport / good referral side of the balance, the contractor has little incentive to sharpen their pencil. If you place too much weight on the Price side of the balance, you might overlook character flaws or negative reviews from the contractor’s previous clients.
In the end, the best way to make you get a contractors best price is:
- Be courteous while not too friendly (You can be friends after the project is done, if you still want)
- Be casual about referrals (You will be making an objective decisions)
- Mention the other anonymous bidders (Make sure they know they are competing)
- Always negotiate (Be careful: Doing this the wrong way will backfire)
Here is more about how contractors cut costs to win the contract.