Not quite dude… still has little bits and bobs to sort and some slight creases to iron out but yeah you’re right, they are pretty much settled and established within their new premises. I’ve never been so happy for someone I’ve never ever met in my life as I am for Tom and his team for these reasons 1). Ive watched since day one pretty much and I’ve seen him grow and grow with people coming and going. 2). He’s always been down to earth and has always been honest and upfront with his viewers and most importantly his customers !! 3). He always gives an informative and interesting video every single time. 4). He’s been dealt hard blows in life and had the right pulled out from under him many times and always comes back with the same can do, won’t be beaten attitude. 5). He’s always willing to learn and take on board new skills and advice from his viewers and other trade members. 6). Which is last but not least, he is just straight up honest and at times brutally honest which is always for the best and despite struggling through the pandemic he still worked hard and brought his business at an about turn and saved it from going down the pan…. I am really upset about one thing in Toms videos and this really breaks me when I think about it hit I’m sure many many other viewers and subscribers like myself want him to bring back his bloody into title scene from the OG videos. Bring me back that opening scene of the videos and I shall be a very happy man !! Hahaha
People usually try to haggle with me when I'm selling my used stuff online, even if I say the price is fixed. They usually ask "can we do something with the price?" (this is a usual question in Slovakia), to which I almost always respond "sure, we can go upwards with it, if you would like".
Hi Tom, great to see your enthusiasm. I am retired now trained originally as an accountant then saw the light in the 90's and switched to I.T. What I do remember from my training were all the case studies of small business. To be successful once they reached a certain size the owners had to transition from working on the tools to running the business, quoting chasing new business etc and delegation of course which your seem to have in hand :) Some food for thought Good luck Cheers David
Mr Nagy I just wanted to say how much I appreciate and enjoy your content. I can’t imagine how difficult it is running a firm and posting videos!! Really enjoy all the current content! Keep it up Sir T
@@thomasnagy the fact your even checking the UA-cam comments at 1201am shows how committed you are to you channel Really enjoying seeing the progression from where you started to here!
Bloody good advice from Tom really. I tried working for myself before but I got discouraged by haggling clients. You're a saviour when they need you and once you got them out of their trouble they start screwing you around . Completely put me off ...
If they want the estimate broken down for each task, then the total will be more. The original price to carry out, say 5 different tasks, was discounted.
@@thomasnagy I have a minimum hourly rate of 3 hours for a lot of jobs. If the whole job is going to take less than 3 hours, my labour is 3 hours. If you want a price for every task: "let's see... 3 hours + 3 hours + 3 hours + 3 hours..." If you want to pay me 30 hours to be on site for 6, I'll take it.
@@Tinker001 The thing is they are not paying for your "labour", they are paying for your expertise as an Electrician, this needs to be heralded from the highest point in the land. You aren't some lowly un-trained worker that works for peanuts, you are a skilled worker, customers need to realise that serious shit is going to happen if they get a dodgy worker in to do that sort of work.
I agree with what you are saying about the haggling, too many people are more interested in how much money they can get off than the actual job, thrill of the chase, but on the flip side some businesses can't afford to lose the work so while it seems clear cut, it's not always the case. Trust is another big part of it, how many jobs come in lower than the estimate, how easy is it to round it up rather than down, a lot of trades can not be trusted. Massive fan btw, just my two cents :D
Completely agree with you, Tom. Reminds me of something from earlier this year... I quoted for WiFi & CCTV in a large house. Quoted a price of around 3.5k. Customer was a builder and had decided he was only wanting to spend 3k. So, got the "I'll pay you cash, so you'll do it for 3k" line. I said whatever you pay me, for that amount of work is 3.5k. If you want to pay 3k, I reduced the spec - cut down the NVR from an 8 Channel to a 4 Channel, which didn't leave him any room for expansion and supplied and fitted one less access point. I said I won't reduce my price for the work quoted, but I will reduce the spec which will therefore bring down the price.
I used to run into this type when working in I.T.: Customers who would say, "I'll pay your quoted rate, but while you're here I want you to do [X]" - laundry list of things that have no connection to the quoted job. I've been asked to hang window blinds, move furniture, mount ceiling fans, you name it...
As an IT contract engineer I also offer to clean toilets and sell my body. (I am treated like a software whore.) There is little respect for years of experience and qualifications! (What am I doing watching and electrician's channel? I was a sparky when I started work in the 70s... moved to electronics hardware and then software. You don't need to stock software components! )
If you break down your pricing, price it as separate jobs and include a line item for a discount for doing it all together. Make sure it's clear that they won't save money dropping one job from the estimate.
I watch a lot of theses videos and as a layman I get it that you are looking after yourselves. What nobody ever does a video about is how to be a good customer? How to employ trades people and how not to get ripped off. That would be an interesting video especially coming from a professional!
How to be a good customer. Treat them like you would like to be treated. Time is money to these guys, so don’t mess them about. Don’t expect great work at knock down prices. Finally, pay their bill ASAP
Great advice about not haggling on price, also keep away for clients who tell you how many days it should take to do the work. Always estimate never quotation I've been caught out in the pass, Great content
@@thomasnagy Tom. I have been watching for a few years now. You have put an awful lot is f work and effort. Now to have a fleet of Nagy vans out there. Excellent ideas with the streamlining materials and taking on staff. No one ever made it big without taking a risk. You are setting a great example for the next generation.
Top Notch advice there for Tom,.. After 31 years in business, I too have learned the hard way.. I personally offer a fixed price Quotation along with a list of what the job includes,.... never too much detail, because the customer will pick holes in it. The reason I offer Quotes instead of Estimates is because of the advice I was given by a customer who is a " Circuit Judge ".... and he said... So many claims and small claims come in front of me from tradesmen who are in payment disputes with their customers..... the problem is that Estimates are so open ended, where as Quotations are a fixed price for doing the job,... and if you have given a quotation, and the customer refuses to pay it, I will give Judgement and any costs to the Claimant within seconds,... Always Quote, never Estimates.. Great videos Tom.
I find it’s much more enjoyable and rewarding trying to be the best, continually improving and doing the very best work you can, not smashing a job out as fast or as cheap as possible. Stick to your values and you’ll mostly attract like-minded customers and staff. Don’t be afraid to turn work down, saying no to one opportunity or job allows you time to say yes to another.
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again… You’re absolutely smashing the regular content stream mate. Just like the good old days back at the start, I’m so happy to see how far you’ve came in the world of business and also glad to see that instead of giving up you’ve adapted and adjusted business to suit the current climate instead of giving into the temptation to jack it all in and go work for one of the usual shitty chain companies. Keep up the good work team Thomas Nagy !! Absolutely love you and your videos mate, they keep me entertained whilst I do dialysis on an evening in the hospital. Don’t ever change who you are within yourself because we love you as you are with you taking no bullshit and sticking to your ways and also doing things the correct way up to standard and not cutting corners like the usual wannabe electricians… you my good sir are an electrical engineer, not an electrician haha. Stay safe Tom and the team, hope to see more of the rest of the team in the videos soon !!!
I think day rates are the way to go. I work full time in Telecoms, and own an events business. The company I work for does day-rates and won't break them down, and I do the same. I'll use various brake downs to help cost the job, but won't ever give the client the visibility.
Do agree with what your saying on the two business tips, I’m a bit more open if I had to break down a quote which I would do if required but I do understand the mentality behind it because you can guarantee they’ll want you back at a later date to do that “£85 light switch job” which if you have to go back to do it ends up being double that! Unit is looking great though mate
I don't mind haggling hourly rates, as long as it stays in reasonable boundaries. Say my usual rate is 70/h, and a customer wants a sizable job done, e.g. >1k total, I don't mind offering them 60/h instead, or adjusting a bit to bring the total job to a nice round sum. But once a customer starts with shit like "but my neighbor's son does it for 20/h" that's the point where I just turn around and walk away. There's people who just want to save a bit of money, especially in troubled times like nowadays, and there's people who don't value work and don't mind insulting you. The latter can go fork themselves sideways.
well if you're doing a huge job and give a x amount of hours estimate you can just make up the discount in the hours you write, that's how many people compete on offers. It's not a nice strat but people hook so many jobs with it
You have to value your work. I am an electrical engineer and I can't tell how many times I saw someone ignoring my professional advice and having troubles latter. Many people thing quick and easy is good, but they realize it isn't when they have to waste money doing something again that could have been done right the first time.
Doing IT work you get this constantly my answer is simple go to them then when they mess it up I'll just charge even more to fix it and I have a 3 week wait for non urgent
I've had customers try and bring my prices down......."I've had a electrician tell me he can do my EICR for £80.00"..... .did he ? Well....you better go with him then " 😂
The answer is “ ok I will do it for £80 as well, I have a blank form in the van, I just need to put the address on the top and today’s date and we’re done, you can have it now as I won’t actually be visiting the property and testing anything so it will be the same info as they would give”
Dead right. Did a job a while ago for a guy. Couldn't price it effectively so said day rate of £250 plus materials. He haggled so we agreed on £200 Whilst I was doing the agreed work client starts bringing up all sorts of other jobs. Come 3 when I've finished and just packing away. He says if I'm paying day rate I expect you too be here all day. My answer was you haggled for a reduction on rates. So I'm done. See ya later.
@@thomasnagy I'm an IT Consultant, but self employed too - and this is ALWAYS myexperience. The cheaper the client, the harder work they are. I've worked for huge multi national firms, investment banks etc who pay good money and they're way easier to deal with than the likes of charities and small firms. The second somebody is nitpicking over price, you just know they're going to be aggro
Had guy complain once because we left site early. I quoted the job roughly 3 days worth and after day 1 he phoned to say he wasn’t happy that we left site early. I told him that we were on target with the job and not to worry. He complained the second day and I said we quoted for the job and not the day rate and on day 3 everything would be completed which it was. He just couldn’t get his head around that. He felt that because I said it would -probably take 3 days he felt we were ripping him off by finishing in 2.5 days.
@@nickcollins565 as you say people pay for the job to be completed to a good standard, that is all the price means. If you work hard, or everything goes smoothly, you might get it done in half the time. The result will be the same, and the customer should only be concerned about the end product once you've left site.
Last time I was in a car showroom, I knew the car I wanted and was happily going to pay the advertised price. As soon as I switched off the engine after the test drive.... sales person started to upsell me on things I specifically told them during the test drive I wasn't interested in. I walked away with my bank balance intact. And they lost out on an easy sale 😁
This is standard nowdays. They want to sell you every warranty extension and paint protection product they can. We recently brought a car and i made it clear i didn't want any of these products early doors but i did want the car. To be fair to him the salesman listen and we done a deal. If he had of kept going on and on i would of walked away
Wait, did we go back in time or something? Oh I see you just commented on when this was coming out vs when you filmed it haha. You've come along way! :)
Regarding breaking down a job into separate prices, have you considered that might be necessary for tax purposes for the client? I own rental property and if the dishwasher became defective and burned up the wiring in the house and required servicing by an electrician, I might be able to deduct the amount of the electrical work as a business expense but the replacement of the dishwasher needs to be depreciated with an amortization schedule for multiple years. This requires actual contract amounts separated for each part of that job. If an A/C repairman replaces an air conditioner, I have to amortize it for 30 years whereas if he repairs it, I can take the entire expense the same year. So different parts of a job have different tax handling requirements. This isn't isolated to electrical work. If I replace the shingles on the roof, that is amortized but if I do a patch job to fix a leak, that can be expensed that year. I don't know all the laws regarding this so I have an IRS enrolled agent do it the legal way so I present her with all the receipts and she declares what the legal tax handling is for each part of the job. It is so complex to figure out that I pay her a small fortune to sort through all the tax laws. I'm still benefiting from depreciating replacement items done several years ago. Last thing I would want is to have fullfilled a multi-thousand dollar contract with a single price and not know how much of that needs to be taxed one way and other parts taxed a different way then be audited by the IRS and end up having to pay a penalty because the contractor refused to break down the job. (I say taxed but it's technically reducing the tax burden on the income received by rent collection.)
Good advice. I agree 100%. I know how much I want to pay before getting 'quotes', end of.. Same with doing a job, normally go 10% high if you think he will try it on, price can come down if they are OK...
Great advice Tom and I totally agree. The only downside is your toast had gone cold 😂😂😂, but all jokes aside - I wish you and your business good luck!! 👍
Spot on with not negotiating your day rate - also bites you in the ass if your customers happen to talk to each other (maybe not such a risk in your line of work?) - you then get the "I spoke to X and you quoted them Y for the day, why have you quoted me Z". £995 per day to everyone, no matter who they are.
Talking about clients cutting your price down Tom I gave a estimate to a lady to clean her patio for £70 she looked at me gone out and tried to cut me down in price and then had a go at me for using her garden tap to clean her patio Will take your 2 steps of sound advice Tom 👍👍👍
Totally agree with the advice about walking away from customers who try to haggle. Also anyone who starts the conversation with how they bought “a bargain” and now want you to sort out the problems they have. These people have totally unrealistic expectations.
Im confused a bit here Thomas, I thought you had moved into your unit ages ago? Great advice about haggling and day rate. I set my rate and if its disputed or questioned I walk away. Same with haggling with customers, never have done and never will.
Here is another piece of good advice and I offer it you totally FREE. Reputation is priceless as are values of trust and honesty. Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Your landlady was very kind to give you stock she had no use of for free and you say, "I will keep what I need and sell the rest on ebay" Is it any wonder people try to haggle on pricing when they think you are over charging them as standard. Think again and put an advert in some electrical suppliers offering the stock given freely by your landlady and pass it on for free to another electrician or maybe to a college training electricians. Making a fast buck won't help your reputation, especially as you said what you said on here. Peace and really wish you every success in the new venture. the new unit looks lovely and has great potential.
Ok so what happens when you quote a job and tell the customer that it will cost $XX for eight hours work, then you show up at 8:00 AM and you'll all done with the job at 2:00 in the afternoon. You go to get paid and the customer say's your charging me for 8 hours work and you were only here 4 hrs.
two rules i was always taught, you wouldnt go to a supermarket and negotiate the price so if its good enough for tesco its good enough for me and we dont give quotes, if you want a quote you need shakespeare
I used to have a regular customer where I would always up the standard quote by 20%, he always thought he was getting one over on me by negotiating a 10% discount... whereas he was still paying a "Bellend Premium". The funny thing is he was actually quite a nice guy & not a bad customer - he just needed that warm fuzzy feeling from getting a discount!
Some so called tradesmen do take the pi$$ on price though, they think that all customers are total mugs when it comes to knowing the cost of certain items/materials for a job,......like with anything else, you got to do some research to avoid being ripped off big time. I've never been in a well paid job period so I can't pass on money that I don't have to such tradesmen anyway, thankfully I can tackle most jobs myself.
I never get ppl that haggle like its a car boot sale an you want a tea pot they are selling for £3 an ur tryin to get it for £1. Like thats how much u charge for something if you dont wanna pay for it go elsewhere. Its like going into greggs for a coffee an when they tell you the cost you go al give u x amount for it. You just wouldn’t do it
Once had a customer try to haggle £4 off a £10,000 job. Walked away and didn’t bother with the job, was red flags instantly. If they want £4 off a job that big, are they gonna pay up at the end? Probably not!
You have remember some people have been ripped off in the the past, so they are cautious about you doing the job. If you were getting a quote for a job you wanted doing, say a new boiler, would you not want the price broken down?
I totally agree with walking away as soon as a customer haggles or asks for a breakdown of cost.... Just go ! Even worse is the guy who owns multiple properties and thinks you should do him a deal...... Oh so I can continuously work for fuck all to supplement your portfolio.... Good deal for me 😬
I hear another youtuber has a camera man and unit too , you got a brother Thomas 😭 Re:itemising I don’t think it’s bad practice and sadly there are so many cowboys out there that I can see why some customers want a clearer idea but your right in that there’s a fine line to it , I never haggle on small jobs but I might ask for a slightly better rate on a big job but ultimately each to their own.
I am a decorator and customers want a breakdown of all the materials ? they then say they will supply the paint and go and buy the cheap shit !! then complain when the finish is not perfect !!
You will never get the best job that way, the contractor will spend the whole job resenting you and trying to make back what they feel you have stolen from them
"by the time this comes out this won't be here" ye the whole thing is done ;)
Not quite dude… still has little bits and bobs to sort and some slight creases to iron out but yeah you’re right, they are pretty much settled and established within their new premises. I’ve never been so happy for someone I’ve never ever met in my life as I am for Tom and his team for these reasons
1). Ive watched since day one pretty much and I’ve seen him grow and grow with people coming and going.
2). He’s always been down to earth and has always been honest and upfront with his viewers and most importantly his customers !!
3). He always gives an informative and interesting video every single time.
4). He’s been dealt hard blows in life and had the right pulled out from under him many times and always comes back with the same can do, won’t be beaten attitude.
5). He’s always willing to learn and take on board new skills and advice from his viewers and other trade members.
6). Which is last but not least, he is just straight up honest and at times brutally honest which is always for the best and despite struggling through the pandemic he still worked hard and brought his business at an about turn and saved it from going down the pan….
I am really upset about one thing in Toms videos and this really breaks me when I think about it hit I’m sure many many other viewers and subscribers like myself want him to bring back his bloody into title scene from the OG videos. Bring me back that opening scene of the videos and I shall be a very happy man !! Hahaha
@@terrysinclair136 it was a little joke btw 😉
People usually try to haggle with me when I'm selling my used stuff online, even if I say the price is fixed. They usually ask "can we do something with the price?" (this is a usual question in Slovakia), to which I almost always respond "sure, we can go upwards with it, if you would like".
Hi Tom, great to see your enthusiasm. I am retired now trained originally as an accountant then saw the light in the 90's and switched to I.T. What I do remember from my training were all the case studies of small business. To be successful once they reached a certain size the owners had to transition from working on the tools to running the business, quoting chasing new business etc and delegation of course which your seem to have in hand :) Some food for thought Good luck Cheers David
Mr Nagy
I just wanted to say how much I appreciate and enjoy your content. I can’t imagine how difficult it is running a firm and posting videos!!
Really enjoy all the current content! Keep it up Sir
T
Thanks pal, really appreciate it!
@@thomasnagy the fact your even checking the UA-cam comments at 1201am shows how committed you are to you channel
Really enjoying seeing the progression from where you started to here!
Bloody good advice from Tom really. I tried working for myself before but I got discouraged by haggling clients. You're a saviour when they need you and once you got them out of their trouble they start screwing you around . Completely put me off ...
If they want the estimate broken down for each task, then the total will be more. The original price to carry out, say 5 different tasks, was discounted.
Exactly. Most clients just don’t get this.
@@thomasnagy I have a minimum hourly rate of 3 hours for a lot of jobs.
If the whole job is going to take less than 3 hours, my labour is 3 hours.
If you want a price for every task:
"let's see... 3 hours + 3 hours + 3 hours + 3 hours..."
If you want to pay me 30 hours to be on site for 6, I'll take it.
@@Tinker001 The thing is they are not paying for your "labour", they are paying for your expertise as an Electrician, this needs to be heralded from the highest point in the land.
You aren't some lowly un-trained worker that works for peanuts, you are a skilled worker,
customers need to realise that serious shit is going to happen if they get a dodgy worker
in to do that sort of work.
I agree with what you are saying about the haggling, too many people are more interested in how much money they can get off than the actual job, thrill of the chase, but on the flip side some businesses can't afford to lose the work so while it seems clear cut, it's not always the case. Trust is another big part of it, how many jobs come in lower than the estimate, how easy is it to round it up rather than down, a lot of trades can not be trusted. Massive fan btw, just my two cents :D
Completely agree with you, Tom. Reminds me of something from earlier this year...
I quoted for WiFi & CCTV in a large house. Quoted a price of around 3.5k. Customer was a builder and had decided he was only wanting to spend 3k. So, got the "I'll pay you cash, so you'll do it for 3k" line. I said whatever you pay me, for that amount of work is 3.5k. If you want to pay 3k, I reduced the spec - cut down the NVR from an 8 Channel to a 4 Channel, which didn't leave him any room for expansion and supplied and fitted one less access point.
I said I won't reduce my price for the work quoted, but I will reduce the spec which will therefore bring down the price.
I used to run into this type when working in I.T.: Customers who would say, "I'll pay your quoted rate, but while you're here I want you to do [X]" - laundry list of things that have no connection to the quoted job. I've been asked to hang window blinds, move furniture, mount ceiling fans, you name it...
As an IT contract engineer I also offer to clean toilets and sell my body. (I am treated like a software whore.)
There is little respect for years of experience and qualifications!
(What am I doing watching and electrician's channel? I was a sparky when I started work in the 70s... moved to electronics hardware and then software. You don't need to stock software components! )
Well done Tom, watched your videos for a few years now. Great to see your progress from there to now. Keep it up
If you break down your pricing, price it as separate jobs and include a line item for a discount for doing it all together. Make sure it's clear that they won't save money dropping one job from the estimate.
This is a really good idea
I watch a lot of theses videos and as a layman I get it that you are looking after yourselves. What nobody ever does a video about is how to be a good customer? How to employ trades people and how not to get ripped off. That would be an interesting video especially coming from a professional!
How to be a good customer. Treat them like you would like to be treated. Time is money to these guys, so don’t mess them about. Don’t expect great work at knock down prices. Finally, pay their bill ASAP
@@nigelmorse3909 not forgetting to feed and water them …as well
How to be a good customer = don’t be a fuckhead
Great advice about not haggling on price, also keep away for clients who tell you how many days it should take to do the work.
Always estimate never quotation I've been caught out in the pass, Great content
Appreciate it man 👨
@@thomasnagy Tom. I have been watching for a few years now. You have put an awful lot is f work and effort. Now to have a fleet of Nagy vans out there. Excellent ideas with the streamlining materials and taking on staff. No one ever made it big without taking a risk. You are setting a great example for the next generation.
Top Notch advice there for Tom,..
After 31 years in business, I too have learned the hard way..
I personally offer a fixed price Quotation along with a list of what the job includes,.... never too much detail, because the customer will pick holes in it.
The reason I offer Quotes instead of Estimates is because of the advice I was given by a customer who is a " Circuit Judge ".... and he said... So many claims and small claims come in front of me from tradesmen who are in payment disputes with their customers..... the problem is that Estimates are so open ended, where as Quotations are a fixed price for doing the job,... and if you have given a quotation, and the customer refuses to pay it, I will give Judgement and any costs to the Claimant within seconds,... Always Quote, never Estimates..
Great videos Tom.
i love it when the poles wear their dungarees to work. can spot them a mile off. please do more tom's business tips
Massive unit, several vans, a cameraman AND you have time to make videos. Crikey, you must be raking it in!
I find it’s much more enjoyable and rewarding trying to be the best, continually improving and doing the very best work you can, not smashing a job out as fast or as cheap as possible. Stick to your values and you’ll mostly attract like-minded customers and staff. Don’t be afraid to turn work down, saying no to one opportunity or job allows you time to say yes to another.
Yeah I'd rather go broke sitting at home, than busting my gut and not getting paid by a tight customer.
Congratulations on acquiring your new unit 😃👌👏👏👏
Best of luck with it Tom
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again… You’re absolutely smashing the regular content stream mate. Just like the good old days back at the start, I’m so happy to see how far you’ve came in the world of business and also glad to see that instead of giving up you’ve adapted and adjusted business to suit the current climate instead of giving into the temptation to jack it all in and go work for one of the usual shitty chain companies. Keep up the good work team Thomas Nagy !! Absolutely love you and your videos mate, they keep me entertained whilst I do dialysis on an evening in the hospital. Don’t ever change who you are within yourself because we love you as you are with you taking no bullshit and sticking to your ways and also doing things the correct way up to standard and not cutting corners like the usual wannabe electricians… you my good sir are an electrical engineer, not an electrician haha. Stay safe Tom and the team, hope to see more of the rest of the team in the videos soon !!!
I think day rates are the way to go. I work full time in Telecoms, and own an events business. The company I work for does day-rates and won't break them down, and I do the same. I'll use various brake downs to help cost the job, but won't ever give the client the visibility.
Do agree with what your saying on the two business tips, I’m a bit more open if I had to break down a quote which I would do if required but I do understand the mentality behind it because you can guarantee they’ll want you back at a later date to do that “£85 light switch job” which if you have to go back to do it ends up being double that! Unit is looking great though mate
I don't mind haggling hourly rates, as long as it stays in reasonable boundaries. Say my usual rate is 70/h, and a customer wants a sizable job done, e.g. >1k total, I don't mind offering them 60/h instead, or adjusting a bit to bring the total job to a nice round sum. But once a customer starts with shit like "but my neighbor's son does it for 20/h" that's the point where I just turn around and walk away. There's people who just want to save a bit of money, especially in troubled times like nowadays, and there's people who don't value work and don't mind insulting you. The latter can go fork themselves sideways.
well if you're doing a huge job and give a x amount of hours estimate you can just make up the discount in the hours you write, that's how many people compete on offers. It's not a nice strat but people hook so many jobs with it
You have to value your work. I am an electrical engineer and I can't tell how many times I saw someone ignoring my professional advice and having troubles latter. Many people thing quick and easy is good, but they realize it isn't when they have to waste money doing something again that could have been done right the first time.
what do you do to customers who ask can they avoid the VAT?
Doing IT work you get this constantly my answer is simple go to them then when they mess it up I'll just charge even more to fix it and I have a 3 week wait for non urgent
Good luck with the new unit.
Mate just keep up this fire content every video seems better
My "stay away" phrase is "Money no object" customers, they have a posh house, a fast car and a glamorous wife. AND NO MONEY.
I have found that having a large house and all the trimmings does not mean they have plenty of money, often the opposite
Thanks Tom, I get that sort of clients sometimes and you are hundred percent right, best to walk away 👍
I've had customers try and bring my prices down......."I've had a electrician tell me he can do my EICR for £80.00".....
.did he ? Well....you better go with him then " 😂
To be honest I'd probably send the the DSES video where he pulls apart a drive by EICR
The answer is “ ok I will do it for £80 as well, I have a blank form in the van, I just need to put the address on the top and today’s date and we’re done, you can have it now as I won’t actually be visiting the property and testing anything so it will be the same info as they would give”
Another great video Tom
It like when you go food shopping. you don’t ask the check out person to give you money off your bill 💵
good advice.... i agree walk away work for people that get you and what you do.
Good advice there. Agree with both.
Thanks for the advice..👌👍🏻
For a second… I thought you bought another unit.. 😁😁.
Re: advice .. you bang on the mark there. 👍👍
Completely agree with not breaking down a price. It always ends badly.
You wouldn’t go to a restaurant and ask how much the carrots cost, the price on the menu is set for the meal and experience, full stop
Good morning from Australia 🦘!!
You might want to look into scanning stock as it comes in/goes out so it's automatically added and what not, at least you won't forget that way.
Haha the video is from the past, he already has a system with barcodes set up 😅
Dead right. Did a job a while ago for a guy. Couldn't price it effectively so said day rate of £250 plus materials. He haggled so we agreed on £200 Whilst I was doing the agreed work client starts bringing up all sorts of other jobs. Come 3 when I've finished and just packing away. He says if I'm paying day rate I expect you too be here all day. My answer was you haggled for a reduction on rates. So I'm done. See ya later.
Damn right man. When clients haggle I have always had problems with them. Every time. Just walk away and let schlep & Kovac sort it 👍
@@thomasnagy I'm an IT Consultant, but self employed too - and this is ALWAYS myexperience. The cheaper the client, the harder work they are. I've worked for huge multi national firms, investment banks etc who pay good money and they're way easier to deal with than the likes of charities and small firms. The second somebody is nitpicking over price, you just know they're going to be aggro
Had guy complain once because we left site early. I quoted the job roughly 3 days worth and after day 1 he phoned to say he wasn’t happy that we left site early. I told him that we were on target with the job and not to worry. He complained the second day and I said we quoted for the job and not the day rate and on day 3 everything would be completed which it was. He just couldn’t get his head around that. He felt that because I said it would -probably take 3 days he felt we were ripping him off by finishing in 2.5 days.
@@regiondeltas Marketing Consultant here and this is exactly my experience too.
@@nickcollins565 as you say people pay for the job to be completed to a good standard, that is all the price means. If you work hard, or everything goes smoothly, you might get it done in half the time. The result will be the same, and the customer should only be concerned about the end product once you've left site.
Thanks for the brilliant advice Tom, 👍🏼, I like that attitude, sticking to your guns.😉
Last time I was in a car showroom, I knew the car I wanted and was happily going to pay the advertised price. As soon as I switched off the engine after the test drive.... sales person started to upsell me on things I specifically told them during the test drive I wasn't interested in. I walked away with my bank balance intact. And they lost out on an easy sale 😁
New or used?
This is standard nowdays. They want to sell you every warranty extension and paint protection product they can. We recently brought a car and i made it clear i didn't want any of these products early doors but i did want the car. To be fair to him the salesman listen and we done a deal. If he had of kept going on and on i would of walked away
Wait, did we go back in time or something? Oh I see you just commented on when this was coming out vs when you filmed it haha. You've come along way! :)
I'm also the same don't break down a quote, if they haggle I walk away but I also don't chase work if I quote and they don't get back to me
Some people haggle the price at the start, then pick holes in your work to get money off. It’s a total waste of time working for people like that
Smashing it at the moment Tom keep it up pal
Regarding breaking down a job into separate prices, have you considered that might be necessary for tax purposes for the client?
I own rental property and if the dishwasher became defective and burned up the wiring in the house and required servicing by an electrician, I might be able to deduct the amount of the electrical work as a business expense but the replacement of the dishwasher needs to be depreciated with an amortization schedule for multiple years. This requires actual contract amounts separated for each part of that job.
If an A/C repairman replaces an air conditioner, I have to amortize it for 30 years whereas if he repairs it, I can take the entire expense the same year. So different parts of a job have different tax handling requirements.
This isn't isolated to electrical work. If I replace the shingles on the roof, that is amortized but if I do a patch job to fix a leak, that can be expensed that year.
I don't know all the laws regarding this so I have an IRS enrolled agent do it the legal way so I present her with all the receipts and she declares what the legal tax handling is for each part of the job. It is so complex to figure out that I pay her a small fortune to sort through all the tax laws. I'm still benefiting from depreciating replacement items done several years ago. Last thing I would want is to have fullfilled a multi-thousand dollar contract with a single price and not know how much of that needs to be taxed one way and other parts taxed a different way then be audited by the IRS and end up having to pay a penalty because the contractor refused to break down the job. (I say taxed but it's technically reducing the tax burden on the income received by rent collection.)
Good advice. I agree 100%.
I know how much I want to pay before getting 'quotes', end of.. Same with doing a job, normally go 10% high if you think he will try it on, price can come down if they are OK...
Great advice Tom and I totally agree. The only downside is your toast had gone cold 😂😂😂, but all jokes aside - I wish you and your business good luck!! 👍
Am I in a timewarp?
Such an inspiration!
I need a legrand 6 way grid switch .. you got on in those boxes.... You probally sold it already 😅
Spot on with not negotiating your day rate - also bites you in the ass if your customers happen to talk to each other (maybe not such a risk in your line of work?) - you then get the "I spoke to X and you quoted them Y for the day, why have you quoted me Z". £995 per day to everyone, no matter who they are.
Talking about clients cutting your price down Tom
I gave a estimate to a lady to clean her patio for £70 she looked at me gone out and tried to cut me down in price and then had a go at me for using her garden tap to clean her patio
Will take your 2 steps of sound advice Tom 👍👍👍
Totally agree with the advice about walking away from customers who try to haggle. Also anyone who starts the conversation with how they bought “a bargain” and now want you to sort out the problems they have. These people have totally unrealistic expectations.
How can you make that work with the cost per square metre to rent / lease it and all that wasted space during the day??
Im confused a bit here Thomas, I thought you had moved into your unit ages ago? Great advice about haggling and day rate. I set my rate and if its disputed or questioned I walk away. Same with haggling with customers, never have done and never will.
Here is another piece of good advice and I offer it you totally FREE. Reputation is priceless as are values of trust and honesty. Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. Your landlady was very kind to give you stock she had no use of for free and you say, "I will keep what I need and sell the rest on ebay" Is it any wonder people try to haggle on pricing when they think you are over charging them as standard. Think again and put an advert in some electrical suppliers offering the stock given freely by your landlady and pass it on for free to another electrician or maybe to a college training electricians. Making a fast buck won't help your reputation, especially as you said what you said on here. Peace and really wish you every success in the new venture. the new unit looks lovely and has great potential.
Nice👍 Why not buy the Unit? Or is cheaper to not own the building?
Hope it all works out! you sure as hell worked for it! Enjoy your content, keep it up!
Appreciate it pal!
Hold on...great Scott, plug in the flux capacitor and fire up the deloreran, we have gone back in time
Sound Advice there on pricing! really good advice.
Congrats!!!!! 6ish mo later.
Ok so what happens when you quote a job and tell the customer that it will cost $XX for eight hours work, then you show up at 8:00 AM and you'll all done with the job at 2:00 in the afternoon.
You go to get paid and the customer say's your charging me for 8 hours work and you were only here 4 hrs.
Why do you still use halogen?
6.25 who is this Karren you talk about?
Have I time travelled or something?
By the time this comes out he's moved twice and has a fleet of 20 vans 😂😂
All the best Tom and the crew.
two rules i was always taught, you wouldnt go to a supermarket and negotiate the price so if its good enough for tesco its good enough for me and we dont give quotes, if you want a quote you need shakespeare
Nice score on the free shit!
An argument for the hagglers: Do YOU work for free? No? Then why would you expect us to?
I used to have a regular customer where I would always up the standard quote by 20%, he always thought he was getting one over on me by negotiating a 10% discount... whereas he was still paying a "Bellend Premium". The funny thing is he was actually quite a nice guy & not a bad customer - he just needed that warm fuzzy feeling from getting a discount!
Sounds OK now?
"can't say too much, he might be listening... He was a proper bell end"
Hmm. Lol
Great video 😎
Did you list the legrand stuff on eBay yet?
Yup. Didn’t get much for it actually. About £50. Was just wanting it gone because it was just getting in the way.
A third piece of advice: Don't lower your price to get the job figuring you'll make it up on extras.
Some good advice there 👍👍
Some so called tradesmen do take the pi$$ on price though, they think that all customers are total mugs when it comes to knowing the cost of certain items/materials for a job,......like with anything else, you got to do some research to avoid being ripped off big time. I've never been in a well paid job period so I can't pass on money that I don't have to such tradesmen anyway, thankfully I can tackle most jobs myself.
I never get ppl that haggle like its a car boot sale an you want a tea pot they are selling for £3 an ur tryin to get it for £1. Like thats how much u charge for something if you dont wanna pay for it go elsewhere. Its like going into greggs for a coffee an when they tell you the cost you go al give u x amount for it. You just wouldn’t do it
The gezzer is smashing it fam
great advise tom and nice score on the freebies , make a bundle of cash on ebay
Once had a customer try to haggle £4 off a £10,000 job. Walked away and didn’t bother with the job, was red flags instantly. If they want £4 off a job that big, are they gonna pay up at the end? Probably not!
Why post back video
Wait till 2.57 the man explains
You have remember some people have been ripped off in the the past, so they are cautious about you doing the job.
If you were getting a quote for a job you wanted doing, say a new boiler, would you not want the price broken down?
For a quote, yes. Because a quote is a fixed amount. An estimate is different, it's an educated guess.
I totally agree with walking away as soon as a customer haggles or asks for a breakdown of cost.... Just go !
Even worse is the guy who owns multiple properties and thinks you should do him a deal...... Oh so I can continuously work for fuck all to supplement your portfolio.... Good deal for me 😬
I hear another youtuber has a camera man and unit too , you got a brother Thomas 😭
Re:itemising
I don’t think it’s bad practice and sadly there are so many cowboys out there that I can see why some customers want a clearer idea but your right in that there’s a fine line to it , I never haggle on small jobs but I might ask for a slightly better rate on a big job but ultimately each to their own.
No sound???
Do me a favour Do a separate video from the minute you start eating toast to end of business advice. Just so I can forward to clients when appropriate
can you just send them a timestamped link ua-cam.com/video/l3FIotj0CUo/v-deo.html
Great video 👍
Appreciate It man 👍
Jumping around with the timeline?
Yeah it’s not perfect but you get the jist 😎
It’s like a budget avengers endgame.
Why is this video uploaded again today ??
Thought this was going to be your new ‘new’ unit for a mo then…
I am a decorator and customers want a breakdown of all the materials ? they then say they will supply the paint and go and buy the cheap shit !! then complain when the finish is not perfect !!
When the customer's eyes light up, you know you have a cross-connection somewhere.
Now that explain why there's a door open to nowhere, that floor is demolished 😀
i like to haggle at the begining, and at the end pay them extra haha
You will never get the best job that way, the contractor will spend the whole job resenting you and trying to make back what they feel you have stolen from them
Is there any good reason these videos are coming out so chronologically out of order?
Deja vu.
Good vid👍