I would be interested in hearing how other shop owners have their counter people handle the price shopper. Do you provide them with a standard list of questions? What are they? Do you have a "maximum" amount of time you will spend per call? If you do, do you then ask the customer to come to the shop to view or see for themselves how you do it? Do you you figure in this daily "phone time" as part of your hourly labor charge?

Wow !  A lot of my time every day is burned up with price shoppers and we call it " The Free Information Hotline". But, I always try to accommadate when possible.

Steve

Thgat's great Steve. But do you, or anyone, have a standard list of questions, a standard format they use to waste as little time as possible with price shoppers but still sell them shop services or an engine?

Not really a format because pumping them for information about what they are even working on and most have little or no info.

Connected to my phone is a unique device that can help me sort out the real customers from the price shoppers it is called the care-o-meter.

It can help me sort out the paying customers from the price shoppers and the people who just want to pick my brain.

Just joking, I can only wish that it was that easy. If I can tell that it is a pointless call, I will make the statement like, "bring it down and I can give you an accurate estimate." I figure that answering these calls is just one of the hazards of doing business, you just have to know when to cut and run.  I worked for one shop where we were not allowed to quote a price over the phone. 

 Hello

I figure if anyone is serious about getting work done they will engage in a conversation with you, if you ask the right questions that makes them think about it or at least may not be able to answer your questions it then gives you the opportunity to ask them to bring their work to your shop for a free or low cost visual inspection. at this point you can sell them on your workmanship and the shop.. show them around if your place is clean, projects etc. this will engage them and create affinity for your shop.

The biggest reason people ask for price is because they typically don't know what else to ask. If you buckle and give them pricing they now will be armed with info to call other places. it would be better to first ask them about their project or work and sell them on your shop not price. This business is fading to some degree, we all need to get smarter about it and find the niche for you and promote it well.

Hope this helped, heck I forgot the original question in my rant.

Brad

707-584-8230 x11

 Here is something to think about,

Doctors never quote prices over the phone, and they only work on two models (men and women).

Engine rebuilders work on hundreds of models, and they are expected to quote prices over the phone without ever seeing the patient, I mean engine.

Quoting prices over the phone without ever seeing the engine or bare block can set false expectations no matter how many "but if"s or "In my experince"s or given. 

Great response. You have to be creative and get the customer engaged in discussions that lead away from price and towards quality, your shop's knowledge and expertise, number of satisfied customers, etc. and that your shop can get the job done right the first time, every time. Everyone wants the lowest cost possible, but noone wants to have to have the job done again or make multiple returns to resolve continuing problems.

 I also talked to one shop owner who opens his shop for a few hours, e.g., Thursday night from 6-8 or Saturday's from 10-12 where the customer can come in and watch a certain aspect of the job on his engnine being performed, e.g., cylinder boring/honing, valve guide and seat work, porting, etc. Seems to work especialy well for the performance street customer. he actually will make a call or send out a postcard to the customer with an invitation to come down to  the shop!

Shop Dog