Knowing Our Worth
I wanted to spend a few moments discussing the industry wide practice of “leaving money on the table.” And by this I mean, not charging enough for your products and services.
Of course, if you are a pool builder and you are competing against three other builders for a contract to build a nice pool, spa and deck, you have to give the best price you can. This is born of experience because nearly every market has one or two builders who like to “low ball’ a project. So I am not addressing my “leaving money on the table” complaint to any individual builder, but more to the “group consciousness” of our industry in general.
Never in the history of the world has more wealth been available than in North America in the 21st century. Stock portfolios are swollen like never before. Millionaires are being minted every single day. And you know as well as I that if you take your family to a ball game on a Saturday afternoon you’ll go through at least $150, if you’re careful.
What are you worth?
Just take a look at the price of real estate in most U.S cities. In California, where I live, people are spending huge sums to buy a little house, and then knock it down to build a larger one. So, we know people have money to spend.
How do we value our craftsmanship? What are our time, training, skills, and experience worth? I have a friend who is a successful anesthesiologist. I often tease him about his high rates, but he is totally confident in his worth. He reminds me how hard he studied for many years to learn his science. And he recites to me how critical his performance is during even a routine surgery. He usually ends up feeling like he should raise his rates.
Well, the next time my Doctor friend moves and has his new pool built, I hope his swimming pool contractors value their time and expertise as much as he does. He will end up paying a fair price for his pool. Let’s not leave any money on his kitchen table.
Promoting your expertise, value
When making a sales presentation, are you bold enough to talk about the things that you do that maybe your competition doesn’t. Are you able to show you have raised the bar when it comes to standards of pool construction?
You know your steel schedule exceeds the local code. You know you don’t use rebound when having the pool gunited. You know you install an extra pump for waterfeatures and a blower for the spa. You know you spend extra money to make sure the drainage in the pool deck is correct. You know your base price includes a step and loveseat. You know you always upgrade the control system so the customer doesn’t have to walk out to the equipment every time they want to reset the equipment, etc, etc.
How about supervision of the project? Your subs aren’t running the job like your competitors. You spend time in your customers backyard to make sure the job is done right. And you guarantee the pool structure will not leak for the lifetime of the pool.
Catering to quality-conscious customers
Many customers have become more quality conscious nowadays. They don’t necessarily want the cheapest product available. And it’s funny how if a customer gets three bids, and one is low and two are high, it’s the low bid that will often be thrown out. The consumer doesn’t believe he would be getting a similar product if he went with the low bidder.
I knew one builder who always had a good answer if faced with a lower bid from a competitor. He told the homeowner to obtain the exact specs for the lower priced pool and that he would build it for the same low price. The homeowner was rarely interested in downgrading his project.
It’s not easy to build a good pool and spa. I have seen the results of either an inexperienced builder or a do-it-yourself homeowner tackling a pool construction project. Good builders have earned a high price for their service. Let’s not leave our hard-earned money on the customer’s table.