Project Teasing

One of the reasons I didn't stick it out with my own company was the drain on my energy dealing with nickel and diming Tom, Dick and Harrys, jerking me around. Way I see it, starting out, you have to go through a lot of chaff to get to any wheat, a significant number of people will waste your time until you start to develop a cadre of reliable clients. Soon enough you'll spot the red flags and waste less time going around and around with those people. Especially if your focused on doing lot surveys for people who don't have a clue what's involved or care what your time is worth. There's shoppers and there's buyers, you just have to learn to distinguish between the two. Good luck.

@williwaw Well, that's the thing...  I'd expect it from randoms and maybe new or smaller businesses but I've seen it from bigger companies that do and have done a lot of work in the area over decades too.  I just don't see the point of lying about work you apparently don't have.

I got pretty good at spotting the homeowner tire kickers but the amount of bigger companies that blow smoke seems strange to me.

I've only on a few occasions had carrot danglers try to entice lower fees today for the hope of more future work. My theory is this: if they want it cheaper today, they're going to want it cheaper tomorrow. Move along, nothing to see here.

Occasionally circumstances change. Financing falls through, divorces disrupt business plans and other events can cause people to reevaluate their projects. We have one client that is constantly changing up what he plans to do for a couple of development projects. One started out as an 8 lot residential subdivision. The engineers prepared preliminary subdivision plans and did soil testing for septic system designs. Survey rough staked the proposed lots to keep the test pits where they needed to be (thick brush on site). A couple months later the client decided to build multi-unit condominium buildings instead. The engineers did a bunch of design work for that concept. It's been a year or more since I last heard about this project. I don't know if it's still a condominium to be, something else, or if he's just put it into a holding pattern. I've prepared three or four large survey proposals for this client over the past few years that went nowhere.

The people I have dealt with that do that are usually either

1) trying to subtly get a better price on the current project by hoping someone sees them as a long term client with lots of work.  This doesn't make sense to me because if you discount the first job, they will always want the discounted rate and you'll be working for less than you should for them when you could be charging out on another project at full rates.

or

2) people who want to project an air of success and importance based on their 'big' plans.  Many times these are also the people who fail to plan accordingly or overextend themselves trying to be a bigger 'big shot' than other people doing the same type of projects.

Sometimes, they do come through with a project that they were planning.  So just treat them like a prospective client each time they talk to you ((unless or until they get too draining on your patience.)

Unless they're wasting a bunch of your time with estimate requests for projects that never materialize, I wouldn't see it as something to get upset about.  Unless they're coming to you with specifics and asking something of you, just respond with "Sounds great, give me a call when you need me to prepare a contract" then file their statement about the vague future project away in your mental "might happen someday but likely not" file and concentrate on the work you have now.  Don't give it another thought until they come back with specifics and actually want to have a serious discussion.  Could be that whoever you're talking to isn't the decision maker but just trying to sound more important in their organization than they are.

If the same people are repeatedly coming to you for estimates that you are spending time on and it never turns into work, find out if the projects are actually happening, and if so, who has done the surveying on them. Sometimes developers or contractors will toss this type of thing out just to get a cost estimate to compare to their regular surveyor they've been using for years just to make sure their regular guy hasn't started taking advantage of an ongoing business relationship.  They see it as doing due diligence but if you're the one that is being used to unknowingly supply the comparator number, it sucks.

Don't be afraid to ask them "What ever happened with Project A, or B. or C..."  If it turns out that they have just been using your estimates to check against they're regular surveyor or they are otherwise evasive with their answers, tell them that you are not interested in providing any more estimates unless they are ready to sign your contract.  Don't be the mistress always waiting for your lover to get a divorce to be with you.  It will make you feel cheap and make you look cheap.

Posted by: @eapls2708

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They see it as doing due diligence but if you're the one that is being used to unknowingly supply the comparator number, it sucks.

I think at least one of my experiences might have been this.

Skepticism needs to become my default mode I think.

Posted by: @eapls2708

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Don't be afraid to ask them "What ever happened with Project A, or B. or C..."  If it turns out that they have just been using your estimates to check against they're regular surveyor or they are otherwise evasive with their answers, tell them that you are not interested in providing any more estimates unless they are ready to sign your contract.  Don't be the mistress always waiting for your lover to get a divorce to be with you.  It will make you feel cheap and make you look cheap.

There is an episode of the old Perry Mason TV series which depicts a client encounter that I love.  A very bossy, and wealthy, potential client starts telling Perry what she wants done. Perry interrupts her, saying "I'll have to know what this is all about before I agree to accept any fee".  Thus turning the client relationship dynamic on its head. The conversation that follows takes on a very different tone, and the bossy old lady becomes much more deferential. 

I suggest that if you think that you are just being used tell them "Thanks for asking but I'm really too busy right now to take on any new assignments". Thus taking some control of the relationship dynamic. 

Nevertheless, know that your hit rate on these requests is always going to be single digits percentage-wise and it is going to be the way things are for your first decade or so in business - until you can build up a name for your business and a good book of regular clients.  Sales is a numbers game. You accept that the success rate is low, so you have to talk to a lot of people.

I think a little teasing can definitely build interest, but it's easy to overdo it. I've found that giving just enough information to show progress while holding back the key details keeps people engaged without creating unrealistic expectations.