Could anybody tell me why its nearly impossible to get any replies via email, for any estimates I am requesting for, Windows, Doors, Solar Panels, Hot Water System, building services etc.
I have sent over 30 emails in the last week to various companies requesting quotes for different products the emails have included full details and drawings of what I require including, references to actual serial numbers and products from their websites.
Yet to date not one company has answered, do they not want business in the Philippines, I am trying to build a house I have a healthy budget yet I cannot get an answer to anything.
little frustrating to say the least, especially coming from the UK where there is no transparency on pricing and correspondence is normally answered within hours.
I am at a loss as to why they dont answer.
My company assembles aluminum windows and doors.聽 I do receive requests for quotations via email. But before I do a quote, I request that the sender give me a call. The reason why I ask for a call is to determine who is actually asking for the quote and also to ask for further details.
Many assume it鈥檚 quick and easy to do a quote. It鈥檚 NOT. It takes time to come up with an accurate quote. Thus, I don鈥檛 want to waste my time doing a quote for persons who are neither the homeowners or a general contractor.
I get bogus requests all the time: a subcontractor who鈥檚 too lazy to do his own quote or does not聽 even know how make an accurate quote, the owner鈥檚 relative or friend or engineer who knows an installer and would like him to do the windows and doors but don鈥檛 know how to do a quote (or worse what materials he needs), a homeowner or his / her representative who already had picked a subcon friend but had no intention of hiring another subcon but just wanted the friend to lower the price, etc.
A telephone conversation can reveal a lot. There are generally 5 types of aluminum finishes and several glass options. Usually, homeowners and GC鈥檚 already know what they want, though they sometimes ask for advice and request for an option that鈥檚 cheaper. A subcon in the same business as ours would ask for a quote, but might also ask for a whole gamut of combinations of finishes and glass. (Geez. Make your own pricelist.) Or you can sense that they are too knowledgeable to be your average homeowner. The owner鈥檚 relative or friend would sometimes be unsure, and will say, 鈥淥h I鈥檒l ask so-and-so and get back to you.鈥� (Hmmm.)聽 Lots of third party people.
In addition, through a telecon, we can quickly address certain issues with the potential client, i.e. the glass spec in the plan is quite thin for the size of a large window, or if the panels are too big such that it would put too much strain on rollers or hinges, questions on mobilization, bonds, ppe / safety, scheduling, the current stage of construction, etc. And the quicker I get the answers, the earlier I could start the quotation, and the less need for revisions.
It鈥檚 not that we don鈥檛 want business. I just don鈥檛 want to waste time with guesswork and doing quotes that lead to nowhere. I know other legit subcons also feel the same.
Just my two cents.
