moral sales dilema

[grumpydasmurf]

4 years ago I gave an estimate to the sister of a family we do ALOT of work for. There are like 10 siblings and weve done work for most of them, and most of them own multiple buildings.

My estimate was WAY off. I redid the math today and I was 1000 higher 4 years ago then I would be now, and not because our prices are lower, because I really messed up my math originally.

To make a long story short, one of her brothers told me she is starting to now lose shingles. I want to approach her to try to close the sale but don't know what to do. Here is my moral dilema.

Knowing that I am $1000 higher than I normally would be:
Should I approach her with the proper price?
Should I approach her with the proper price and family discount?

or

Should I match the price from 4 years ago and try to make a really good sale knowing I am financially raping her?

Normally, if she wasn't a member of this family I would probably match the price from years ago and go at it guns blazing. What would you do?

[roger g]

Price it again (correctly this time) after all, you priced it 4 years ago.
If she mentions that you are lower than you were 4 years ago just tell her every year your pricing formula changes to reflect current conditions and you used this years formula. Blame the formula on some nebulas accountant who spits it out at different times of the year.
You didn't say whether the shingles that were blown off were replaced 4 years ago or that they were now 4 years older than they were before.

Roger

[grumpydasmurf]

The shingles are just starting to blow off this year... I have her proposal on my desk and ready to be sent. Decisions decisions. I think I'll wait for a few more opinions.

[Rich]

I would probably reprice it correctly and then be right up front - take the blame for screwing up before. Guilt and sympathy can work in a sales driven market :)
Then, if need be, continue on with a family discount if discussions go in the wrong direction.

[Dano]

I would also agree with the re-price whether family or not. Word of mouth goes a long way in the industry and if you obtain a reputation of one who is honest that goes a longer way. I deal with GC's, manufacturer's all the time in my field and I'm a firm believer that we all screw up at times...but it's HOW you resolve it that counts

[grumpydasmurf]

Yes, Dano. I say the exact same thing. It's how you fix your screw ups that seperates the ding bats from the reputable contractors.

I have decided to approach the home owner with the estimate and close them with the current prices... the fixed corrected prices. I've tossed on a few options for upgrade as well. Who knows manybe they will say "Wow we've been budgeting $x but now we dont have to spend that much. Let's upgrade!"

Hopefully I can swing by tomorrow.

[mreynolds]

From a consumer stand point I have never complained when I had to spend less than I expected :D

[denb815]

4 years ago I gave an estimate to the sister of a family we do ALOT of work for. There are like 10 siblings and weve done work for most of them, and most of them own multiple buildings.

My estimate was WAY off. I redid the math today and I was 1000 higher 4 years ago then I would be now, and not because our prices are lower, because I really messed up my math originally.

To make a long story short, one of her brothers told me she is starting to now lose shingles. I want to approach her to try to close the sale but don't know what to do. Here is my moral dilema.

Knowing that I am $1000 higher than I normally would be:
Should I approach her with the proper price?
Should I approach her with the proper price and family discount?

or

Should I match the price from 4 years ago and try to make a really good sale knowing I am financially raping her?

Normally, if she wasn't a member of this family I would probably match the price from years ago and go at it guns blazing. What would you do?







I mainly agree, but I'm still not sure I understand everything here totally.