How to Compete with Low Ballers

If you sell yourself short, the world won't raise your price. But when everyone around you is selling them self short, how do you keep their behavior from lowering your price? This article addresses practical ways that you can compete with lowballers without lowering your price.

First of all, you know the value of your work. As an experienced contractor you know how cheap you can possibly do a quality job for while still making a decent profit. That means that if someone is lowballing one of two things is the case:

1. They aren't making a profit
2. They are cutting corners to do the job under cost and still make a profit

If number one is true then just sit tight, they won't be able to keep it up long because they will go broke.
If number two is true then just sit tight, people will soon begin to have problems with the work that they did when it starts to fall apart.

Either way they won't be able to keep it up for long. What can you do in the mean time? Here are two suggestions:

1. If you lose a job to a lowballer, keep in touch with the client anyway. Let them know that when they have problems because of the lowballers poor workmanship that they can always call you to come and do the job right (you might want to come up with a less blunt way of saying this).
2. Give your marketing a boost. There are still customers out there who are smart enough to know that if the price sounds to good to be true then it probably is. Come up with new ways to market and advertise your business so that you can find these customers. Social media is a great way to market and advertise plus it is usually free or very cheap.

Make the most of websites like Craigslist, Facebook, and www.watchdogcontractorservice.com. Also, there is a new web based advertising tool for contractors called Home Owner's Playbook. It's like a phone book listing, business card, and website all in one and it is only $89.99 per year when you use promo code watchdog1. Check out the Home Owner's Playbook link on this page for more info.