If You Open With What Is Your Cheapest Price, We Are Probably Done Already

Article from Perry Winch, Managing Director, Spectra

I will be straight with you, because that is how I do everything. If the first thing out of your mouth is to ask what your cheapest price is, before you have understood a single thing about what you are actually asking for, you are not getting your foot in the door with us.

Here is why. Everything we do is built on compliance, professionalism, and quality, and we work under licence. The standard is set by law, not by me, and it is not up for negotiation. Quality and professionalism do not belong in the same sentence as I want it cheapest. They pull in opposite directions. A cheap price means somebody is cutting a corner somewhere, and in our world the corners you cut are the ones that get people hurt.

We are not trying to win every job that comes up. We pick and choose our work, and we contract on our terms. I would far rather partner with a client who understands what we do than chase a race to the bottom that is going to stink before we have even got boots on site. The cheapest price is the quickest way to end up working against the buyer, and that helps nobody.

That does not mean money does not matter. Of course it does. But price is one part of a job that has been scoped properly, not your opening gambit. The clients worth having are the ones who understand what they are buying and why the standard matters. Those are the ones I want around the table.