So is business slow this year, 2012? Probably for most painters it is. So what is the answer? Do you take the time to learn your job as paint estimator or paint salesman? Or do you resort to the only sales tool that you know? What is that? It is the one sales tool that painting contractors use. They drop their prices. That is classic salesmanship, correct? The answer is no.
I am sure that business is slow for the company that makes your favorite paint. Did you happen to notice if the price for a gallon of paint is lower this year? Is a gallon of mineral spirits lower than last year? How about roller sleeves, are they lower? Is plastic sheeting lower? I will be t you that none of these materials are down in price. Did the local paint store lower their prices?
I will also bet you that a good many painters have dropped their prices this year. How does this affect the average painter’s profits if all of their costs are higher? Does the average painter ever calculate costs? I guarantee that painter’s costs are higher across the board this year than last year, but the average selling price of a paint job is lower. Does that make sense?
Painters put themselves in a vice, squeezed between rising costs and lower selling prices. Most painters will say they have to do this because they won’t get work. They will blame their lower prices on the customer. Did the client hold a gun to their heads?
Painting contractors hurt themselves because they believe the average client buys a paint job based on price. Nothing is further from the truth. People who buy services buy on a mixture of reasons. Price as a buying decision is concerned is only important as it relates to value. Most painters are not aware of this even though this is how they make their own purchases.
There is one word that will cure this downward spiral and this word helps the sale both from the painter’s condition and the client’s decision. The word, Education. The painting contractor needs to be educated in how the paint job is bought, and the client needs to be educated as to what the paint job consists of. Get education here.