Negotiating Without Negotiating

On today’s show we are talking about the kinds of questions that are helpful when determining the scope of a project. 

We are often given estimates by contractors for work to be performed. Those elements that have the largest variability continually seem to be related to site work. 

I often experience sticker shock with these estimates. 

The key to getting an optimized cost starts with determining the proper scope of work. If you’re simply negotiating with a contractor to lower their price, that’s a pretty blunt instrument. The contractor is going to feel squeezed and they are simply seeing their margin being eroded. 

But if you approach the conversation from the perspective of making sure the contractor gets fairly paid for their work. You just want to make sure that we have a common understanding of the scope of work, that context usually changes the nature of the conversation. The bottom line number may actually increase in the event that the estimate is low. 

In order to have a meaningful conversation about the scope of work, you need to be prepared to go deep with the contractor on the assumptions behind the estimate. 

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Host: Victor Menasce

email: podcast@victorjm.com