Page 90 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

Take all the ‘Curse of Assumption’ out of it and be very clear in your communication.
When quoting, construction companies will try to retain retentions of up to 10%, where they will hold back money for a certain amount of time in case there are any defects or warranty issues. However, many companies in the building industry historically have had no intention of paying those retentions – they just use it as a part of their cash flow equation. From the start of the quoting process, remove the retentions (create what is known as a tag in your quote). What may happen is that in your quote you will say ‘no retentions’ and then the contract will come in (the company will provide their contract to cover the work you do) and have retentions. That then becomes a negotiation point and you can try to negotiate to get the least amount in retentions as possible. If you are feeling really confident in getting the work, you can factor retentions into your price (by adding more on). Sometimes you don’t get a good feel about the whole thing and you say no. You cannot win every job and sometimes you may be quoting the work because smart companies aren’t.
If, on the other hand, you are receiving quotes you requested, it’s very important that you are indeed getting everything that you think the quote covers. If in doubt, ‘tag’ the acceptance with anything you think should be included, for example if the person quoting is supplying a widget with an electronic installation component into your new bedroom, ensure that it includes electrical. Never assume and ‘tag’ the acceptance with a line such as ‘Acceptance of this quotation includes electrical connection of the widget’. Take all the ‘Curse of Assumption’ out of it (see Part 3: Chapter 1).
3.3.6 Preliminary and General (P&G)