The sooner I accept that 80% of the prospects I am talking to are being dishonest, the further ahead I will be.
What we as contractors represent to many new prospects is an opportunity to scare their current contractor into performing better service, cutting their price, etc. Many times, we are not being dealt with "in good faith."
The more the job is worth, the bigger the liar that awards it from my experience. I just have to hope that eventually they will be leading someone else down the rosy path and accepting my contract.
Once your business gets established, contracting is a game of musical chairs. When the music stops, you try to get a seat. Everyone has a little different view every season if they are able to snag a seat.
My solution is this. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. This is a numbers game. I have found rather than putting out 100 estimates taking four hours apiece to prepare, prepare 200 and spend half as much time with them. (Theoretical numbers, but the point is spend less time per estimate and distribute more estimates.)
It is unbelievable how many sales calls it can possibly take to a single prospective customer to get him/her to tell you, "I'm sorry Mr. Smith, but we are going to stay with our current contractor." All the while they know they aren't going with your company and don't have the intestinal fortitude to say, "thanks, but no."
I had a $10,000 per year account (snow and lawncare combined) that I had spent a lot of time trying to acquire. After repeatedly giving them numbers in the exact formats they requested, the guy tells me his partner said she wouldn't agree to any change in contractors, regardless of price, since they had been doing business with their current contractor for 10 years.
What the hell did the guy waste my time for if that was the case??? It happens all the time and you have to move on. Know what I did as soon as I found out??? I went and measured some new properties that I want to acquire. Redirect and full steam ahead!
Good luck, and don't let 'em get you down!
Also- It benefits to plan ahead. Now is not the time to be thinking about scheduling new work IMHO. Now is really the time to be doing or preparing for the work you sold this summer or earlier. I'm starting to think seasons ahead. This may not be necessary for you, but it may be something to look at.
I can't wait until it snows here so I can see what type of job the competition does. I will be trying to sell snow removal for 2001-2002 season to the ones getting shoddy service. Just a thought.