Do you ask for a price when you need a service?

04 June 2018


It could be a plumber, an electrician, other tradesmen or professional that you suddenly have a need for so you start to ring round to get help. You outline the problem and then ask for a price for the problem to be solved. With this information and your feeling of confidence in the person you are speaking to, you make your decision to hire or not.

Recently we had two, separate calls from family members seeking care for an older relative.

They outlined the health issues as to why care was needed, asked us what care we could offer and then came the question ‘ I don’t suppose you could give me an idea of cost/ball park figure could you?’

We were happy to and went on to describe the individual factors that made up the average cost per week. Both enquirers expressed their gratitude but went on to say that they had spoken to other care providers and had not been able to get a monetary figure.

We checked this out by making some calls to our competitors. It was true, staff were very pleasant, empathetic but could not give a price until ‘we have met the person’, ‘visited the home and the person to be cared for’, ‘a registration fee for an assessment visit then a price would be given’. Despite  saying that we were considering all avenues of care and the care solution would probably be based on cost, we were unable to get an average cost figure.

When people need a service, plumbing, electrical, gardening, window cleaning cost is an important part of the purchasing process. When you are not given an estimated cost, the natural re-action is to try someone else.

Purchasing care is no different. Usually it is a purchase that is likely to be on going costing a considerable financial sum. Potential clients and their families want to know the cost. 

Care providers who can give an estimate, linked to the value of the service they are selling at the first contact are likely to be on the first step of the relationship to a new customer. 

The first contact should leave a potential customer feeling confident and with a pleasant memory of that phone call. 

The first contact should not leave a feeling of frustration and negativity. If this is so, the potential customer is not likely to call again!