beej67
Civil/Environmental
- May 13, 2009
- 1,976
Simple situation, but it seems to crop up in different flavors and forms across engineering business so I want to get some opinions.
Client asks me for a proposal, I need survey, I give her my fee and my favorite surveyor's fee. She says my fee is fine, thinks the survey fee is high, asks me to get a check number from another surveyor. I get a check number from another surveyor, who is not my favorite, but they're still pretty good and could totally do the work. The check number is slightly under my favorite surveyor's number. I give both numbers to the client, she says, "get your favorite surveyor to match the check number and lets get going."
Okay, now that's the sort of thing I would happily do to a car salesman. Is it the sort of thing that's commonly done between engineering professionals? My sense, particularly in these times, is unfortunately 'yes.' Second question, is it looked down upon? If I go to my favorite surveyor and explain that my client asked for a check number, it came in a little lower, and I ask him to match, is he going to be more likely to be thankful I came back to him, or be pissed that I'm asking him to shave his number?
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -
Client asks me for a proposal, I need survey, I give her my fee and my favorite surveyor's fee. She says my fee is fine, thinks the survey fee is high, asks me to get a check number from another surveyor. I get a check number from another surveyor, who is not my favorite, but they're still pretty good and could totally do the work. The check number is slightly under my favorite surveyor's number. I give both numbers to the client, she says, "get your favorite surveyor to match the check number and lets get going."
Okay, now that's the sort of thing I would happily do to a car salesman. Is it the sort of thing that's commonly done between engineering professionals? My sense, particularly in these times, is unfortunately 'yes.' Second question, is it looked down upon? If I go to my favorite surveyor and explain that my client asked for a check number, it came in a little lower, and I ask him to match, is he going to be more likely to be thankful I came back to him, or be pissed that I'm asking him to shave his number?
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -