Knowledgeable, sophisticated people will always want good faux. Ray Sandor, president of Faux Effects in Vero Beach, FL and a paint chemist who has designed a line of faux finish products, said he saw underbidding as more of a problem two years ago. Today business is better than ever, although it's getting more and more difficult to sell things like rag rolling, because everyone's doing it. Sandor suggested providing customers a range of options based on price. This means investing the time to develop an extensive portfolio of sample finishes and being able to explain why one finish is more costly than another.
Clients can get very excited when they see really good work.
Mike MacNeil, of Mike MacNeil's Studio Works in Akron, OH, who began his career painting ships and bridges, maintains he hasn't been underbid and believes workmanship will generally speak for itself. The low bidders probably won't be as good as the top guys. You can only pull off the quick and dirty for people who don't know good from bad. Whatever the installation, if you do a superior job the first time, the referrals will come, said Phoenix Miller. Build on your existing client base.