Why is it important to get a visual survey of your office move and a fixed bid? Let’s first discuss what a Typical Survey entails. When you call a moving company to get a quote you will typically get one of two responses. The first is an hourly rate for three or four men and a van. This is how a local household goods moving company quotes a move. This is bad. The second is a company that wants to set up a visual survey of what you are planning to move. This is good.
THE APPOINTMENT
First you want to sit down and have a conversation with the sales person or surveyor. Discuss the timeline for the move, destination factors including what type of building, and the address or area of town you are planning to move into. This process typically takes about 5 minutes.
Then the surveyor will want to perform a walkthrough of the office or warehouse to inventory the furniture, contents and electronics. Depending on the size of your space this can take as little as 10 minutes or as much as an hour. A typical business with about 5000 sqft takes about 20 minutes.
Once the walkthrough is completed I have the ability to process and email your proposal onsite from us to review and discuss the material and labor needed and the timeline associated with the move. The processing time takes about 15-20 minutes. All together a typical appointment takes about an hour.
THE PROPOSAL
A worthwhile proposal will contain a scope of work, an inventory, and a move plan. The scope of work should detail the services included, excluded and items left open; meaning items priced but not included in the total. An example of item you want specifically stated as included or exclude would be disconnect or reconnect of cubicles, metal shelves, stair carry at origin or destination or packing and unpacking labor for files or medical records. The next item is an inventory. How can one compare bids if you cannot verify what the surveyor has inventoried? The move plan should include pricing and timeline. The pricing should break down material cost per unit and labor should be calculated hourly with set rates for the crew. A start time and completion time should also be stated for each phase of labor.
One of the most important phrases to look for is “Fixed bid,” or “Guaranteed Price.” We all have heard horror stories of moves that took twice as long as estimated and cost twice as much. Most buyers look at price as the most important criteria for procurement of a move, and it is important, but comparing apples to apples proposals and making sure you have a fixed bid is critical to budgeting and sanity.
WRAP-UP
I hope this blog has been helpful. My name is Kevin Crofoot and I am VP of Sales for KCS Office Moving. This is the first in a series of six blogs and corresponding videos. The next video and blog will be on “How Organization Can Decrease Your Downtime,” in an office move. You can request a quote or find more information at www.kcsofficemoving.com.
Kevin Crofoot
KCS Office Moving
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