Companion to "The Five-Competitor Survey."
Mystery-shop five real local competitors in the radius your clients would realistically hire. Use a real, typical job, the one you intend to sell most often. Vary the contact method across your five. One afternoon, five quotes, the shape of your market.
| They actually serve your area, not a franchise three states away with a national call center | ☐ |
| They are in business right now; dead listings and stale websites are noise | ☐ |
| The kind of operator your ideal client would call: one or two established players, a couple mid-size, one solo like you will be | ☐ |
| They quote real jobs; a published price list is a lead, not a quote | ☐ |
| Nobody gets identified as a competitor researcher; you are a normal prospect | ☐ |
Hi, I'm looking to get a quote for a standard job. [Describe the job in one sentence: the recurring visit, the standard package, the typical project you plan to sell.] It's in [your area]. What would that run, and what's included?
Then keep quiet and take notes. Everything that happens next is data. Clean rules: no fake appointments, no no-shows, no wasted site visits. Phone, email, one job, one quote, done.
| Competitor | Quote | Structure (hourly / flat / per visit / per project / monthly) | Included in a "standard" job | Minimum charge | Frequency or bundle pricing | Response time and treatment | Exact words used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | $ | ||||||
| $ | $ | ||||||
| $ | $ | ||||||
| $ | $ | ||||||
| $ | $ |
| Low of my five (the no-floor operator; note it and move on) | $ |
| Middle | $ |
| Top (what the market currently tolerates; the ceiling you will test) | $ |
| Line items I never knew were billable (extras, trip charges, weekend rates) | |
| Market phrases to quote with later |
Do not average them. A market is not its average; it is a range with reasons, and the reasons are the inclusions, response times, and positioning recorded above. Five is the floor for an honest read; in a dense market, survey more until the shape stops changing.