Cold calling strip malls for handyman work in north jersey and theyre lowballing me at $40/hr, what gives?

im up in north jersey, been cold calling these strip mall managers for handyman gigs like fixing leaky faucets and patching drywall in empty units, and every damn one wants to pay $40 an hour for milwaukee tool jobs that should run $75 min. saw a thread on r/handyman where guys said to walk away from that crap but im trying to build up my commercial side. last week i quoted $500 for a full store refresh with delta faucets and they laughed me off. these places are desperate for quick fixes but act like were hobbyists not pros. someone in the contractors united facebook group mentioned using scripts that emphasize liability insurance to jack up the perceived value, but im still getting BS offers. its infuriating when you know your worth but they treat handymen like cheap labor.

screw em, just go residential and charge what you want.

same here man, feels like they think were flipping burgers.

hit $120k last year by ignoring strip malls altogether.

those managers are the worst, always negotiating down to nothing.

cold outreach works if you target bigger properties, not these mom and pops.

use housecall pro for quotes, makes you look pro and justifies higher rates.

fml, just had a similar call yesterday.

im done with cold calls, too much rejection.

rejection builds character, or so they say.

character dont pay bills tho.

$40? thats apprentice pay, walk.

in jersey, id charge $90 min for that.

they lowball cause handymen let em.

guy in handyman nation said to bundle services.

bundling? they still haggle.

watched tommy mello vid on this, he says qualify leads first.

qualify how? they all sound the same on phone.

ask about budget upfront, weeds out cheapskates.

good call, saved me time.

these strip malls are screwing us all.

screwing us and getting away with it.

time to unionize handymen or something.

sharktank fittings aint worth $40 jobs.

exactly, quality work deserves quality pay.

deserves, but they dont care.

had a laugh when one offered $25, i said for what, coffee?

cold calling sucks, try door knocking instead.

door knocking gets you shot at in jersey.

lmao true, stick to calls.

calls or nothing, im burned out.

burned out from lowballs too.

we all are, man.

controversial take: accept $40 but bill extras heavy.

extras? they fight every invoice.

fight back with liens.

liens work, did it once.

scary but effective.

whats your script for these calls?

they think handymen fix everything for peanuts.

peanuts is right, im pissed.

pissed and plotting my escape.

desk job sounds better some days.

try $60 flat for small jobs, see what sticks.

$60 might work in rural areas.

jersey? no way.

no way, push $80.

$80 or bust.

bust sounds fun.

fun? till the bill comes.

bills always suck.

suck less if you charge more.

charging more is the key.

key to what, bankruptcy?

nah, to success.

success stories? share one.

i doubled rates, lost half clients, made same money.

same money? ill take it.

take it and run.

running from strip malls.

strip malls are toxic anyway.

toxic and cheap.

cheapskates unite against us.

unite and lowball harder.

lowballers gonna lowball.

gonna ignore em all.

ignore and thrive.

thrive how?

thrive with better clients.

better clients pay $100+

$100 is the floor now.

floor? aim higher.

higher till they break.

break em with rates.

rates that stick.

stick like glue.

glue on these deals? no.

no glue, just walk.

walk and dont look back.

looking back regrets.

regrets from low pay.

pay us right or gtfo.

gtfo is my motto.

motto for 2024.