Your Steel Building Specialist
Who do you buy a steel building from?
That may seem like an odd question to see on a website for a steel building company, but we know there are a lot of companies out there offering steel buildings. You may have gotten a couple of quotes or visited several websites and now your trying to figure out who to buy from. If we may be so bold, the first bit of advice we have is to not look at the bottom line on a quote for the price. Sounds counter intuitive, right - bear with us on this.
If the first thing you look at is the bottom line, you might be mislead by a total that looks lower than other quotes. All steel building companies are not created equal and this sometimes shows in the tactics that get used to make a quote "look" better than any other. We often see competitor's quotes that are missing items, don't include tax, and are sometimes less than our cost on the just the steel. There could easily be a few hundred dollar difference between quotes, but when it's thousands of dollars, something doesn't add up. All of these things can create the idea that your getting a better deal when in fact there are charges that get tacked on at the end that can cost you more than any of the other quotes you may have had. So how do you know?
If I shouldn't look at the bottom line, how do I pick a steel building company?
Figuring out who to buy from can be a daunting task. What your really trying to figure out is who do you trust. Do you trust the company, do you trust your salesman? From the start, we suggest you check out everyone your talking to. Look to see how long the company has been in business and also see who the owner is. You might be surprised to find how many companies with a slick website seem to hide that information. Make sure you can also determine the actual physical address for each company. Why you ask? When making a big ticket purchase from a company over the phone, you want to make sure it is an actual company and not just someone working from their home. Then you can search to see if they hold a valid business license in their location. Not only do we list who owns Renegade Steel Buildings, we list our address and even have a picture and bio for each of our employees on our team page. We have also been a BBB member with an A+ rating since we opened.
The next step is being comfortable with the rep that your talking to. Is the person your talking to listening to your wants and needs. Did they design your building the way you asked. Are they asking you questions about your building and trying to help you value engineer to get the best bang for your buck. Listening to your needs and helping you get a quote on what you want is how we like to work at Renegade. There may even be times when we tell you that you can't do a certain design with a steel building. We would rather be honest about your building up front than to have unexpected or unwanted surprises later on.
There are some companies that use high pressure sales tactics. We have heard stories from customers that were pressured to give a deposit early on in the process. While anybody can appreciate a quick sale, you should not be pushed to send a deposit before you are comfortable that you have your building how you want it.
So what makes buying a Steel Building from Renegade different? First and foremost is our commitment to be friendly and fair and communicate. This applies during the sales process and continues through fabrication and delivery of your building. There are standards that we designate for a Renegade building that we feel make our product the best you can buy. Check out our Renegade Steel Building Standards page to learn more.
Need help with some of the terms and jargon we talk about? Check out some of the following informational pages:
- Steel Building Buyers Guide
- Steel Building Bracing
- Foundation
- Steel building information (includes a glossary of terms used)
Take a look at a Renegade Quote
When you look at a quote from Renegade Steel Buildings, everything that you are expecting with your building is spelled out on your quote.
While it may seem obvious, the ship to address is important. There are specific loads and codes for every area based on the address of where the building will be built. For the most part, knowing the zip code allows us to pull the wind and snow loads from a database. It is still always important for you to verify codes and loads with your local municipality to verify what is required locally.
The next section for building specifications shows you the size of the building along with codes, loads, building design and panel colors. Below that is the accessories section and then special conditions. We list out everything on your building so that when you do sign a contract with us, you know what you are getting.
If your talking to other companies, make sure they list out everything in writing. Having a salesman verbally tell you that something is included, but it is not listed is a red flag. You may also need to look for items that are listed but are actually options not in the total.
Can I look at the bottom line now?
If you can find the bottom line... On a Renegade quote, your total is just that, the total price for your contract. No hidden fees, no adding tax later on, just a simple total of what you are agreeing to purchase. There are some companies that must be afraid to show you their actual number. We have even seen quotes that made the COD amount look like the total, but you actually had to add it all up (COD, tax, shipping, and deposit) to realize what you would actually pay.
Renegade Quote Total
Renegade's total is $30,750
Nothing to add up
Renegade bottom line is $30,750
Nothing to add up
Renegade bottom line is $30,750
On Renegade's bottom line, you can easily see that our total of $30,750 includes everything listed on the quote.
Competitor Quote Total
Competitor total listed as $28,595
$0 freight is suspect
Competitor's bottom line is at least $30,882.60
This competitor's quote is misleading on their total price. You have to add tax to their total to get your actual bottom line total of at least $30,882.60.
As you can see from this example, we don't play games to make our bottom line "look" better. As a matter of fact, we don't try to hide anything. We treat our customers like we would like to be treated, so having all the info up front it imperative.
With that being said, feel free to look at the bottom line, and we hope you will talk to us about what you are seeing. As a matter of fact, we are happy to look at any quotes you have to make sure everything is apples to apples. We have looked over many quotes since Renegade started in 2010 and have helped many customers avoid mistakes where the buildings were not the same or items were missing. Look to see if tax is included in the bottom line or just added to the COD or simply listed as added later. Give us a chance to help you.
The bottom line is that we want to earn your business by helping you make the most informed decision possible. Give us a call today or fill out our quick quote form to get started on your steel building.
