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1.43. What does the market level slider do?

The Market Level adjustments are a helpful feature, I guess, except
that I'm not sure how it works or what it does, exactly. Can you give me
a little more in-depth explanation as to how to approach this?

Market Level: This is how EstiMate adjusts pricing for your market / region / etc. At 50%, it does nothing to the price, and the 'hard numbers' reflect time and materials only. Above 50%, it will add to the profit side of the equation, and below 50%, it will take away from profit.

Keep in mind that this is not a dollar-amount adjustment, but rather a percentage adjustment that takes into account all the factors of the job, since every job really is a custom project.

The market level is designed to help you keep your prices in the ballpark with your competitors, and not under- or over- bid any jobs. The best way to set it is to figure five basic jobs, for ex. aluminum sign, banner, etc., with the coverage slider, artwork complexity slider, and difficulty level slider set properly. Then adjust the market level until the price looks correct. Make a note of the 5 percentages, average them, and set the global market level to that percentage.

The global market level can be set via Management->Configure EstiMate->Market Levels in versions 1.93b and prior. In versions 1.94 and greater the market level setting can be set by clicking the hammer icon on the pricing screen itself.

The market level is the 'perceived value' part of the pricing equation.

As an example, lets take 5 signs that a sign shop might do on a regular basis.
1. A coroplast yard sale sign.
2. A 3'x8' banner.
3. An aluminum business sign.
4. A Pair of Magnetic car door signs.
5. A 4'x8' MDO Sign Single Sided.

The sign shop owner calls competitor #1 and gets prices on each of these signs:

1. A coroplast yard sale sign: $27.00
2. 3'x8' Banner: $109.00
3. Aluminum business sign: $38.00
4. A Pair of Magnetic car door signs: $75.00
5. A 4'x8'MDO Sign Single Sided: $240.00

Next, the sign shop owner opens EstiMate and does 5 estimates with the coverage slider, artwork complexity slider, and difficulty level slider set properly. He then adjusts the market level slider on each estimate to a percentage value that equals or comes close to the competitors prices as listed above. To illustrate:

Market Levels:

1. Coroplast yard sale sign: 55%
2. 4'x8'Banner: 53%
3. Aluminum business sign: 58%
4. A Pair of Magnetic car door signs: 52%
5. A 4'x8'MDO Sign Single Sided: 60%


The shop owner then averages the five percentages:
55%+53%+58%+52%+60% = 278% / 5 = 55.6% or 56%

The sign shop owner then clicks on the management icon from EstiMate's main screen and selects the configure estimate menu option. He/she then clicks on the market level tab and moves the vinyl signs market level slider to 56% then clicks the OK check mark on the market levels screen, and then once again on the configure EstiMate screen to return to the main screen.

The shop owner has now taken steps to get an accurate market level that is a reflection of the pricing in his area.

** Another Possibility **

The shop owner may choose to take the scenario further by calling two other competitiors repeating the same sign scenarios for each competitor and averaging the 5 percentages for each competitor.

Competitor# 1: 56%
Competitor# 2: 51%
Competitor# 3: 59%

The savvy shop owner then averages the global market values of each competitor: 56%+51%+59% = 166% /3 = 55.33 or 55%

The shop owner is glad he took the extra time because he now knows he has an accurate picture of the market in his/her area and can now price accordingly and profitably. :-)