Same day or same week rates ?

[tortuga]

Has anyone here tried dynamic pricing?
There is at least one service company I have noticed who's hourly service rate depends on when you are scheduling the work.
I know people charge overtime however
I noticed a local garage door company has a "Same day service rate" seems like is is almost 40% more.
If it can wait it is less.
If you can wait a week you get a discount.
7am and 4 pm service calls are more expensive than mid day.

Weeks/ times of year where all the technicians are busy the rates go up as well.
However if you want it done in July or the last week of December it is even more.
Like buying airline tickets.

You would give a quote for X number of hours on a small project and depending on when you schedule and how much lead time you "bid" what you charge for those hours.
You can still bid the amount of hours but with out a set schedule you have no obligation to bid the rate.

General Contractors whom frequently plan poor schedules and demand same day service due to lack of planning would be penalized.

Thoughts?

[templdl]

It's always good to have a price structure..........if you are booked up and have plenty of work.
As such it takes the guess work out of what to charge/bill. What you charge then may be based upon what the market will bare, that is where is the sweet spot.
If you find yourself with time on your hands no matter what you charge you can't collect when your are not working. With anything that you charge you must considered the unbillable hours, general supplies, and overhead. that is the work that you must do for your business the cost of which can't be charge directly to a customer. Not having a handle on these can sneak up and bit you.
So instead of collecting zero dollars it may be best to consider your actual costs per hour that you need to cover and base your charge on that when business is flat and you need to fill some open time. It may be that you take a small loss to limit a potential larger loss knowing that you have more profitable jobs that would cover jobs that you have ended up with a loss. It also gives you the opportunity to build you customer base.
Bottom line is just that, your bottom line is what you should be concernerd about, the overall picture making sure that you maintain the profit margin that you need to stay in business and earn a respectable income.

[tortuga]

If you find yourself with time on your hands no matter what you charge you can't collect when your are not working.

Hey thanks sage advice.

The problem is we have not enough time and too many "emergency" requests "can you stop by this job today ....". lack of planning requests really.
I am thinking I am going to have a 2 hour minimum charge for a same day service call.
1 hour is our usual minimum charge.

[kwired]

If you find a way to make it work for you then go for it.

Customers are either going to want:

immediate service regardless of cost (to a reasonable extent)

immediate service if there is no power, no heating or cooling, or something of that nature, yet still don't care if it is 1:00 PM, 4:00AM, middle of week or holiday or weekend, and also will complain about even modest pricing.

cheapest cost possible - and still find something to complain about

someone to show up and fix the problem or install new equipment in reasonable time.

It is hard to make all of them happy. Choose who you want to work for and give them priority, the others will eventually pay what you ask for if they can't find someone else, and you can be there first.

[Fulthrotl]

Has anyone here tried dynamic pricing?
There is at least one service company I have noticed who's hourly service rate depends on when you are scheduling the work.
I know people charge overtime however
I noticed a local garage door company has a "Same day service rate" seems like is is almost 40% more.
If it can wait it is less.
If you can wait a week you get a discount.
7am and 4 pm service calls are more expensive than mid day.

Weeks/ times of year where all the technicians are busy the rates go up as well.
However if you want it done in July or the last week of December it is even more.
Like buying airline tickets.

You would give a quote for X number of hours on a small project and depending on when you schedule and how much lead time you "bid" what you charge for those hours.
You can still bid the amount of hours but with out a set schedule you have no obligation to bid the rate.

General Contractors whom frequently plan poor schedules and demand same day service due to lack of planning would be penalized.

Thoughts?

flat rate.

flat rate is not fixed rate... if you call me for an emergency that is really your poor planning, it costs a lot
more. here is why: this means you really are most likely to be a PITA, and there is a surcharge for putting
up with you.

example: you want six can lights in your living room ceiling, for a party you are having saturday.
it is thursday afternoon, and you need to jack the painter around to get him in after me.
$925.

you want six can lights in your ceiling, at my earliest convenience... next week would be fine....
$645

if you are exhibit "A", i'll probably never hear from you again in any case, as you lack the ability
to plan anything, and will just flail the next time, just like you are doing this time.

exhibit "B", you are a sane customer, and i'd like to do ongoing work for you, and get referrals from you.

it all comes down to.... how much money do i want in my pocket, walking away after this is done?
how much are my expenses, ALL of them, to do this work.

add them together, multiply by 1.25

that is how much it is.

[templdl]

Hey thanks sage advice.

The problem is we have not enough time and too many "emergency" requests "can you stop by this job today ....". lack of planning requests really.
I am thinking I am going to have a 2 hour minimum charge for a same day service call.
1 hour is our usual minimum charge.

That's a good idea and very commonly done at that but I would make it a standard practice for all service calls though. If you have an hourly rate that should be doubled for the first hour this is not being unreasonable. For emergency service calls quote that flat rate for the first hour plus materials and your hourly rate maybe charged by the over and up to a 1/4 or 1/2 hour increments which I think would be far after that.
If you are 5 min.over one hour charge them for an extra 1/4 hour.
For standard service calls quote that flat 2 hour rate as a minimum not to exceed 2 hours and then increment your hourly rate as you see fit after that.
And that isn’t set in stone because there are commercial decisions that must be considered, decisions that are reasonable and make good sense.
REMEMBER that everyone will view your charges as being too much no mater how little you charge. I always think that if it were so easy to do they would have done it. You have your educational and practical experience as will as the investment in tools equipment, and supplies that can’t be forgotten about. In your simple tool pouch, who much do you have invested in those tools alone? Those klein lineman's pliers alone aren't cheep.

[satcom]

We use a flat rate, with all the overhead, and operating expenses included with an scaled adjustable profit, so our everyday service rate, is time and a half

[John120/240]

. In your simple tool pouch, who much do you have invested in those tools alone? Those klein lineman's pliers alone aren't cheep.

$ 350 more or less. Includes tool belt, two pouches, Vol-Con, flash light, uni-bits, tape measure,

hand tools