Hav'ta change

[ptonsparky]

Lost one customer and gained a new...possibly.

A company from Ohio bought up the remnants of a customer that closed last fall. Previous arrangement was nice. They called, we went, they paid.

New company. They call, I go, they want max price, local manager calls to get Ohio to get OK if over $xx.xx.

What I see first is that what could or would have been one service call is now two, if I can't do it while there or have to wait for ok. So that rate will jump for them.

This is the first I have had to work this way. Amazing, huh? For you that already deal with this what else do I need to watch for? Is this going to be a three hour minimum charge each visit?

 

[growler]

New company. They call, I go, they want max price, local manager calls to get Ohio to get OK if over $xx.x

This is the first I have had to work this way. Amazing, huh? For you that already deal with this what else do I need to watch for? Is this going to be a three hour minimum charge each visit?

If you can bill for a minimum service call just to come out and quote a price then it shouldn't be a problem. Face it, you normally have to do a little work and spend a bit of time even to have and idea what the job will cost. This may include some trouble-shooting.

One thing they may try to do is furnish their own materials on any major item that you quote a price for. I'm not talking wire or conduit but anything where they wish to shop around for a better price to include small item like fixtures. They will also use your price to get other quotes if you are not carefull. And the pay may be slower on these jobs.

This is pretty common anymore with everyone under pressure to cut cost.

One thing that may work out with management is to bill for two service calls on the same day and thus cover the cost and not need approval. Break one service call into two seperate items if posible.

From what I have seen the local managers don't like this anymore than we do but they are employees and really don't have a choice. They may be willing to work with you when possible.