Hourly rate / service call / flat rate

[AC\DC]

300 to 400????? Holy @$g%.
Wish the competition would raise there rates. I am the most expensive in town at 150. I can't go up and keep work

 

[OK Sparky 93]

you need a stocked service vehicle to do flat-rate service profitably.

I do carry a certain amount of stock, however nothing compared to the warehouse. Certain amount of common brand breakers, nothing that is obsolete but could still be had. Switches, receptacles, 50 amp recept. 30 amp recept 3&4 wire, boxes, wire.

 

[OK Sparky 93]

I have a 225$ Service call fee. If I replace a gfci I am going to double the parts and that to the 225$. After that everything is a flat rate price. Rate was 150 but recently went up to 170 and contemplating 200$ after the new year. It’s hard out here for an electrician.

$225 plus double parts. Does this give you a good profit? What part of the country are you in?
Are you saying that after your first hour at $225, that you are a flat rate of $150 or $170, or that you have a price connected with each task?

 

[OK Sparky 93]

I didn’t so well my first you at keeping track of task and hours. This was dumb, as I had no way of knowing what it really takes.

However, most definitely on my most likely the last job of the year. Who knows maybe not.

Anyway, I kept track. So after I figured my break even Time and material, I added 20%.

I’ve got to get out of my own head. That’s a lot. I most definitely could not or would not be able to afford myself. The customer is going to flip.

That wasn’t the case.

However just to see, I jotted down an amount by each task. After calculating, I was less than my actual labor rate.

I figure that a fan takes maybe an hour @ $125, if I was already on site. I jotted down $275 for a fan install, existing supported box. Fan had a remote. You flat rate things like this or, or do you T&M?

Is 20% on break even time and material, to much, or not enough? If I get paid with a card that drops to about 16.5-17.5%. And of course being veteran, I knock that down another 10%.

Anyway happy holidays to you all!

 

[brantmacga]

300 to 400????? Holy @$g%.
Wish the competition would raise there rates. I am the most expensive in town at 150. I can't go up and keep work

I’ve had a plumber at my house a couple times recently. $250/hr, and I had to wait 6/wks for him to get a tech here; the service tech does very, very high quality work though. I called two other plumbers while waiting for him, and they all had equally long wait times. I really need to raise my rates on service.


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[AC\DC]

Wow I need to move to your area your cost of living is cheaper also.
I might rethink that though, not good enough to compete with you.

 

[kwired]

300 to 400????? Holy @$g%.
Wish the competition would raise there rates. I am the most expensive in town at 150. I can't go up and keep work

I guess the idea, especially if you are getting older, is that you do good work and are worth hiring, but your price helps weed out some those you really don't want to work for if you don't have to. Then you can at least work less yet make similar $$ as when you were young and working hard and not charging enough, and at least factoring in some for changes in operation costs and cost of living as well, as you probably

 

[matthew.schenck.12]

Good morning all!

This subject I am sure has been covered, many times, however for me this is easier.

I understand the need for flat rate pricing, in that you get that call and someone wants to know “how much will it cost”.

Now, when it comes to an hourly rate, or T & M, I go to a job and am there all day, then based on financial reports, I have established an hourly rate, at the end of the job, let’s say I add an hour of time for chasing down parts and what not, figure my material cost, and the profit I think I would like to make, write an invoice, get paid, and on to the next. Maybe flat rate would be better.

Now for, that call you get because my outdoor GFCI isn’t working.

You get there, maybe after you write the invoice, you have a 1/2 an hour on site. You have at least a half hour if not more, to have the part on your truck to begin with.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I can’t go anywhere that doesn’t take me 20-30 minutes, unless it is around the corner.

Is that an hour of time, is that an hour of time plus a 1 hour minimum, is it an hour, but a minimum1&1/2, or something different?

How do you guys handle these scenarios?

Beyond the “how to” with flat rate is the “why”. Do yourself a favor and read old articles in Plumbing and Mechanical magazine by Frank Blau, and Ellen Rohr. Frank led the charge for flat rate pricing and Ellen literally wrote the book on it.

Before I ever went out on my own as an electrical contractor I was reading them both. Today I rarely (maybe 1 in 500 jobs) use T&M. Maybe over the holidays you can read some of their articles in the magazine’s archives.

'The Cost Of Not Knowing. . .' Goes On & OnFrank Blau

Best Of Blau Reprinted September 1996. PHC contractors continually buy themselves jobs at prevailing rates.

www.pmmag.com

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[kwired]

Beyond the “how to” with flat rate is the “why”. Do yourself a favor and read old articles in Plumbing and Mechanical magazine by Frank Blau, and Ellen Rohr. Frank led the charge for flat rate pricing and Ellen literally wrote the book on it.

Before I ever went out on my own as an electrical contractor I was reading them both. Today I rarely (maybe 1 in 500 jobs) use T&M. Maybe over the holidays you can read some of their articles in the magazine’s archives.

'The Cost Of Not Knowing. . .' Goes On & OnFrank Blau

Best Of Blau Reprinted September 1996. PHC contractors continually buy themselves jobs at prevailing rates.

www.pmmag.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Service calls usually need to be approached a little differently though. You usually don't know what you are going to run into until you see the conditions at the site. Where an install of common items is more predicable what will happen in the process, and even then you still sometimes may have add on pricing for certain conditions that are considered abnormal. At least on the initial evaluation part of the job. A standard fee just to show up is pretty common, often that fee will include the first hour regardless of what else happens, but will not be lessened even if problem is solved in 5 minutes after arriving.

 

[AC\DC]

I get making what ever you want on a bid since you throw a price out.
I don’t see people paying that same rate on t&m

 

[mtnelect]

My business plan ... Flip service calls into HVAC maintenance contracts that keeps you busy all year around. And ... never take last minute cooling calls in the summer. Leaned the hard way on a 100+ days working in an attic.

 

[letgomywago]

My business plan ... Flip service calls into HVAC maintenance contracts that keeps you busy all year around. And ... never take last minute cooling calls in the summer. Leaned the hard way on a 100+ days working in an attic.

When I have attic work in the summer I charge double and tell them I'm showing up at 4am and working till 1130am that day. My family likes having me around those odd days and even though I'm taking a ciesta. The customers even feel bad that you took the job even though they're paying way more.

 

[User Name]

Good morning all!

This subject I am sure has been covered, many times, however for me this is easier.

I understand the need for flat rate pricing, in that you get that call and someone wants to know “how much will it cost”.

Now, when it comes to an hourly rate, or T & M, I go to a job and am there all day, then based on financial reports, I have established an hourly rate, at the end of the job, let’s say I add an hour of time for chasing down parts and what not, figure my material cost, and the profit I think I would like to make, write an invoice, get paid, and on to the next. Maybe flat rate would be better.

Now for, that call you get because my outdoor GFCI isn’t working.

You get there, maybe after you write the invoice, you have a 1/2 an hour on site. You have at least a half hour if not more, to have the part on your truck to begin with.

I don’t know about the rest of you but I can’t go anywhere that doesn’t take me 20-30 minutes, unless it is around the corner.

Is that an hour of time, is that an hour of time plus a 1 hour minimum, is it an hour, but a minimum1&1/2, or something different?

How do you guys handle these scenarios?

How long have you been in operation? I kind of read that and think its over-complicated. Are you trying to determine specific pricing so you can get paid before you leave the job? If you haven't been in business long you might want to do things T&M until you've gotten a feel for what things cost instead of guessing. It could take years to establish that.

 

[WestCoastSparks]

Yeah no doubt. Folks out here charging 3-400 an hour. But I hate SEO and ppc. Got to pay to play. I’ll get back into that eventually but I have a terrible taste in my mouth when it comes to that stuff.

It sucks when there are those bad apples in any industry. What happened anyway?

 

[AC\DC]

I still don't see how that price would work in my area. Maybe when I am swamped ill raise it that much

 

[blueheels2]

It sucks when there are those bad apples in any industry. What happened anyway?

Assume you are referring to SEO. I spent a ton of money and had diminishing returns. Last couple of months paying 3500$ month and only sold about 9k in those 2 months. All of it seems like it exists to rip off companies. And then throw in giving money to Google or Facebook. I don’t want to give them money. In fact I think they should be disbanded and broken up into about 1000 different companies.

 

[HuntNJ]

I typically charge $150 if I am in and out. (plus nj sales tax). Gas is ridiculous now. Not to mention most customers are AT LEAST 30 minutes away in one direction. IF i have to charge more I justify my reasoning on the skill I have that you don't and you have to call me. It is not just time we charge for but the skill we have. Don't underestimate your worth. I also try to mark up material the most I can.

 

[Another C10]

I typically charge $150 if I am in and out. (plus nj sales tax). Gas is ridiculous now. Not to mention most customers are AT LEAST 30 minutes away in one direction. IF i have to charge more I justify my reasoning on the skill I have that you don't and you have to call me. It is not just time we charge for but the skill we have. Don't underestimate your worth. I also try to mark up material the most I can.

Personally, I think a lot of the billing tactics are based on one's present conditions and strategies.
My rates for my area are about 80% of the local standard. Most of my work is 5 -10 minutes away and the weather is usually warm and dry 325 days of the year.

As mentioned here before I charge 150.00 for the 1st hr then 80.00 thereafter. I don't charge for getting supplies or driving to or from the job, remember my jobs are 5-10 minutes away, supply house is usually 3-5 miles. I also add 50% to rental equipment as needed.

I've actually have made more money at times on an equipment rental at 50% than the labor performed, made 50% of what a backhoe operator charged me for the day. I paid him .. why not make a coordinating fee. Scissor lift rental for the week, you bet 50% fee.

I tend to provide a range price lets say 4-6 hours or 9-12 hours, My hourly estimates are pretty dern accurate, the estimated range gives me a little wiggle room for the unseen scenario. plus to me gives an honest attempt on letting the customer see an an actual time frame window knowing I won't simply knock out a $1000.00 set priced lighting upgrade in 2 hours.

Material is a different charge, to make it worth my wild involving design, ordering and picking up the supplies I add 50%, even if its 1200.00, I'll charge 600.00 on that. If its 300.00 then 150.00 gets added, 50%.

There's a lot of legitimate ways to make money in our industry while gaining the trust and appreciation of our clients without hitting them fast and hard so as to simply move onto the next unsuspecting desperate client in need.

I'm happy when their happy. Besides I'm usually booked 3-5 weeks in advance and being that I'm almost 60, 4-6 hour field days are fine with me.
Customize your billing with the demand at hand, keeping in mind its long-term effects.

 

[SparkyEst.]

I am not a large shop by any means and my service side of the company is 100% previous customers of new builds we did for them. They know the quality of the installation and know what our "Why" is for side of the company. With that being said, all my customers know that it is a minimum of $200 for a service call. They also know that after the service call I am transparent with them and if the parts and labor can be covered under that $200 they know I am charging that. In that $200 I have my material, and labor. If those two at anytime break the $200 mark the customer knows the price is going up.
The positive I have gotten from customers is they are going to make their $200 worth their time. Therefore I only get called out when there are multiple issues that is going to take well above the $200 and then my overhead and profit go up as those are percentage points, so more labor and materials = more profit....Do I think this is the given go to way? Who knows, I know I love my service calls