new idea's on how to answer 'how much per hour do you charge'

[huggytree]

its been along time now since i had someone call me up and say 'how much per hour do you charge?'

they didnt even tell me what the plumbing project was...just 'how much'

I decided to spend some time and educate this person.

'hiring a plumber by his hourly rate is not a good idea. Some plumbers use deceptive hourly rates to trick you. will they send their slowest plumber? how much is his markup on parts? 200-400%?'

then i told her how much i charged and she said she'd talk w/ her husband.click

im strongly considering just saying 'sorry im not the cheapest plumber please call someone else'

not one has turned into a job....what would i have to lose by getting them off the phone as quickly as possible....is there a less rude way to say 'no thanks'?

i may ask what her cheapest rate is so far? and what she thinks is fair?

these people have all been rude to me...give me a number-click

[Evan]

People will generally shop by price. If they get an initial estimate of say 10 hours times $Y per hour, they are going to assume it'll take everyone 10 hours. At that point, it is driving down the $Y.

Perhaps the best thing to do may have been to inquire what project it was she was looking for and see if you could come up with some type of estimate. While it is an hourly rate, it really is driven by the project. Some will just require more work, and others less. If you also then told her that is the ballpark range, and if it will exceed it, you'll let her know before proceeding -- then you're covering your butt as well.

[Patrysha]

Can't you just say I don't work by the hour, I charge by the project.

[SteveC]

Whenever someone asks you about price, and charges per hour accept it for what it is... a buying signal and the easiest way to respond is to ask the person a question back that engages them... for example:

Potential Customer: How much do you charge per hour?
Businesss: Do you want me to take a long time to do the job or only the required amount of time to do it properly?

The idea is to get people to think of you only using the amount of time required to do a professional job... because often when people give a lower price, they take twice as long to complete the work... thus what seemed a bargain to begin with often ends up costing more... A lot of outsourced programming companies in India work along these lines... $15 an hour but we'll take three or four times as long as your own guys....

Getting back on track, if you can engage your customer enough to say... enough time to get the job done properly... then you can lead on with another question, get the customer to speak to you and then only when you are ready give your price... and if you have done your job right, you'll close the sale.

[Harold Mansfield]

Adding to what Steve C already said:

The best way that I have found to do this is to control the conversation from the beginning.
People always want to be in control and they don't realize that they are not getting a complete answer by the way they are asking.

You can't give an answer to such a broad question and be accurate, and by trying you will find yourself under, or over estimating without having all the details...and probably losing thier interest anyway.

You have to stop them and ask pertinent questions about what they want, and you have to be insistent that this is the only way to answer them properly.

I would stop them and tell them flat out "We don't charge by the hour, it's a complete charge for the project, parts and labor inclusive..what are you looking to have done?" and then go into getting the project details.

Many people will be short with you, and not want to give out any details because they have already ignorantly figured it out in their own heads...at that point you can let them go because they are not serious and they think they know everything....those type of people will try and control you, and tell you what they are going to pay based on misinformation, or what their friends told them...so it's no loss....they will end up hiring someone else for the same rates after being told the same thing countless times by others

I rarely will do anything outside of my own projects any more, but when people ask, I need to know what is involved before I give an answer. there is no other way.

When I was a limo driver, people would routinely ask the rate without any details of where they needed to go, and for how a long. and how many people...so the only answer was (for instance) $75 an hour, and then they would ask the next 4 limo drivers the same question, and get the same answer, and after figuring that this is the deal, they would get into the 5th person's car that gave them the exact same rate....never knowing that my limo was a new model, had a stocked bar with premium liquors, satellite radio, CD/DVD surround sound, 3 flat screen monitors, Phone, and 2 sunroofs...and paid the same thing for a 6 year old car without any amenities.

You can't stop people from being arrogant and mis informed, but if you sell it first, you more than likely get taken advantage of. Those same people will take you on your word, and then try and cram 18 people in a 10 passenger limo (which is illegal)...they knew that going into the situation, that is why the didn't want to give any details. They wanted you to commit, so that they could take advantage of what they perceive to be, you desperation for the business.


I have found that it is the same in almost every business where you are providing a service.

Some people are less than honest, and savvy. they know the answer before asking, and they are looking for you to commit yourself without all the details, and then throw in a bunch of crap that cost more money, demanding that you honor the price you gave without knowing the details.

You have to control the conversation, or you cannot be accurate,and to protect yourself.

[Steve B]

A agree with Patrysha.

You can add - "I'd be happy to give you a price on the project if you like."

I've never been asked the question - I guess it's more common in the plumbing world.

[huggytree]

there are alot of small $250 plumbing projects...i doubt there are many small projects for the fence business at all...your smallest job is probably a full day?

the price ranges for plumbers is more dramatic possibly too? $75 to $250 for the 1st hour

there are just soooo many plumbers.

i cant say 'ill be happy to give you a quote' if the job is under $1k

id have to double/triple my office time if i bid on every $300 job....id spend more time driving to the bid, bidding, and driving home than id make on the project...every bid i drive to costs me 2-2.5 hours...thats $250 out of my pocket(or added to my hourly rate) thats why i like contractor work because they usually get 1/2 the jobs and no competitive bidding for plumbers...i give a fair price and its mine.

[Steve B]

Sorry - I don't agree. I hired an electrician to do a bunch of small jobs around the house last week. I have no idea what his hourly rate is - he charged me by the job. I would think that would be pretty similar to the plumbing world. There are certaily a lot of electricians around here.

In the dog fence business - I do repairs. I charge $85 for a repair. Sometimes it takes me less than 10 minutes. Sometimes it takes me closer to an hour. Nobody ever asked for an hourly rate and I've never given one.

[orion_joel]

It seems you are losing a lot of time to your bidding if it takes you 2-2.5hours, For me to take that long on any bid i would literally have to drive 60KM there and back. Even then i would be lucky to break the 2 hour mark. Anything for me within a 20km radius of my office would be well under 1 hr turn around for a bid.

I really cannot imagine, actually needing to go out take a look and write up a bid for anything under a $1,000. For this sort of thing by now you should be able to price based on what the customer describes. And further this low value work you should not even need to do a written quote. You can go have a look, may be an hour and a half job, unless it is getting fixtures or things you dont have on your truck, you should be able to go and take a look say $300 parts and labour and because i am already here will waive the call out fee or something, who knows you may actually end up making more then your hourly rate. If you are physically there it becomes a lot easier to close the deal on the spot especially if you say you can do the job right now on the spot.

[Steve B]

Good points Joel. I can't imagine why you couldn't give quotes for the smaller jobs over the phone.

I know it's not a very good comparison, but I've gotten to where I give almost 100% of my quotes over the phone. I know my stuff is much simpler than a complete plumbing job, but probably not that much different than your jobs under $1,000. I've learned to ask a few questions (six of them) that tell me just about all I need to know to give a good quote. Sometimes I get to the job and realize I should have quoted more because of a certain condition - but what I "lose" on those jobs is more than made up with the time and money savings by not driving around and losing 2.5 hours (min.) on the ten other jobs I quote over the phone that month.

[huggytree]

i have gotten away from flat rating jobs lately....i have a list all written up for it.

its just easier to say T&M...i dont make as much, but i also cant lose....

its just a trend ive been doing because ive run into some really crappy jobs where i would have really lost alot if i had flat rated them.

homeowners do seem to like flat rate though..cut and dry

[Patrysha]

It does make it easier on the budget. As a homeowner, I'd be cool with a ballpark figure, because obviously I have no clue how long something is going to take or what materials are involved unless it's spelled out for me. Not that we've had to call a plumber yet...I am praying our water tank holds out for another three months...

[orion_joel]

I agree Steve. We recently had pest control through the house for a white ant treatment. The price was quoted within 2 or 3 minutes of the guy walking in. This is a dedicated business that just treats for white ants in particular. But they have got their quoting down so well that they can look at a house and be able to give a price to place an external system to detect possible entry points, treat anything they find and monitor it for a year.

I would almost guarantee that they work off a flat fee for size of dwelling, there is no other way they could quote so quick. Yes i would say sometimes they lose out if there is an infestation and it takes a bit of treating. Other times they probably find nothing and make great money on it. But being able to walk in and take a quick look, and say this is the price it covers everything for the first year if we find something we treat it, is a very good place to be when you are selling.

[Spider]

Quotations can be given over the phone for almost anything, and plumbing is no more complicated than other work. If one is going to do work for time and material (T+M), one must expect to be asked about one's labor rate. And be prepared to lose jobs because if it.

A homeowner will almost invariably prefer to know what any job will cost before work begins. It is up to a business to provide that -- if one wants the work, that is. If one doesn't want the work, just say, "We don't do that type of work."