$$$ charging an hourly rate? $$$

I charge for estimates in certain areas like an island or if its over a 25minute drive. I find it works really well. Right away it weeds out the customer you don't want to be working for. An educated customer who wants a pro understands your time is money. No fee is charged if i get the job.
 
The thing I havent seen mentioned regarding hourly rates is the customers understanding of what is included.

If I estimate 3 men and chip tuck and chipper for a removal at $200 PER HOUR it might take 8 hours this sounds cheep compared to 3 men chip truck bigger chipper and crane at $400 per hour. Figuring on 4 hours. If all the customer hears is the hourly rate.

Same job same price different perception to the customer.
Do you give an approximate # of hours it will take when you look at it or just price it over the phone?
 
Or just price this way
9lame.gif
 

Attachments

  • 290834-loveridgead.webp
    290834-loveridgead.webp
    105.4 KB · Views: 105
That's enough to get me to make me tag up with some tree owners, give them super low bids just so dude gets stuck doing the work for half of my LOW bid.

what a dummy.
 
What is included in the hourly rate is explained to the client. If I can estimate the time with a degree of accuracy then it's not an hourly rate job. Hourly jobs are those that are open ended because the client may want more done then initially discussed.
 
[ QUOTE ]
What is included in the hourly rate is explained to the client. If I can estimate the time with a degree of accuracy then it's not an hourly rate job. Hourly jobs are those that are open ended because the client may want more done then initially discussed.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree. What I usually do is give 1/2 day and full day rates.
 
I experimented with communicating the hourly rate to customers in the past (for about a year). It wasn't as good as I thought.

However, on open ended jobs, that are way too complicated to guestimate, I communicate the hourly rate to the customer. Most customers will understand the complexity of some situations and agree it is the fairest way to do the work.

For example, some of the fire mitigation jobs or large scale chipping jobs are better to communicate a hourly rate.

For everything else, I just bid the traditional way.
 
If we charged a fee to go out to give a bid, we would be out of business. Everyone here in North Texas gives free estimates. Reputable companies and non reputable offer free estimates. Our prices are just reasonable.
 
And a little side note about charging for quotes...

I have observed that if you are the first person to call back, while other guys are dragging their feet to return calls... you can communicate that you charge for the quote. After all they don't know that the other guys don't charge for one.
applaudit.gif


With all of that said, I still don't charge for a simple bid (though I think it is the way to go). If I have pre-qualified the customer over the phone, I know it will be worth my time to give them a free-bee bid.

If I ask the right questions over the phone I can tell if the bid will take a long time. If they ask for advise of what to do, I then tell them it sounds like a consultation. I then communicate the consultation could take up to an hour and that I would type up a report of our conversation (so they don't have to take notes or try to remember on their own).

***Tip: A majority (9 of 10) of paid consultation/quotes don't even consider getting a bid from someone else.***
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom