Going Back to my Roots

@fencepost Yea, it's been slow this past month and I'm in a quandry on what to do with my online appointments and pricing. But I can get busy really fast and then I'm bombed and each day, dying from talking exhaustion. My goal is to do 50/50. I moved and want a new office with walkin appointments. Going back in time!
 
fencepost said:
Wait, are you Louis Rossmann?
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LOL. Nope. He's not afraid to show his face out there. I would NEVER do that. Besides, I have a lot of respect for his skills but I don't agree with much of his business philosophy. Still, I respect the man.

Besides, he's in New York. The rent on a space as big as mine in New York would be what, $100,000/month? LOL.

callthatgirl said:
Great advice.

Interesting you say that, your hourly scares people. Get this, I get east coast folks that think my pricing is cheap and buy up, or brutally beat me down lol (fast talking, clock watch, make me do 2 things at once or 3 things, etc) Folks from like Oklahoma, say I'm too high. I'm in a middle effed situation either way. My Australian clients end up getting crushed in the exchange rate too. I could do this and thought of it. No pricing on my website at all. Do first consults, figure out how difficult the job will be and do a soft quote. Then I can gauge how challenging the job and client will be. Then it's more like project, versus break/fix by the hour. If I quote $300 and do it in 30 min, I could offer some credit for time. If it goes over, I can let them know that in the quote. Sometimes a job can be very challenging before I dive in. I never know.

All my migration work is now by the mailbox and done by Adam (Slaters Kustom Machine) here on Technibble. It's going well, I sell my prepay support tickets with all migration work. I love my prepay tickets!
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Perhaps you could charge a "assessment" fee to look over their situation and give them a quote? Sort of like a diagnostic fee on a computer. That way you still get paid for looking over it and you can judge how much they might be willing to pay for the job (not to mention how difficult it's going to be). You can either put that assessment fee towards the final bill, or charge it separately like I do for my diagnostic fee. Even if it's only $20, imagine increasing your income by $20 per job. 1,000 jobs a year and that's an extra $20,000.

As for quoting $300 and then being done in 30 minutes, I wouldn't credit them for time unless it was agreed upon beforehand (or you mention that on your site). If a client complains, I would give them something to placate them (so they don't give you a negative review) and then mark them as a bad client. GOOD clients don't care how long it takes you to fix a problem. They're just willing to pay to get it fixed. It took me YEARS to realize this. When I first started, I was fudging invoices (i.e. saying something took 3 hours when it actually took 1) and even wasting time in front of clients to try and justify the amount I was charging them.

What I eventually found out is that the GOOD clients were HAPPIER if you fixed it faster. I know I am. If I pay a plumber $300 to install a toilet, I don't care if it takes him 5 minutes or 5 hours. But I'd prefer it be done in 5 minutes (so long as he doesn't do a rush job and mess things up of course). On the other hand, if the plumber is charging me $150/hour, it doesn't matter how fast he's going. I always think in the back of my mind that he isn't going fast enough and that he's trying to pad the invoice. I as a customer would be happier to know EXACTLY what it's going to cost ($300) rather than pay $150/hour and worry that the guy is going slow on purpose.

When I stopped charging per hour for computer services, it really lowered my stress level. I did the job as quickly as I wanted to and knew exactly how much I was going to get for the job before I did it. I personally prefer flat rate pricing - both as a business owner and as a customer. It just seems much more transparent. I took my dog to the chiropractor today. She charged $110 for the initial exam and first adjustment and spent nearly 2 hours with my dog. I wasn't having to worry about how long she was taking and it was a very relaxed experience. If she charged $55/hour, I still would've ended up paying the same amount of money in the end, but I would have probably thought she was doing a bunch of BS to try to increase her invoice. I mean, honestly. 2 hours with a dog? I don't know what the heck she did with my dog, but she seems to be in a lot less pain now so it was worth it to me.
 
omfg, this post was hilarious.

Now this advice is beyond good. I'm going to take notes from it to revise for me. I think you are spot on. I need to do everything you said.
 
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callthatgirl said:
I'm going to delete this tomorrow but wanted to show folks, what I get

View attachment 9323
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Good Lord. THIS is why I don't do Outlook. LOL. If I had your job, I'd have to put a bullet in my brain and just get it over with.

I just built a brand new computer with Windows XP for a major university that needed an XP machine to run their scientific equipment. I charged $1,000. $250 in parts. It took under an hour to buy the parts, build the unit, and install Windows XP. So $750/hour. I would MUCH rather do this than deal with 8 pages of crap like that. But if I priced things hourly, I would've sold the computer for $400 (including a small profit margin on the parts) and made $150 in profit. I would've had to build 5 of those f*ckers in order to make what I made just now. Why? Because I sent him a flat rate quote and he accepted.

I think it's only fair that you charge people that bring you a hot mess like that more than what you'd charge someone with a simple Outlook problem. That's why giving out quotes is essential. And if you really don't feel like dealing with that hot mess, you can quote really high. If they accept it, then go for it. If they don't, then no big loss. I do the same thing for clients that have a problem I really don't want to deal with.

I'll be honest with you @callthatgirl. I've thought about hiring you a few times when I ran into a client with a particularly nasty Outlook issue, but the fact that you charge hourly turned me off and I ended up just muddling through and fixing the issue myself. Why? Because I didn't have any way of having a predictable, certain quote for fixing an issue. If you charged $150/hour, would it take you 1 hour or 2? Maybe more? Who the heck knows? What if I quote my client $400 and it ends up taking you 3 hours? Nah, just f*ck it. I'll fix it myself. I'm no Outlook expert, but I rarely encounter something I can't fix.
 
I get it, I get many tech referrals, they just want it fixed.

Call me on your next snag, on me :) and I've never seen you so funny.
 
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callthatgirl said:
I get it, I get many tech referrals, they just want it fixed. I mostly charge the client and pay out 20% commission. Well worth the lead. Many techs call on me now. I offer a tech rate if you help, so I don't talk to the client, just remote in and help you figure it out. It's 20% off my rate. Outlook is a freaking machine inside and I know it all. When I get stumped, I don't charge to learn what I need to but lately I have said "I will learn it but this will be billable once I have to fix it" and people are turned off, esp that guy above. I told him signature issue was a well known snag, might be 2 hours of fix it. He opted to not have his 40 signatures fixed lol. I could have with a reg edit but good god, a reg edit is the last thing I do, who knows will break after that.

This thread turned into a CTG coaching thread, so thanks for that. I'm changing my stuff right now actually. I'm inspired.

Call me on your next snag, on me :) and I've never seen you so funny.
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Some clients are just more trouble then they're worth. I guess 2007 must've been a clue, huh? I thank you for the offer, but taking you up on it would end up revealing my identity. That's not a problem if I'm working through my home based business, but I probably won't see many complicated Outlook issues through my home based business. Now that I know you offer a tech rate I'll probably contact you in the future. But I won't be mentioning that I found you on Technibble. LOL.
 
Are you more well known than I am? Not stroking my ego here, but I have a following online, internationally here. Not in a city with a store. Just saying.
 
callthatgirl said:
Are you more well known than I am? Not stroking my ego here, but I have a following online, internationally here. Not in a city with a store. Just saying.
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It's not that I'm particularly well-known in the tech community. I just have a business model that REALLY works well and I have CHOSEN not to expand. Microcenter wants to buy me out just so they can shut me down. I think they're really scared that I might expand, even though I have absolutely no intention of doing so. I might end up selling to them and getting into real estate instead, and I don't want to sabotage that opportunity. Like I said, I've got everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain by putting myself out there. I've probably said too much already.

But in all honesty, I think I would be happier selling my shop to Microcenter and going back to just being a home based business as a "side" gig (a side gig that brings in over $200,000/year that is) while I invest in real estate. I hate f*cking employees, and I've got like 20 of them right now. I like living a low stress life, and despite all my efforts to reduce stress, the life I'm living right now doesn't qualify. I'd rather make $200,000/year fixing computers in my underwear while making passive income with real estate than mess around with employees and run a huge business. I have enough wealth now that I can make this a reality.
 
I had those 3 stores, 30 employees, large contract. I know the life. I hated it, I hated my life. Simple is much better if it's not for you. I'd sell lol.
 
well, I thought this week would be new things happening. Already found my first client sneak through the 4 hour on my calendar. She booked a "no cost" consult, then filled out the agreement form, then submitted the 1 hour payment! gak.:eek:
 
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sapphirescales said:
I mean, I'm not Geek Squad or anything, but my store is getting big enough to compete with the local Microcenter and I have absolutely no desire to show behind the curtain as it were. I have nothing to gain and everything to lose by doing that. I love giving general advice on here, but I don't want everyone to have a practical example.

I strongly believe that you should do what makes you happiest. If selling larger blocks of time and focusing on larger clients would be better and less stressful for you (I know it is for me), then go for it. I would personally rather see 1 person and make $500 than see 4 people and make $125 per client. Think of it this way. The more you make per client, the more room your business has to grow. If you're nickle and dimeing yourself to death, you'll have nothing left over. I stopped dealing with cheap clients many years ago, and I have absolutely no desire to go back to that. My average sale/service is $500+.
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That is a very nice ticket... Does this represent Fees or Fees + Parts + PartsMU. What is average hrs. I read your other posts further down. Question answered
 
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Update...I did leave my 1 hour appt off my calendar and sold 2 $500 prepay today. Both were already clients. Goal of 2 per day until the end of the month and I'll be happy. 4 to go. :D
 
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