I'm not a charity!

[Guy]

Just been doing a bit of marketing via some flier drops.

I approached an old guy and was very polite, explained we're a new local business so there would only be a 10 pound call out charge due to how close he was.

He asked me how much i charge to replace a toilet cistern for new. Rather rudely. I explained that i charge 25 pound per hour, i would be there roughly an hour and half so it would be 40 pound labour plus materials. He looked shocked and then angrily said "Forget it, i'll do it my ***** self." Then slapped the flier back in my hand.

That's bloody cheap! Most plumbers charge 80 pound upwards, some way more!

What do these people think we are? Charities? I'm running a business and have to feed my kids for crying out loud.

 

[scotsblood]

Ditch the call out charge Guy, loads of research has shown that people will accept a higher hourly rate if you do!

I'm not a tradesman at all but the individuals and companies I work for would laugh in my face if my invoice made any mention of a call out charge. There were only a couple of groans when my minimum rate went from £165 to £172 but had I tried to add another charge just for attending the story would be different!!

If you want to make the point that after normal hours its more just say its £10 an hour more after 6pm.

At £25 an hour you almost are a charity, are you selling yourself short?

 

[Guy]

Thanks for the advice.

As for my hourly rate, yeah i am quite cheap but i have a lot of competition round where i live and i have to be very competitive with regards to my hourly rate. As i have not long set up as self employed i don't want to put my customers off and i want to secure work. I think 25 pound an hour is a fair and competitive. But it still seems to put some off, i guess they are not the type of customers i want because they will probably and stiff me.

I think my hourly rate put him off rather than the actual call out charge.

 

[scotsblood]

On occasions it can be how you explain the rate rather than the rate itself that actually makes the difference.
The opening line of the plumber who's not got my recent business when he explained his quote was "I'm £65 an hour, this is expensive because I have to be better that the P**ish and so charge more", the guy that did get the job wasn't at lot cheaper but his explanation made a lot more sense, "My rate is just about the same as the mechanic that will service your car, it takes about the same time to become good at the job so my rates are about the same". He did a great job and charged slightly less than quoted as he finished quicker than estimated. That's how to leave a customer with a good feeling!

Don't be put off by a few knockbacks, its all part of business life!

 

[Guy]

Thanks Scotsblood. I never really explained my hourly rate as i don't really think it needs justifying. I know i can do a good job but he still found my rate expensive. I don't really know where i went wrong with him, maybe he's just extremely tight.

 

[johnmcginty]

25 per hour is way too cheap. I mean you would be looking at 120 chargable hrs per month and as most jobs are around an hour you are not going to make enough, you will undercut all the plumbers in your area , lower the price of a professional job and then after two years of trying go bust. Then there will be the next guy who comes and does the same thing . If you are serious about setting up I would recommed an advertising budget of around £600 per month , this will definateley bring the customers in , charge say £50- £60 per hour plus parts , yes you will lose the odd job but will far make up for it else where. 10 jobs will cover the ads and you should get this easily in a week. Your customer base will be alot over two years of doing this and then you can bring your ads down. I get laughed at by customers who try it on all the time. I will never lower my price. If more had this attitude people would rarely get botched jobs done , real plumbers would'nt get so undercut by guys charging 2p an hour and everyone would be happier. Flyer drops only do so much , its false economy really . Spend on the ads , bring in the work , charge a lot more for a professional job well done , (you clearly care enough to come on the forum and I am presuming you are a professional so treat yourself like you are) , explain this to the customer and the vast majority will accept your rate. If you think about it it is social conditioning that tells people that if a plumber is flyering he will be cheaper than the company with the 0800 number website. Your bait was too small and you caught a tiddler. Up your bait and catch a whopper good luck bud

 

[fuzzy]

i still find pricing high and i only do thumbers now, i worry im to dear and then i worry ive undersold myself.
one bloke i always remember, i charged £25 to swap a basin while he stood behind me all the time. he asked how much i said £25 and he said wow, thats great and then went to copper up as he only had notes!!!! he got £23 and said he will have to pop round with the other £2, obvioulsy he didnt, tight geet

 

[WaterTight]

why do some customers stand and watch you? if they don't trust you why did they hire you? "i'll leave you to it" is music to my ears.

 

[johnmcginty]

why do some customers stand and watch you? if they don't trust you why did they hire you? "i'll leave you to it" is music to my ears.

Ohh i love this one, I have a self amusing habit of making them pass me every tool ,well if they're going to watch like an apprentice might aswell treat them like one.

 

[Guy]

That's classic

 

[aggis]

Remember it's what you know, they pay for, especially when doing repairing !
If you're well trained & can identify & repair it quickly, it should be to your benefit.
Also the clients to an extent, 40 mins For £65/70 or a not so experienced person looking & scratching their head for 3 hours at £30/hr.
Too many tradesmen buy expensive tools/machineary to make the job easier & don't charge the client for the use of it, & even do the job cheaper because it took less time.
NO!!!!!!!

 

[Bernie2]

Why are Ryanair and Eastjet fares cheap?

There pilots are well trained and take years to train, so they can't claim high fares because they are being paid for what they know?

They arranged their business to meet a price the public want to pay, which makes it cheap for the public yet both airlines make millions each year.

Try a new business model and forget the old "I have qualifiactions, so you have to pay me a lot of money!" that is out of date.

The public are buying your products not your qualifications. Lets be honest, do a good job and price fair and the public will probably never even ask about your qualifications.

When I was working I was made a JIB graded Plumber when the JIB started up, but was only ever asked to show my JIB grade card about 3 times in nearly forty years.

The companies took you on, looked at your work, then if it was okay you where on, if it wasn't you where shown the door. It had nothing to do with your qualifications it was whether you could do the job, its the same for the public.
They want you to do a job, they don't seem to particulalry care I don't suppose, if you do or you don't have a degree in Plumbing Mechanical Services all they want is a good job.
So if you do a good job and all you learnt it from is out of a DIY book that is okay.

 

[tamz]

Ryanair and Easyjet seem cheap but tag on the extra's and it is not such a good deal and the service is shyt. They just do some smart marketing. It's the same as everything else, you will get what you pay for.

It's like the big contracts where there is always someone who fires in a cheap price and undercuts everyone by miles and wins the job.
In reality the job works out just the same cost or usually more because they make it all up in dayrates. Everything that is not exactly as the BOQ needs a variation.
You know the script.

 

[plumber sydney]

They don't understand how hard work we do and how low we charge.Let them do it themselves and when they make it more messier then will call for a plumber who will charge 100 per hour , at that situation they will be ready to pay that amount...
_______________________________________
Plumber Sydney

 

[buff]

would it be better to charge a price for the job rather than hourly ie basin ,wc £45.00 etc plus materials
people want to know what the bill will be by going hourly they get suspicous ie 4 hours for a wc £100.00 etc etc
i dont know about call out charge,ill get back to that one!
bob

 

[PlumbBobBob]

i usually have fixed prices for specific jobs like taps basins and toilets

steve

 

[ringw]

if you have a fixed price , how much for bath tap change ?

 

[PlumbBobBob]

supply and fit £50 fit only £65 customers are happy with this did a set of basin taps last week fit only 15 minutes £30 although was there 45 mins what with the customer chatting !!

 

[WaterTight]

Best way is not to charge hourly or give a fixed price. Give a range. Bath taps could be under an hour or could be more like 3. Only takes a moment to explain why. Varying levels of access, how long the system takes to drain and re-fill, possible complications, how long it takes to get the old buggers off.

Work out what you want per hour, slap on materials plus 20/30% and use that as your range. Bath taps I'd say £70-£90. I don't tend to supply even if requested because they'll only decide they don't like what you buy. And if they want cheap and it turns out to be tat it's suddenly your fault.

People seem just as happy to be given a range as they do getting a fixed price. They just want an idea and to be confident it won't suddenly go up a lot.

 

[Henno82]

I agree, i have the same scaling as watertight i now do not have fixed prices due to getting caught out at a customers whilst changing a set of basin taps i priced the job up at 75 quid and thought to myself it would be an hour tops, 2 and a half hours later i was just finishing up and several jobs behind all because of an airlock which was a nightmare to get rid of! nowadays i just explain myself clearly with what i'm about to do and the majority are happy with that.

 

[HoodedClaw]

£25 Hr rate is a touch on the low side, we ran though the expenses for a year and found the min was £30 to even think about making a basic living and found £10/15 Hr was expenses and half the rest for deductions and whats left the Mrs soon finds.. Still - more interesting than the old desk job

 

[Phil]

Thank god all my customers are really nice, I can only think of three customers who were a nightmare. I'd never go back round there even if they asked.

Its amazing how quick you can become with experience, my first few jobs took ages but now I could do them in 5 mins with both hands tied behind my back.

You'll soon know how to avoid the riff raff troublesome customers after a year or two behind you.

 

[oldplumber]

told a customer that their baxi 105e combi was more likely to be 12 years old and not the just put in 3 years back when they bought the house and the pcb was knackered and would cost £225 plus labour, got to make some profit. so adviced a new boiler as the fan is whining, its leaking at most joints and the heap hasnt been serviced ever by the state it was in, only to be told pop in a new pcb and well see!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! still when the fan fails along with the next temp sensor and aps we'll soon be halfway there to the cost of replacing it. on the drive a 10 plate and 9 plate pair of cars and they plead poverty. So my feeling sorry for them and not charging a lower rate disappeared and my hourly rate reverted to £35/hr plus £55 for first hour and mileage will all pop into play tommorrow when i pop back with a pcb ( hope i got it right baxi werent too helpful as I was getting multiple fault lights everywhere.)