i have proof than service/quality beats price

[Oneseoasia]

Yeah That's True. Because if you always compete with the price, there are always other companies can offer a cheaper rate than yours. What's important is you help customer to see your values so that they will stay with you : )

[cocoy]

I have recently lowered my price for my "filler" work. I offered the same or a bit lower than the competition, but came out with nothing. I talked to my realtor friend and she said those prices are way too high for what realtors are willing to spend. So I lowered the price and started getting customers. I started a CAD service and decided to market floor plan services to realtors. Seemed like a quick in and out type job.

[huggytree]

coco

slippery slope...you are getting work at less $ than you want to...instead of finding customers who will pay what you want to make. when your work load is full of cheap customers how will you find room for the higher end ones?

will your service/quality slip because they are cheap customers and you wont care as much?

you create your own customers.you determine it!...not them!!!

i have 1 filler customer...its a home warranty company....they will not pay a trip charge, so when they ask how many hours i start the clock when i leave the last job...basically a hidden trip charge.....i make slightly less money and the jobs are all small....no chance any of these customers will ever use me or refer me...they are all bad customers i wouldnt want...i started not even leaving cards with them...i want them to forget me...its not the customers i want, but it gets me an extra $400-$1000 a month..but once again its alot of phone time and screwing around for $150 per trip

[Steve B]

"no chance any of these customers will ever use me or refer me...they are all bad customers i wouldnt want"

It's hard not to comment on this Huggy. Really, they are ALL bad and there is NO chance they would refer you? I don't know how you can be so sure. For the cost of a couple business cards and a smile - you might be surprised what might be the result from these trips. Even if the answer is that only 1 or 2% of them might refer you - I would drop off a business card.

It sounds like you live in a fairly small community - if you really want them to forget you, you might want to consider not taking your normal work van with your name plastered on it and wearing a disguise If they get a sense on how little you value them as a customer, you might get the wrong kind of referrals from them.

[huggytree]

im in the Milwaukee area...nope not a small area at all!

oh yea im sure id get 1-2% of them...but id also get 50% asking for prices , bids, and advice and wasting my time. Chhhheeeeaaaappppp is the one work which describes all of them...i had a faucet issue last week and i told them it wasnt covered and would be $175-275 to fix....he said 'your kidding right?'...(my charge is $150 for the first hour)...these people brag about how cheap they are to me....they all are complainers too....

imagine your worst customer....that exact personality type is who is drawn to this insurance service...does it mean they might have a friend who needs my card who is normal? maybe...ill rethink it.

i really thought this insurance company would dump me because im too high priced.....ive had a few decent projects from them....the jobs just keep coming though...maybe no one else wants to work for them......i was told about the upsell factor...zero chance of it...these people dont want to even pay the $60 co pay for what i do let alone pay me a few hundred more to do something.

[cocoy]

Nope. Quality won't be reduced because these are "cheap" customers. I don't do that.

Secondly, my customers are real estate agents and they're cheap. This is something they buy to help market the listing. It's not an item they keep forever or something that becomes an investment in their home. 95% of my clients are agents selling high end properties. When they have cheaper property to sell they don't bother with me.

6 months at my high prices and not one customer. Even at my current prices some people still think it's too much.

I understand the set your price thing and "cheap" customers. I've read that in every marketing book or article. I just believe my original price is too high for my market.

Not sure why you would price this warranty company lower for the same service you would provide to other customers. Especially if you don't like to do it.

Also these people bought the insurance for a reason. They want to avoid paying for repairs in the future. Of course they're surprised when you tell them something that broke isn't covered by the warranty. Typical uninformed home owners who didn't question their warranty service contract.

Up selling to a customer who called about warranty work and then them finding out certain items are not covered isn't going to go well. It doesn't have anything to do with them being cheap.

[Steve B]

"imagine your worst customer...."

Believe it or not, I only have ONE that I wouldn't enjoy working with again. I have several hundred that I've worked with. The vast majority have been a pleasure to work with - probably because they are buying an "optional" product and not forced to buy a repair like they would if they had a plumbing problem.

[cocoy]

Yup. You have to look at it from your customer's standpoint.

They called a plumber cause something went wrong. It's unplanned spending on their part. Chances are they won't be happy when they get the bill.

[Just H]

We've been brought up in a society where some things you never pay the sticker price for and others you just plop on the counter and pay what it rings up to and still others, often have "hidden" discounts but you have to ask for them. It's really very confusing. And then you get these different personality types who can bully their way through anything or those who find it hard to stand up for themselves and pretty soon everything becomes negotiable. When someone does this to me, I feel like they're saying, well I want the best job you can do but I'm going to pay you much less - which I take to mean they don't think my services are worth much (to which I want to say, "Just do it yourself").

There seems to be a definite emphasis on the material aspect and not nearly as much concern on how it's done - that is, until something doesn't work right. I've found that many businesses starting out will do things for much less and be more negotiable too feeling that they need to prove themselves. Which is true to a point, but I don't think you have to sell yourself short in the process.

When you look at the middle ground, there are probably some ways to give the customers more than they expected and not work for nothing. Perhaps in the plumbing example, going into a local restaurant and making a deal with gift certificates for X number of them at $20 each (or trading a plumbing job for some money and the rest in certificates so you don't have to outlay the money). They know that the typical couple always comes in and spends say $40-50. So if you could get them for $15 each and send out to as a loyal customer thank-you, they'll be more likely to want to go out to eat, give more business to the restaurant and think more highly of you for thinking of them and giving something back when times are tighter.

[huggytree]

of my normal 'home owner' customers ive only had a 2 or 3 i wouldnt want to work with again

of my builder customers id say 25% i wouldnt want to work with again

of my home warranty customers id say 50% i wouldnt want to work with

ive been getting pretty much my normal pay scale for the home warranty...i over charge hours to make it up...i always think they will dump me over price, but they keep coming back....today i got $200 to pull/reset a toilet....i hate that dirty work...took me 20 minutes, but my normal rate is $200 for the task.....they paid it no problem....

they dont pay the trip charge....but i always add an extra 1/2 hour to get it...i overall try to keep my prices lower just to keep them as a customer...its busy work i want to keep...$1,000 extra a month. and i rarely work 40 hours a week, so why not.. when i say i charge them alittle less were talking 5-10% at best.