Pricing Your Services
Is price everything? To some, price is the deciding point when they are shopping for services. The price you charge can keep customers returning or drive them away for good.
If you gouge customers, any repeat business you might have had is lost.
A handy man was engaged to replace a 4 foot section of fascia. The entire project took about 2 hours and used less than $50 worth of materials. When he was finished, he presented a bill for $600, which was paid, but reluctantly. The next time this customer needed repairs done, this handy man was not hired. His price gouging cost him repeat business.
Pricing a service is difficult. You must charge enough to make a profit, but also keep your fees in line with the market. It is often difficult to justify a fee that is higher than your competitors price, even if you offer more service.
A customer doesn't take the time to compare apples with apples, even when it might be obvious to you that you have oranges and not apples. The customer's concern is getting the work done that needs to be completed and, if price is a concern, then the difference in the services is lost.
You must be proficient in your business and provide quality service to your customers, but that doesn't mean that there isn't someone else who could do the work as well as you.
A landscaper bid a price so high that the customer decided that he didn't need the work done. When asked about the high price, the landscaper justified it by how good the yard would look when he was done. He considered himself an artist and not a landscaper, so he expected to be paid more than an ordinary landscaper. If it looked good, then it was worth and exorbitant price.
Your customer wants the finished product to look good, but won't have much tolerance for your ego. Art is art. This is business.
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