Posted by Steve Nicholas on February 25, 2005, 3:15 pm, in reply to "Re: how to charge?"
Hi Adrian
In this trade we can be our own worst enemies - as James says, we can get in this spiral of price cutting.
However, we are professionals and should charge as if we are. This should raise our image and our customer's expectations.
If you price it right you can control the amount of work you get, frighten off the cheapskates and make yourself a living as well.
What do dealers charge in your area? Difficult to gauge yourself against them I know, but I was horrified to see what a local dealer was charging some time ago and immediately put my prices up.
My example was the local Volvo dealer 3 years ago, charging then, £66 an hour. I raised my labour rate to £27 and it is now £35, minimum, as a unit of labour.
Charging per unit enables you to get away from the hourly charge idea. Although the unit may be based roughly on the hour, it does allow you to charge a unit for basic diagnostics, call-out to start a car etc. It counters the argument "but you only spent 5 minutes on it!".
You are already good at what you do, well-equipped and honest so don't go giving extra discounts away as well. There are plenty of others happy to charge a lot more for providing a lot less.