Re: Service calls

["Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

Frank Olson wrote:
>
>
> I came across a Chubb work order the other day...  They tack $5.00 on
to
> each call.  They call it a "fuel surcharge"...  The customer was
"PO'd" to
> say the least.  He's spending $129.00 an hour for a Chubb tech and
then they
> add the other $5.00 for fuel...  Tsk!!!

Which reinforces my method.

Don't bill any kind of "surcharge" Just include it in the cost of the
service call.

I would guess that the idea behind showing the surcharge is sort of a
way of saying to the client "hey, we've got to charge you more but it's
not our fault" Soooorry. But the human psyche, can easier accept an
increase in a service call than having it pointed out to him that he's
paying more for something that he's already ticked off about.

Any kind of "add on" charge is likely to upset the customer. If the
service call is just $5.00 more, they don't complain and you're still
the good guy who came to fix his system. A client is much more likely
to accept an $80.00 service call rather than a $75.00 bill with a $5.00
gas surcharge. You're just agitating him more than he already is, about
the cost of fuel. And if you asked him why he's upset about the $5.00
surcharge, what would he say?

"You should just accept the increased cost of fuel as the cost of doing
business." And so how would you actually do that? By increasing your
service charge to ............. yep .......... you guessed it, $80.00.

I don't understand why this is a big problem to discuss. If it cost you
more to run your business, you've got to charge your customers more. If
you do and your competition doesn't, you can wave bye bye to him as he
goes down the tube.