It’s time to stop preparing estimates with the simplified formula of material + labor = price. The fact is, when customers come to our shops they are getting so much more than just material and labor.
Take a moment to think of all that the customers are really getting from us. How about the comfort of knowing that their cars are being worked on by qualified technicians in a secured and fully insured shop? What about fast turnaround isn’t that worth something? How about our vast knowledge of the trade, the industry, the suppliers and the infinite amount of materials? That has got to count for something.
Most especially, how do you put a price tag on years of experience and an unblemished reputation?
Now ask yourself this: Are you really charging what you’re worth? If you feel like you’ve been undercutting yourself, it’s time to adjust your prices accordingly.
I’m not saying that we should all jack up our prices. But we should never be made to feel like we aren’t being paid an honest wage for our services.
Don’t be afraid to charge what you think you are truly worth. Educating the customer on all that their job entails and everything they are getting for their money is the best way to justify your prices and sell the job.
Agree/Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
I agree with your theory, unfortunately if everyone doesn’t raise their prices it won’t work, just way too many “whores” out there willing to slash your price.
shops should be charging for the worth of thier knowlage and experiance, but many don’t as they feel they are not good enough (a comment I have herd many times)….as for working on the side, a shop I worked in years ago let the staff do side jobs on the weekend in the shop, we charged 70% of shop price and had plenty of work without making the shop look bad by working for nothing….we don’t need to suddenly jack the prices up, but we can bit by bit increase our charges as other aspects of the motor industry do….
I figured out recently that I was only breaking even if not losing money on the custom jobs. The every day repair stuff I was making money on, but the custom jobs I was not. What I was doing, was I would quote a price based on what I thought the other shop in town would charge. That way I would hopefully get the job in the shop. One of my last jobs, I looked at how much time I spent on it and how much I make per hour on everyday stuff and how much I want to make on the custom jobs (which is slightly less than the everyday jobs, so I can justify working on them instead of the custom jobs). I figured out that I was leaving ALOT of money on the table, thousands of dollars in labor. So now what I tell customers is that it’s labor and materials. I tell them that I got by the hours worked on the car. If I quote the job at 100 hours and I take 120 hours to finish the car, then it’s not fair to me. Likewise if I take 80 hours to finish the car it’s not fair to them. So I go by actual hours on a digital time sheet. When customers here you explain it to them that way they are very receptive to it. I figure I would rather price the job to make money and lose it, than to price it low, get the job, and break even or lose money. I’m not going to pay to do the interior in anyone else’s car.
Chuck
After 35 years on the job, some customers won’t want to pay much, but on custom cars , I’m a little expensive I’m told, but, to see a huge smile on a customer’s face after a well done, job, & its exactly what they hoped it would look like, they are happy to pay top dollar, do a excellent job & they will pay top dollar,
so absolutely true!! Struggle of my life!!! Charging $5000-$7500 for a complete custom truck interior, is like pulling someone’s teeth… They gasp and think it’s alot… I get so tired of it all at times but I love my feild of work.
The book, “Worth Every Penny” by Sarah Petty & Erin Verbeck is well worth reading.
Yes I know they write as photographers, but this book is about bespoke small businesses.