It’s really busy or will be really busy soon in most parts of the country.
Some of you will have a great cash influx this summer lulling you into a false sense of security. Unfortunately, for some of you, that phenomenal cash influx will all evaporate at the end of summer when you pay your suppliers for the materials and equipment you purchased.
Avoid this frustrating situation by doing these three things:
- Raise your flat rate prices by at least $25 an hour and preferably $50 an hour – for both maintenance and non-maintenance customers. A 30-minute repair is an additional $12.50 or $25. Most customers won’t see the difference…your checkbook and bottom line will (if you have 1,000 service calls this summer that is an additional $25,000 to $50,000 in cash…and that flows directly to your bottom line).
- Save the $25 or $50 for each service call in a savings account. You don’t have to transfer the money every day. Once a week run a report from your software to determine the number of calls you ran. Transfer $25 or $50 times the number of calls into your savings account.
Yes, there will be some calls where the repair is less than an hour. However, there will be other calls where the repair will be more than an hour. Assume an hour per repair. You’ll have money in your savings account for the slower months.
- Don’t do stupid stuff.No callbacks and no warranty calls. Yes, we are all human. This is the time for both install and service to ensure that jobs are installed properly and service technicians fix the disease rather than the symptom of the disease. (i.e. The breaker tripped is the symptom. Why the breaker tripped is the disease.) Service technicians do NOT want to go out at night to fix a dumb installation mistake. Everyone loses: the customer, the technician, and the company.
Want a financial statement checkup?
Every business, large and small, can benefit from taking a closer look at its numbers. We’re happy to do a quick review – showing you what appears to be good and some areas you might want to pay attention to. (This is where Financially Fit Business can help too). Click here for more information.
And, pass along this offer to your business friends and colleagues who could benefit from this review too!
Ruth King is well known as “The Profitability Master.” She is passionate about helping small business owners become profitable and stay profitable. For over 40 years she has coached, trained, and helped contractors and others achieve the business growth and goals they wanted to achieve.
Contact Ruth by emailing ruthking@hvacchannel.tv.
