I realize this is an old topic, but for some crazy reason it was accidentally clicked on, so I had a few thoughts to add to it. Free estimates may bring in some cheap people, but in my area and in my experience, they still pay top rates for repairs. They may even pay higher amounts than well-to-do people, since they may have $220 to replace a hard drive in an older laptop, but do not have $400 for a new laptop. Free estimates does not mean low prices, it means lower risk. Even well-to-do people like lower risk. A large chunk of the affluent market does not want to risk a diagnostic fee and would much rather just buy a new pc. Free estimates/diagnostics brings these clients to us.
Another huge overlooked advantage to offer free estimates/diagnostics is it is easy to train anyone to get clients in the door. The most important thing we need to do is convert phone calls to paid jobs. Nothing does that better than to say on the phone, "bring in your pc and let us run our tests and we can tell you exactly what is wrong and how much the repair will be then you can make an informed decision". A couple of years ago, in between employees, my girlfriend filled in for an hour a day while I took a lunch, she had no experience in the field, but had no problem telling clients the previous statement. She was effective at bringing them in.
I always hear people say free estimates will allow people to take advantage of me by getting a free diagnosis then fixing themselves. Very rarely ever happens. On the few computers where we spend significant time, sometimes an hour with check-in, hardware testing, and other evaluation, in which a client chooses not to fix it or have us do a data recovery, it is still a win. These people will come back when their new computer which they may have purchased somewhere else when it gets a virus. They also tell everyone about the great service.
We have a three part sales technique which uses free estimates as the first step, which is designed to get as many people as possible in the door(all people, even tire kickers). Upon check in we do not discuss pricing, with exception of a few things. First we will ask, "if it's something simple can we have pre-approval for $79 to fix it(they almost never say no)". The second exception is if it's an obvious virus problem, like a fake av program, we tell them we charge a flat rate of $79(this price is highly advertised, it is our loss leader). Then we will ask if they want to do a complete tuneup for $30 extra(this shares most of the same steps as a virus removal)
The second step after check in is to do a very thorough hardware diagnostic and evaluation of the clients needs based on how they use they use the computer, what programs they have installed, general condition of the computer. We also factor in the clients comfortability with change(if a nuke and pave is a good fit). With this information we will setup one to three different options to let them choose from them. when it makes sense, we will add the pros and cons from a set of canned responses we have(not listed in the following example). the idea is any tech can follow this method of sales. the following example would be for a computer which came in with ram that just needed reseating
Option 1:
$79 fixing the loose connection inside ←- we already got pre approval at check in to fix this issue
option2:
$79 fix the loose connection
$60 add on discounted tuneup(regular rate $109)
option3:
$79 fix the loose connection
$60 add on discounted tuneup(regular rate $109)
$45 1gb ddr2 ram upgrade
The third step is to call them and present them with the options and let them choose. often they will take option 3 which make a $79 job a $184 job. This may be very mechanical and salesy, but it works. It appeals to both the client who does not want to spend much to the client who wants to spend more. They choose and they are happy.
With all of that said. If we would have charged a diagnostic fee from the beginning, which does have the advantage of keeping cheaper people away and would free up more time to look for higher class client and make our shop more productive, would it have helped, maybe? I have asked myself that question many times. Maybe the business would be twice as large or maybe we would not have made it. Who knows
