Just had to check my signage!!

callthatgirl said:
I just changed my pricing to a 2 hour minimum for $250. I had a lady last week say I was too expensive and if I would give a discount. I said no. It's getting easier to say no when my sales are up actually and the stress is down :)
Click to expand...

AGREED. It's better to charge more and have select clientele than have a bunch of cheap wads sucking the life out of you all day long. If they're willing and able to pay, they'll pay. If they're either not willing or not able to pay, they'll leave you alone and you'll have more time to find GOOD clients. I've raised prices quite a few times over the years and I have NEVER regretted it and had to lower prices again. If anything, I regret that I didn't raise prices earlier. Sure you lose a client or two, but increased profits and decreased stress more than make up for it.
 
She thinks my work is "little jobs" too, you put in 2 hours and it's not little. If I clicked a button and charged $250....I might feel bad but honestly. as @Bryce W said years ago, it took me a long time to know where that button is and it's worth every penny.

Sounds like to me you need to change your expectations with the clients before the job even happens. Then they won't be shocked at the price, maybe? I don't know enough about your intake process.
 
I get asked that all the time. "Can I get a discount?"

I point them to the sign on the wall and on the counter.

OUR DISCOUNTS
10% discount for college students with valid student ID
15% discount for senior citizens with valid drivers license
20% discount for public servants (Police, Fire Dept., etc.) and Military - with proper ID

If you do not fall under the above, there is no discount available.
​
That usually shuts them up.
 
I had to clearly post that I charged a minimum fee years ago. I had a guy bring in a watch he had just bought at Wal-Mart wanting me to set it for him. "It will be quick." I tried being polite and telling him that I'm not a "watch guy" and I would have to read the instructions, just like he would. He finally snatched it out of my hand when I mentioned my minimum fee. Weirdest request ever. He insisted that it would just take a minute and I should stop working on all those stupid computers for paying customers and set his watch "real quick".

By the time he left I actually found myself hoping he was as insulted as he appeared to be. The sheer audacity of someone to walk into a business and say, "Stop working on the 3 things you are doing simultaneously which all make you money and do something for me that I could just as easily do myself, do it for free and do it right now, and on something I just bought from 'not you'." Who does that? It's kind of like all the tech support calls that start out, "I just bought a <insert name of computer you don't sell>..." Okay? So you want to by a cheap computer elsewhere, but you want me to support it for free? I sincerely don't think customer understand just how asinine and self-centered it is to come to me only for the free services.
 
Had a lady call me once that just bought a new monitor from B-Buy.
Plugged it in and didn't like the way it looked.
Icons too small
Too bright
Too much this and too much that.
Could you help me fix it.
Yes, I can stop over and see if we can make some adjustments. Usually there are instructions on how to adjust. It will be X dollars.
Oh, yeah, it has instructions and a CD, but I don't like reading those things. I thought maybe you could tell me over the phone, what buttons to push.
While trying to keep from laughing, I explained how hard it was to see her monitor, without seeing her monitor. Plus I would need to read the instructions also. Oh, never mind, I'll just play around with it.
LOL.
 
Thankfully I don't ever really have clients that just come in and demand free service. However, I do give out free advice to good past clients if I think the issue is minor. For example, I don't want to charge a past client $50 to plug in a cable that came unplugged. But I might do it for a new client if I set up an appointment for them and everything. This morning a past client came in. He had me work on his custom built system a few years ago and I did some upgrades. About $700 worth. So when he came in today and said that the NEW hard drive that he installed wouldn't format, I took a look at it. Nothing wrong with the hard drive. It ended up being the SATA cable. Charged him $5 for the cable plus my diagnostic fee and he was happy. I got it fixed in less than 30 minutes while he waited.

I also help set up a clients printer for 1/2 off if they just had me wipe out their computer and they can't figure it out. I'll do it remotely for 1/2 off ($75) and they're usually satisfied with that.

Now I DO get people in to get free advice on how to fix things themselves. I make it very clear that they're either going to check it in and at least pay the diagnostic fee or they can go somewhere else.

I also get people that want me to let them WATCH me repair it. I tell them, sure I'll let you watch. It's $129/hour in addition to the service fee for training. I've never had anyone take me up on that offer.
 
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Kirby said:
I had to clearly post that I charged a minimum fee years ago. I had a guy bring in a watch he had just bought at Wal-Mart wanting me to set it for him. "It will be quick." I tried being polite and telling him that I'm not a "watch guy" and I would have to read the instructions, just like he would. He finally snatched it out of my hand when I mentioned my minimum fee. Weirdest request ever. He insisted that it would just take a minute and I should stop working on all those stupid computers for paying customers and set his watch "real quick".

By the time he left I actually found myself hoping he was as insulted as he appeared to be. The sheer audacity of someone to walk into a business and say, "Stop working on the 3 things you are doing simultaneously which all make you money and do something for me that I could just as easily do myself, do it for free and do it right now, and on something I just bought from 'not you'." Who does that? It's kind of like all the tech support calls that start out, "I just bought a <insert name of computer you don't sell>..." Okay? So you want to by a cheap computer elsewhere, but you want me to support it for free? I sincerely don't think customer understand just how asinine and self-centered it is to come to me only for the free services.
Click to expand...
Wait what? You had someone come in and want you to set his watch? Are you a jeweler on the side? Did he want you to tie his shoes for him too? I just never can stop being amazed at stuff like this.
 
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