Remote billing

[frase]

A question which some of you could answer, say a customer/client asks for me to remote in. I do and I immediately see the issue as I am aware of it or have a fair idea, then I quickly diagnose the issue and resolve it. What can be reasonable to charge a customer for that? Sure I resolved it in a very short amount of time, though only due to I understand how things work and experience. It always gets to me as I work very fast and resolve issues too quickly, I could pause on other issues though that is not good customer service. Customers think well only been on here for five or ten minutes why should I need to pay xx.xx for? I have not had any complaints though it does dig into me though, what should I be charging like 1/2 price that is what I generally do if it takes me five minutes or so. If it moves over ten then I enter charging mode as per usual, please give me your experience and prices in these instances.

 

[seashore]

I charge remotes at half-hour minimum, then pro rata.
Compared with 1 hour minimum for onsites.

 

[phaZed]

I also charge half hour minimums.

 

[britechguy]

Make that a third that follows exactly the practice outlined by @seashore.

Regardless of whether remote or on-site I bill in 15-minute chunks once the minimum has been exceeded.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I charge in 1/2 increments. So under 30 minutes would be a single unit. If they are managed then it is clocked but not billed.

 

[callthatgirl]

This is what I do:

A question which some of you could answer, say a customer/client asks for me to remote in.
--Do a 10 min consult for free/do not remote in, ask the questions that need to be asked, then based upon their issue and your qualifications to repair it, give a soft quote. I'd have a one hour minimum. I always tell them this too: "I have a one hour minimum, but I am very fast and might fix it in a few minutes. If so, I offer a 30 min credit for you to use later, and sometimes a repair job might go over an hour and will be a few calls. As I can't see what is going on, this is what I tell all my clients"....this sets the tone that you are serious about your billing and are a pro. It stops all those questions you put at the end of your post.


I do and I immediately see the issue as I am aware of it or have a fair idea, then I quickly diagnose the issue and resolve it.
--I would only do this after the consult and they paid and filled out the client agreement form.


What can be reasonable to charge a customer for that?
--the one hour. If you fixed it in under 30 min, I offer a credit for them to call again and use it later. Sometimes issues come back and then they have time paid. We can't guarantee any fix will stick.

 

[callthatgirl]

I see others are going with 15 min/30 min minimums. I quit doing that because were forcing me to work faster than I already do and most of my requests are complicated nightmares lol.

 

[HCHTech]

We have a 1/2 hr. minimum for remotes (1 hr. minimum for onsite), then 5-minute increments after that. For frequent flyers, if it is honestly a 30-second fix during a remote, we don't charge. It does come up from time to time. If it's a new customer and we find a 30-second fix, we instead offer to go through the computer and do a cleanup, check for updates, or address any other issues they might be having. That easily takes 30 minutes.

 

[alexsmith2709]

We have a 1/2 hr. minimum for remotes (1 hr. minimum for onsite), then 5-minute increments after that. For frequent flyers, if it is honestly a 30-second fix during a remote, we don't charge. It does come up from time to time. If it's a new customer and we find a 30-second fix, we instead offer to go through the computer and do a cleanup, check for updates, or address any other issues they might be having. That easily takes 30 minutes.

I've done this before, but i stick with 15 min increments.

As long as you're upfront about your costs i dont think anything you charge should be an issue. If you tell me that your hourly rate is £x and your minimum charge is £y no matter how quickly the job is done, the client cant claim to be surprised at your bill. I understand it might feel morally wrong sometimes for those super quick fixes, but as you said, you've taken the time to build the up the expertise or read up on an issue to know how to fix it that quickly.

You could always break down your bill like the various stories/memes:
Labour: £1
Knowing which button to press: £49

 

[britechguy]

Knowing which button to press: £49

And, let's face it, this is what the client is paying for, regardless of how long or how many. There are those occasions where fixes are almost instantaneous, and most clients I've had where that's the case were thrilled that it didn't take hours and hours of work and perverse cyber-gyrations to get the fix.

 

[GTP]

My clients seemed happy to pay what I charged.
$45 for the first 30 mins then $35 per 30 mins.

 

[frase]

Thanks all for your wise comments, just was something on my mind.

 

[cypress]

30 minute increments for remote support and 1 hour minimum on site.

I started running into that issue too where I was resolve the issue quickly in about 5-10 minutes lol

 

[Rosco]

I charge remotes at half-hour minimum, then pro rata.
Compared with 1 hour minimum for onsites.

the way to go.

 

[Greg Kristy]

Consider raising your actual rate. Clearly you are worth it. I'm in the US, a one man show, and my rate is $50/billable hour and sometimes $75 for "Tier 2" work, which would be anything like overhaul of SonicWall configurations to set up very unique requests for privacy/visibility, or just anything where I feel like an engineer and not a technician.
I'm returning from taking a few years off persuing pointless things. I just got a new small business client and he was amazed at how low my rate is, at $50/hour.

 

[HCHTech]

I'm returning from taking a few years off persuing pointless things. I just got a new small business client and he was amazed at how low my rate is, at $50/hour.

I'd wager you are the cheapest service in the city if you are in Boston. I'd recommend doubling your rate as a start - seriously, this ain't a hobby!

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Boston area at $50/hour? Triple that and you'll still be in the middle of the pack. Do you consider your skills below average, middle of the pack, or above average? Further adjust rate based on that. I'm not in a big city area, but I'm about 1 1/2 hours south south west of you and I'm $210/hour.

Also we're 30 minutes minimum for remote, one hour minimum for onsite...half hour intervals.

 

[Greg Kristy]

I'd wager you are the cheapest service in the city if you are in Boston. I'd recommend doubling your rate as a start - seriously, this ain't a hobby!

When you AND my client are saying this, maybe it's time to listen! I am a one man show so I cannot garantee instant response to perceived tech 'disasters'. I don't have my business and marketing set up all pretty at this moment, so I sort of feel like it's a 'way in' price. You really think an IT contractor/consultant can charge $100 per hour for any sort of work?
You may be right.

 

[Greg Kristy]

Boston area at $50/hour? Triple that and you'll still be in the middle of the pack. Do you consider your skills below average, middle of the pack, or above average? Further adjust rate based on that. I'm not in a big city area, but I'm about 1 1/2 hours south south west of you and I'm $210/hour.

Also we're 30 minutes minimum for remote, one hour minimum for onsite...half hour intervals.

Indeed. It sort of began with $50 an hour being the standard rate for Work Market/Field Nation gigs. And when I started getting my own clients here and there via craigslist or word of mouth, nothing else changed so I kind of priced it the same.

 

[britechguy]

It astounds me what people in major metro areas, or who serve niche markets that need serving, can get per hour.

I recently raised my rate for on-site to $80/hour, and there is no way in the area I live in that you could charge $150 plus per hour for "general tech support services." You might get away with that for very specialized stuff (e.g., the kind of work that @callthatgirl is doing) but I'd never have a customer were I to try anything that high here.

But, yes, $50 hour is ridiculously low in the area you're serving.