Knowledge is power

[ians]

Something that has taken me many years to realise.

I am one of those people who will spend 5 years learning something until I can do it as second nature ... so what is wrong with that ... nothing ... its what you do with that knowledge that gives you the ability to create and income and allows you to justify the rate you charge or become a sucker and share the knowledge freely.

People justify a doctors rate by his education and how long he took to get it ... well it took me 7 years of theory and practical to become a master electrician ... why should I feel bad to charge a reasonable rate.

Something tradesmen/women need to understand ... you are skilled in your field ... it has taken you years to get to where you are today ... dont let people suck your knowledge for free.

Stop giving away free information on site where people are looking for someone to create a bill of quantities and a detailed quote or sucking valuable information so that they can send out the quote for cheaper prices.

Something you also need to understand ... this crap of people who do a 2 day courses and now they label themselves as technicians ... which justifies them a rate of R400 - 600 ... yet people squeal like stuffed pigs when they pay a qualified person who has completed at least 3 years of training and practical courses when you bill R600.

Customer wonder why they get labourers dropped on site ... well that is all your R600 per hour is worth.

I blame the industry for this fiasco ... we have bought it upon ourselves.

The people who should be policing the industry should be held accountable for this ... allowing sub standard workmanship and unskilled people create dangerous environments for the public.

The joke is nobody even knows who these people are ... maybe they should be exposed and held accountable ... the public should be demanding it.

[Justloadit]

Not withstanding the infrastructure that you have to create to be able to provide a professional service.

Had a client walk in with a unit damaged by a surge.
Took me about 10 minutes to open the unit, tested some points on the PCB with my meter, already knew what was faulty due to experience, grabbed my desolder hot air gun to heat up and remove the faulty SMD device. Used my vacuum solder sucker, replaced the faulty device, replace the thermal protection fuses, tested it, and then requested R600.00 for the repair.
Man did I get an earful that it took me 10 minutes to repair the unit.

I smiled, and said, Sir, you are not paying me for the 10 minutes it took me to repair the unit, but you are paying me for the infrastructure, the 30 years of experience and the convenience of waiting 20 minutes to get the job done, invariably you are going to charge your client 2 or 3 thousand Rand for the call out, in my book it is a bargain, I should charge you R1000.00 for what i have contributed to your income!. Not withstanding that we do after sales service on our products, which other supplies do not do, and make you buy a new unit.

The client paid with a smile, as he knew I was right.

[ians]

Your example could explain why many companies will no longer "just have a quick look" a job card is opened and the item handed in for repair.

Phrases .. like "while you are here doing a free quote wont you just have a look at something"

"there are some big projects in the pipeline"

"we will take a knock on this one but make up for it on the next one" ... I had one company try this every invoice for more than 10 years he never lost a cent ... everyday I just saw new cars ... bigger house ... kids moved to private schools ... till eventually the wife caught him banging the sale rep .. .who he eventually married and now she took him to the cleaners ... she even took the company ... he is broke ... that wheel we always talk about ... it sometimes bites hard.

I am sure everyone has tons of these phases they hear daily.

[Justloadit]

I have developed a thick skin, I am lazy, and I do not want to create more paper work just to satisfy the client with the cost of the expense by creating an impression of taking extra time to do the job. I have far too many other interesting things that I am tinkering with, and they are intruding on my time.

They very quickly learn that the price charged is actually very fair.
If they think that they can do it for less money, please be my guest.
Firstly the components used are not readily available at the local suppliers, and requires 7 to 10 days to get from overseas, and before they have started the job it has already cost them quite a bit to get the component due to transport and high cost of purchasing small quantities.

[Blurock]

I smiled, and said, Sir, you are not paying me for the 10 minutes it took me to repair the unit, but you are paying me for the infrastructure, the 30 years of experience and the convenience of waiting 20 minutes to get the job done, invariably you are going to charge your client 2 or 3 thousand Rand for the call out, in my book it is a bargain, I should charge you R1000.00 for what i have contributed to your income!. Not withstanding that we do after sales service on our products, which other supplies do not do, and make you buy a new unit.

The client paid with a smile, as he knew I was right.

That is what people do not understand. You can get a backyard mechanic to tale a look and sit for hours until he's worked it out or until he's stuffed it up.
Or you could get a professional with years of training and experience to do it in 10 minutes. You don't pay for effort, you pay for the result.

Its the same with hiring a musician. You do not only play for an hour or two to earn a fee. To be even marginally good, requires years and years of training and practice. You don't just pitch up for a gig. You set up your expensive equipment, test the sound and make sure everything works. Then you still need to pack up and take it home after the show... To do one show may require more than 3 times the hours in preparation and packing afterwards.

[Dave A]

The first step is to believe in your own mind that you are worth your fee...

[ians]

The first step is to believe in your own mind that you are worth your fee...

My wife once said to me that I should stop doubting my abilities ... that same day I decided to increase my rates and dump any customer who treated me in a manner that made me feel like I was less important than them.

I got the response I expected ... the decent customers stuck with me and didnt even mention anything about the increase ... still treat me the same ... the rest responded the way I expected ... if you have are dealing with these "special" customers ... get rid of them ... they toxic for your well being and dont add any benefit to your business ... you may think you going to loose ... but what happens is you start to grow.

The same goes for a boss/manager etc ... if he/she is one of those people who feel they have the right to scream at staff member and treat staff like they some special because they pay your wages ... the bottom line is they are Aholes ... it is also a good way to gauge customers ... look how they treat their staff ... trust me they gonna treat you the same ... you just a worker like their staff ... if you decide to stick with them ... make sure you charge accordingly.