I'll look for that software at H. Depot thanks.
I know that some of the bigger residential service shops (read franchises) have their own flat rate pricing books/software that include the vast majority of situations you will find in most homes. I believe these companies charge a service call fee to show up and diagnose the problem----THEN give the customer the flate rate prices to fix or replace the problems they found. If the customer says the prices are too high, they collect their service call fee and away they go. Close rates for this type of service are around 80-90%--- Meaning that the customer says go ahead and fix the problem while you are here 80-90% of the time.
The books/software they use are based on the material costs and average labor time to perform any given task. You just program your own mark-up % and labor rate into the computer and it gives you the prices. You avoid complaints from the clock watchers about hourly rates because the customer really doesn't know what labor rate you are using, and doesn't feel he is being charged by the minute.
At the business chat last Wed. night, somebody mentioned that the company he/she works for calculates it's flat rate prices at $275 per hour for labor. That would be $2,200 per eight hour day (assuming that all 8 hours are billable). Not bad, right?
I have to assume that there are separate line items for replacing a light and MOVING a light. Those darn customers can be very confused when they want to be, can't they!
Pat
