RTA VS Installed

[wasatchcars]

I was just wondering what all your thoughts where on this.
I have never charged a installation fee. I just go ahead and do it as part of the deal.
(unless its just a small 6" decal I think they can handle that)
I don't want to drop off a 14" X 52" rear truck window decal and hope they get it right knowing they have never done 1 before.
I would rather just take the 10 minutes and do it and know when I leave its on there done right.
I am afraid of getting those calls thats its got bubbles, tunnels, wont stick etc.
I just did a 14" X 52" 1 color decal on a dodge truck rear window today $45 designed (lettering & 2 simple graphics), cut, installed.
If I would have just dropped it off RTA I bet I would have spent more than the time to do it myself answering questions.
Am I leaving money on the table or on track as offering great service?
just wondering what your thoughts where?

[guest]

For that size I'd been at $48 and I'd install it for $15 extra. Your time is worth something even though it's hard to get customers to pay it.

[Rodger - unit # 982]

  Wasatchcars  ,
 Something easy to apply ( & easy to duplicate in case they fudge it up installing ) ... I am like you . Difficult instalation , I figure installing it when giving a price . If the customer installs if badly , they will want another decal & a bad looking decal not being replaced would not do much for new business . I agree with you many times over , more time spent talking about it before , during & after an install ( especially if it was tunnels , major bubbles etc ) . People will not consider who installed the decal , just what it looks like . They will ask who did it on a nice decal to get decals ... they will ask who did it on a bad decal to avoid buying from them .

[BannerJohn]

I was just wondering what all your thoughts where on this.
I have never charged a installation fee. I just go ahead and do it as part of the deal.
(unless its just a small 6" decal I think they can handle that)
I don't want to drop off a 14" X 52" rear truck window decal and hope they get it right knowing they have never done 1 before.
I would rather just take the 10 minutes and do it and know when I leave its on there done right.
I am afraid of getting those calls thats its got bubbles, tunnels, wont stick etc.
I just did a 14" X 52" 1 color decal on a dodge truck rear window today $45 designed (lettering & 2 simple graphics), cut, installed.
If I would have just dropped it off RTA I bet I would have spent more than the time to do it myself answering questions.
Am I leaving money on the table or on track as offering great service?
just wondering what your thoughts where?

everything you say is totally logical and makes perfect sense. But there are too many on here who like the idea of $40-$50 an hour for easy money.

[mikerob2334]

I was just wondering what all your thoughts where on this.
I have never charged a installation fee. I just go ahead and do it as part of the deal.
(unless its just a small 6" decal I think they can handle that)
I don't want to drop off a 14" X 52" rear truck window decal and hope they get it right knowing they have never done 1 before.
I would rather just take the 10 minutes and do it and know when I leave its on there done right.
I am afraid of getting those calls thats its got bubbles, tunnels, wont stick etc.
I just did a 14" X 52" 1 color decal on a dodge truck rear window today $45 designed (lettering & 2 simple graphics), cut, installed.
If I would have just dropped it off RTA I bet I would have spent more than the time to do it myself answering questions.
Am I leaving money on the table or on track as offering great service?
just wondering what your thoughts where?

everything you say is totally logical and makes perfect sense. But there are too many on here who like the idea of $40-$50 an hour for easy money.

I'm confused banner. are you saying that your experience and time is not WORTH $50/hour??? For something like this I would charge $50 + another $20 to install it. With your experience banner, you should be charging at LEAST $50 for your time.

[FireMalt]

I would say your giving your customers a great service... but if that great service you're offering starts taking more than 10 or 15 minutes, then you should start thinking about added some installation time to the job.

Just yesterday I had a discussion with a co-worker at the fire station that also has a small business(not decal/sign related) about what your time is worth. We are both fairly new as business owners(both less than 3 years), and were agreeing that we constantly hear people saying "time is money". And while this is true for some things, such as a big installation job(4 to 6 hours)... in the other hand, it's not so true, such as a 15 minute drive-time to a job site, or in your case, installing a quick decal.

I personally feel that if you start trying to pop your customers for every little thing here and there(15 minute drive-time, material waste, installation, etc) that 2 things may happen; 1. you're going to over price the job, and the customer will go somewhere else, or 2. although you get the job, after the customer sees the breakdown of the invoice will either start questioning the price, or never use your company again.

Again, this is just my personal feelings, and how I operate... there are SO many different ways to run a business, that you just need to find what works for you and your customers, and allows you to feel that you gave them a good product at a great price, and can still sleep at night, lol.

[BannerJohn]

I was just wondering what all your thoughts where on this.
I have never charged a installation fee. I just go ahead and do it as part of the deal.
(unless its just a small 6" decal I think they can handle that)
I don't want to drop off a 14" X 52" rear truck window decal and hope they get it right knowing they have never done 1 before.
I would rather just take the 10 minutes and do it and know when I leave its on there done right.
I am afraid of getting those calls thats its got bubbles, tunnels, wont stick etc.
I just did a 14" X 52" 1 color decal on a dodge truck rear window today $45 designed (lettering & 2 simple graphics), cut, installed.
If I would have just dropped it off RTA I bet I would have spent more than the time to do it myself answering questions.
Am I leaving money on the table or on track as offering great service?
just wondering what your thoughts where?

everything you say is totally logical and makes perfect sense. But there are too many on here who like the idea of $40-$50 an hour for easy money.

I'm confused banner. are you saying that your experience and time is not WORTH $50/hour??? For something like this I would charge $50 + another $20 to install it. With your experience banner, you should be charging at LEAST $50 for your time.

I am saying that from a logical point of view..it is better to either install free or include installation in teh charge,rather than take a chance of the customer putting the blame on you for a bad install when people ask (which they will)

But, there is a difference between logical and practical.

And I charge $35 an hour,usually. Why?: because I know what most of my customers make and how hard they have to work for it. I'd feel bad charging $50 an hour for what is (to me) a walk in the park when most of my customers have to work like dogs for $10 an hour. Maybe I'm too kind-hearted. But I sleep good and have plenty of friends. I guess I have the ability to look at things from both perspectives.

BTW..I have an entirely different price structure for doctors,lawyers, and politicians. ZAnd I often do things for free or at cost for the boy scouts, cancer walks, things like that. I make a good living but I don't get rich...but then, I don't want to.

[mikerob2334]

I am saying that from a logical point of view..it is better to either install free or include installation in teh charge,rather than take a chance of the customer putting the blame on you for a bad install when people ask (which they will)

But, there is a difference between logical and practical.

And I charge $35 an hour,usually. Why?: because I know what most of my customers make and how hard they have to work for it. I'd feel bad charging $50 an hour for what is (to me) a walk in the park when most of my customers have to work like dogs for $10 an hour. Maybe I'm too kind-hearted. But I sleep good and have plenty of friends. I guess I have the ability to look at things from both perspectives.

BTW..I have an entirely different price structure for doctors,lawyers, and politicians. ZAnd I often do things for free or at cost for the boy scouts, cancer walks, things like that. I make a good living but I don't get rich...but then, I don't want to.

Yeah, i seperated my price for here but I would just tell the customer total price installed like you. And if you're happy with what you charge then that works for you and i'm happy too. I just kinda read your post as "how dare they charge those prices".  But I understand where you're coming from. And I 2nd ya on the charity work, just gotta watch some of them cause once you start they expect the world on a minutes notice.

[BannerJohn]

I guess it's like this... I've been on the other side....and know how it feels to pay $100 for a mechanic to fix your car when you know he didn't spend 20 minutes on it...or to pay a plumber $100 just for walking in the door. I know these folks deserve the money but it still doesn't feel good.

[Rodger - unit # 982]

 + 1 . I call that being fair . Treating others like you would like to be treated 

[mr300s]

Maybe I'm too kind-hearted. But I sleep good and have plenty of friends. I guess I have the ability to look at things from both perspectives.

BTW..I have an entirely different price structure for doctors,lawyers, and politicians. ZAnd I often do things for free or at cost for the boy scouts, cancer walks, things like that. I make a good living but I don't get rich...but then, I don't want to.

I always knew there was something about you I liked 

[Karl]

I guess it's like this... I've been on the other side....and know how it feels to pay $100 for a mechanic to fix your car when you know he didn't spend 20 minutes on it...or to pay a plumber $100 just for walking in the door. I know these folks deserve the money but it still doesn't feel good.

As for me, the sign price should INCLUDE : getting material, sales, design, cuts, delivery & install. IF they want to try to install it themselves I make their choice to take responsibility "written" on the invoice, and give them a small discount. Other items like frame and design are discussed at the time of the order.

I want to make a million bucks, but I don't expect to make it all from one sale. Be "painfully" fair, and actively pursue repeat business. Replete business usually goes to the jobber that the customer feels gives them the most product for the buck, Just remember that you are your customer too, aka treat yourself fair as well. Those that are greedy and charge big fees are my best promoters, aka, if mr A makes $50 profit on a job, and I make $30 for the same work but get 3 more jobs as a result, then I just made $120. 
Same goes for most any business, like the guy I hired to do a day of dozer work, he cut corners and over charged, so he missed out on the 2 additional weeks of work.  Like the mechanic, they use a pricing guide that reflects "if everything goes wrong, charge this much" but they charge the max even when everything goes right! they would get more business if they "this was easier than usual, so it will cost you $20 less than the quote" -- it seems there are darn few folks that recognize this powerful advertising tactic.

Its like this, the guy that charges $30 per hr for travel time (because "they are worth that") is the same one that wines when they loose a job to a lower bid. But no wining allowed, it is your choice to charge what you do.