If you have not raised your computer repair rates in a long time (if ever), you are potentially leaving a lot of money on the table. Many times business will INCREASE when rates are raised. I explain why in this article.
If you charge hourly, I bet you have not raised your rates in a long time (if ever). You probably imagine your clients being outragged and dropping you like flies over a $10 to $20 an hour increase.
I want to give you one of the biggest pieces of advice you will ever receive: RAISE YOUR COMPUTER REPAIR RATES!
Pretty wild right? That’s why I get paid the big bucks. Go ahead and just try it. The only one that may have any anxiety afterwards will be you. Your clients won’t care. Their response will be mild at best and you will not lose any business.
Why raising your computer repair rates can INCREASE business:
Consumer’s subconsciously associate value with price, and this only makes sense. After all, a $98,000 home does not have the same perceived value as a $325,000 home of the same size in a different neighborhood. Before even seeing the homes, we immediately associate the more expensive one with finer, polished, more luxurious features. We associate the inexpensive home with the opposite.
The same is true for your business. If you are advertising $15/hour while your competitor’s all charge $65/hour, you will more than likely get LESS business.
Prospects will assume that your prices are so cheap because you either:
- Are not good at what you do- or -
- You are not confident in your own abilities
If you demand higher prices, you are demanding higher credibility, and sending a message that you provide a quality of service that is superior to your competitors.
Even though I am suggesting that you raise your rates, I do not want you to price yourself out of your clients buying range. A $10 to $20 hourly rate increase will not break the bank, but a $40 to $50 increase might.
The best thing to do is test.
You have to test your prices and your clients response. I suggest you take 30 days for each pricing structure to give yourself enough time to collect accurate results. Document the following:
- Your profits
- The number of calls you receive a week
- The number of calls that turned into clients
- The number of calls that did NOT turn into clients
- How many clients expressed concerns about your new price.
What you will most likely find is that business either stays the same or increases slightly and you do not lose any clients.
Consider my own example…
In my own computer consulting business I advertised a Total Recovery service that included a Windows reinstall, data/drivers/settings backup, and program reinstall. I originally charged a flat $125. I decided to experiment with higher prices, so I raised my rate to a flat $197 for the service.
The results? I almost doubled sales and had virtually no objections when I told clients the new price over the phone.
I have advised dozens of other computer consultants through my Computer Consulting Business In-A-Box to raise their prices, and have never witnessed a negative affect on their business. In all instances, sales went up.
Make Sure You Deliver and Justify
If you are going to raise your rates you must always deliver on your abilities and wow your clients with your work and customer service. If you take care of every person who calls, emails you, and walks into your store, they will have no problem spending a little more with you than with your competitors.
What About The Bad Apples?
If you do have a few clients leave because of your new price, chances are they are bad clients and you should have fired them anyways. The clients that work with you are the ones who appreciate what you do and will gladly refer you to all of their friends.
Conclusion
The bottom line is, you will never know until you try. The worst that could happen is you raise your rates, decide its not for you, and lower them back down. But if you do not try to raise your rates, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
So go ahead, give it a try.
Post your answers to these questions as comments below:
What rates do you currently charge? How does that compare to your competitors? When was the last time you raised your rates? If you’ve raised your rates already, what was the result?
For a full-proof solution on how to increase sales AND raise your rates, consider investing in my Computer Consulting Business In-A-Box. The marketing campaigns and business systems I provide you are designed to sell prospects on the VALUE of your services which, in turn, justifies your higher prices and makes it easier for them to see you as the ‘clear choice’ when choosing a provider.
Dedicated to your success,
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3 Responses
Hi Richie,
If you are charging only $20 an hour and you are finding clients are 'outraged', than that tells me you need to change the way you are presenting yourself and your services.
The only reason why someone would object to your level of pricing would be if they were not able to justify the value they were receiving. If you find that you perform a lot of the same services the majority of the time (virus removal, windows re-install, etc.) and can come up with an average of how long it takes you to perform those services, than I would consider packaging your services together into a flat price.
For instance, you can charge $67 flat for a computer tune-up (which would include virus removal, improving computer operating and internet speeds, etc.) and tell clients that regardless of how long it takes you, they only pay $67. That will eliminate their anxiety of an hourly rate and possibly stop them from even FOCUSING on the price all together.
You should also look at your website and how you are pitching your services to your clients in person. Are you acting professionally? Do you have a company name, business cards, domain name and an email address along with it (e.g. – richie@xyzcomputerrepair.com)? Do you have contracts the clients sign? Do you list out at least 4 benefits in all of your advertising that showcases how your services help your clients?
And finally, where are these outraged clients coming from? If you are presenting professional services, with fair prices, and doing quality work, the only thing that might need to change are your CLIENTS. Many times business owners are afraid to 'fire' their clients and they take anything they can get. If you simply change the type of clients you are targeting, you can solve all of your price problems. You might even be able to RAISE your prices.
Who you are targeting and how you are pitching them your services sets their expectations and will affect whether they are satisfied with your work or not.
I only had one client who was outraged at me charging ~$40 to reload their computer. I have had prospective clients that didnt call me back when i made mention of my rate. Bare in mind that i have had only eleven customers or so in the 6 weeks that i have started to charge for my services.
I meet most of my clients form my day job as a cable tech in a company owned by a family friend, so i am always dressed neatly.After completing the job (cable) the customer is required to sign a job sheet to say that they are satisfied with the work carried out and i use these few mins to strike up a convo about computer and make mention of my repair skill then i hand them a card. http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1589/richiepcr...
If they are interested i would make an appointment after work and show up in my work uniform. (I plant to get some logo shirts in the near future)
You suggest raising my rates but the thing is this. I live in Jamaica and the economy is not as brilliant as in the US. Most people in Jamaica earn 1/4 of what people in USA earn for the year.
Personally i think i make a decent money considering i work only a few hours and make more that my day job pays me for the day.
I look forward to making a website in the near future because i plan to go into pc repairs full time.
Right now i dont have forms for customers to sign except sales receipt. I am very careful with their data and try to avoid gettin in trouble, however seeing that i have just started out i dont have the experience to make the necessary forms but i will keep in mind that i do need them.
Thanks for you reply.