How do you calculate your baseline price before sending a quote out?
When you look at a job site, how are you actually building your estimates? Are you pricing based on true operational costs and target profit margins, or are you matching local competitors and hoping there is money left over at the end of the month? Knowing your numbers comes down to a few key questions: What is your true hourly overhead rate? (Total monthly fixed overhead divided by total monthly billable hours) Are you calculating margin or markup? (Markup on cost is not the same as gross profit margin. If you want a 30% margin, multiplying your costs by 1.30 leaves you short at 23%.) What is your minimum shop rate before pulling a rig out of the driveway? How are you handling this in your business?
💡FEATURE REQUEST: Price Increases in Products & Services List
Do you increase prices for ongoing customers? Do you know how long it takes me to increase my prices for 700 ongoing clients in my cleaning business? Whether you increase your prices on an annual basis or just as needed in these unpredictable times, it would be easier to make these changes en masse in the Products and Services tab! How would it work? When editing a product or service line item in the Products & Services List, there should be an option to carry that modification over to any existing Jobs that have that line item on it. Currently, this would only update for new jobs created, but I'd love to see a little pop-up that says, "Would you like to change the price for existing Jobs with this line item? Yes/No" Use Case Example: Because I am in the cleaning industry, it will be my primary use case. Let's say you have a minimum price that every client's rate will be at or above. When you create a new job for a recurring customer, you add a line item titled "Minimum Rate + current year," like for 2020: "Minimum Rate 2020," which is $150. You also add another line item based on how your pricing model is set up - in this case, I will use a simple one: "Small House" for $10 "Medium House" for $30 "Large House" for $50 When it's time for your prices to increase, consider the following options: you could decide to raise prices only for people with large houses and keep your minimum rate the same, or you may want to increase the cost for clients who have been with you for more than 5 years. Instead of making this change one client at a time and trying to sort through who the change applies to, I could go to the Products and Services List and find the specific line item I want to modify. Then, I could edit the price in there! Ta Da! You've raised your prices! Why should Jobber care? This would be huge for any business industry that has recurring clients. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, and other competitors already have this feature. I have found other threads that mention something like this or frustrations with how to go about raising prices. This would allow businesses that only see customers once or twice a year to set up their customers as recurring with one Job, saving them a lot of time and effort as well. You'd have at least one very loyal customer in me! I've spoken to two support agents who thought this was a simple but fantastic idea! My next price increase is in June, and I'd love you guys if you saved me weeks worth of work in a single click 🤞🙏 QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, FEEDBACK, AND MORE USE CASES WELCOME!!What marketing channel works best for you right now???
Hello, We are currently evaluating our marketing strategy to improve lead consistency and build deeper community trust. While we currently use Yelp, we find the results inconsistent and often attract price-shoppers rather than long-term clients. :( Moving forward, I would like to pivot our focus toward community-based marketing, such as sponsoring local schools and Little League teams. These sponsorships build the kind of long-term goodwill and trust that ensures local homeowners think of us first during emergencies. To clarify our strategy, we are avoiding the following channels: - Lead Aggregators (Angi, Networx, HomeAdvisor): These platforms sell the same lead to multiple contractors. The requirement to respond within seconds to avoid losing the job—while still being charged—does not align with our workflow. - Yelp for Major Projects: Due to high cost-per-click metrics and a high volume of price-sensitive inquiries, we find this to be a low-return channel for larger plumbing jobs. Your Friendly Neighborhood Plumbers,Are You Building a Business or Just Creating Yourself Another Job?
It’s easy as a small business owner to get caught up doing everything yourself. At what point do you start delegating, hiring, or putting systems in place so the business can operate without you being involved in every job? I’d love to hear how other owners are making that transition while still keeping quality and customer service high.Are You Selling Your Service… or Selling the Experience?
Customers have more choices than ever. Sometimes the difference isn’t just the service you provide, but how you make people feel from the first interaction to the final follow-up. What are some ways your business creates an experience that keeps customers coming back?If Someone Gave You $1,000 for Business Tools, Where Would You Spend It?
Imagine you had $1,000 to invest back into your business tomorrow. Would you spend it on software, equipment, marketing, automation, training, or something else? What investment would create the biggest return for your business?
