Should Home Service Companies Charge Minimum Service Fee?
Many home service businesses run into situations where customers request small jobs that only take 10–20 minutes but still require travel time, setup, and administrative work. Some companies implement a minimum service fee to make sure those jobs remain profitable, while others worry it may scare away potential customers. For those in the home service industry: • Do you charge a minimum service fee? • If so, what is your minimum and how did you determine it? • How do customers typically respond when they hear there is a minimum? • Have you found it helps filter out unprofitable jobs? Curious how others approach this balance between profitability and customer experience.How can I create an invoice for the deposit?
When doing certain commercial work the client will ask us to send them an invoice for the deposit. This isn't typically how Jobber works as the invoice isn't created until the job is closed usually. What is the best way to send a customer an invoice before having the quote signed, deposit paid, or the job completed? Hope that makes sense. Thanks in advance!
In small rural areas... How do you keep your prices reasonable?
In small rural areas, given the rising cost of everything else, how do we keep our prices reasonable without hurting our own pockets buying equipment, products etc.? The income in the area is below average, which makes it **bleep** would be consumers needing services.How can home service businesses improve profit margins without raising prices?
If you had double your profit margin without raising rates, what would you cut or optimize? Our payroll all-in consistently remains at around 50%, but I was hoping to hear what others are doing considering labor is our biggest expense as home service businesses!How Much Should You Really Be Charging?
The number one question I receive is tied directly to the fact, most contractors are still guessing when it comes to pricing. Overhead. Profit. Labor rate. Trip fees. They think just because they throw a number they hear their competitors use, thats all that they need. It may work, but how and what do you divide these funds is just as important for your business health. If you don’t know how to do the math, you’re not building a business. You’re surviving check to check and think you need more work, when you do not. So here’s the plan: This Tuesday & Thursday on IG, I’m walking you through our Contractor Price Builder Worksheet FREE on instagram live. We will cover: - How to calculate your real hourly rate - The difference between markup and margin - Why profit is a non-negotiable - And how to price with confidence Join the session. Bring your numbers.When a customer says, "That's too expensive," how do you respond?
What’s your go-to move when a customer pushes back on price? Do you ask a follow-up question? Offer different options? When do you know to walk away? In this episode of Masters of Home Service, Kevin Cook and Rob Soper explain how: "Too expensive" usually isn't about price, it's about trust and value Asking the right questions beats defending your price Giving options (like good, better, best pricing) changes the conversation Want to put these tips into action? Download our free guide to handling price objections (includes scripts). Never miss an episode of Masters of Home Service. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
When should businesses increase prices to keep up with rising payroll costs?
When's the last time you updated your pricing model to match your payroll reality? For example, our direct payroll (before tax) is 38% while our indirect payroll is 10%. As of January 2, we increased rates for all recurring clients by 4% to offload the indirect percentage. Going forward, we increased all first-time services by 5%. Thoughts?
