Not only is there a value placed on waiting (or not waiting) there is also an overhead cost associated with making your customer wait (or not wait). If you choose to offer faster service, then you must have sufficient staff and equipment to roll out when someone calls. This means that part of the time, your manpower and equipment will be sitting idle at the "starting gate" awaiting the call. Now, your billable hours per plumber may be only 5 instead of 6. This means fewer sold hours to divide your overhead so the cost per sold hour must go up. There is no other choice. If a customer wanted 2 taps instead of 1, the price would go up because your cost increased, right? If a customer wants faster service the price goes up for the same reason.

This same principle applies to length of warranty, quality of workmanship, quality of goods, you name it. Everything affects your cost one way or another and these costs must be passed on to your customer. And, in order to be successful, you must earn a profit on these costs.

So, once we establish what it costs us to deliver our service, how much profit can we place on the job?

A transaction takes place after buyer and seller agree on the value of the goods/services. (or if the seller holds an Uzi to the buyer's head but that is typically only acceptable in New Jersey and Gundagai.) The profit you make is your decision. If you sell below your cost, you lose money. If you place too much profit in the job, your customer may decide to look elsewhere. If you want to earn 40% profit on the work you do, then ask for it. Your customer will tell you if it's too high buy refusing to buy. If they buy, then the price is right, even if they complain about the price. If you consistently run into "no sale" situations maybe your profit is too high or maybe your costs are too high or maybe you're not offering the right product or trying to sell to the wrong customer.

Each paragraph of this topic should create questions in your mind. Question what services you offer, how much it costs to deliver them, how much profit can you ask for the service, who might best benefit from the level of service you want to offer. The list goes on and on. Regardless of the answers you find, everything has a cost associated with it and therefore everything must have some way of capturing profits. Price your services accordingly.