I’m Really Fucking Expensive!
The cartoon above was done by Hugh Macleod of Gapingvoid. I’ve been thinking some on the area of rates this evening. I ran across an article that spoke about when a company should use an IT consultant and how much they should budget for them. For IT support we charge $100 per hour plus tax. We came up with that number by taking a survey of what local companies were charging and shooting for the upper middle range.
As a side note, I find it odd that not many companies put their rates on their website. I would rather the customer know the rate before they called so they don’t waste my time or their time if they aren’t ready to pay.
It seems there are many things to evaluate to figure out the right number to charge. The things that make us stand our from our competition are:
1. We answer the phone when a customer calls or we return the call within minutes
2. We show up the same day if the problem is critical
3. We stand behind the work we do and fix it for free if something isn’t right
4. We are just plain nice people
5. We have the credentials, MCSE & MCP, not that I think that makes much difference in how good the work is
6. We fix problems quickly
After I think of all of these things I then start thinking about what I’m willing to pay for things. Recently we paid $630 to have our SUV regularly serviced and $640 to have our little car regularly serviced at Reliable Imports. I know I could have received the service at a cheaper rate, but I like Reliable Imports, and I believe they do an awesome job. They are way worth the money. I feel the same way about my lawyer. I guess it comes down to the things I value. I value my car and I value legal advice, I don’t care how much I have to pay for it…..I want the good stuff.
I’m getting a bit off topic here, so please understand I’m thinking aloud here. We will call it blogging aloud. I don’t know the answer to if we should give customer’s discounts, how much, and when. If anyone would like to offer some input it would be appreciated.
