FYI... I charge FUll PRICE, all the time. Full Price recently went up too. Dont let the "recession" hold you down. DON'T BE AFRAID to bump them prices up a little, and some of you a lot.
I had one very good client say, "You are going up on your price when everyone else is dropping?"
I replied,"and you still want me to do it because it only has to be done once?"
He says, "well yeah, you never let us down."
Me, "then it is worth a little more to be done right the first time is it not?"
him, "Of course it is, how soon can you do it?"
Happened just today..
I agree. Charge what you will and stick to it.
Got a cold call this morning from a gentleman that needs his property surveyed. Seems as though an old retaining wall is in question on the north side of his south facing lot. This is in a not-so-cheap part of town.
I told him I worked hourly and estimated five hours, plus a little screen time to prepare a document. I gave him a pretty good ball-park figure.
Then he tells me the lot to the north is next door to a man that owns a surveying/ engineering firm in OKC. I told him I was not only familiar with the man, but he was an associate of mine at one time. He said he had first contacted the neighbor to do the job, but wanted to "check around" and see if his price estimate was legit.
I didn't even ask him what the other fella quoted. Just told him if he wanted me to do the work, get back quick so I could schedule him in. He told me I was "a little cheaper" than the other guy, and he liked my straight shooting. Go ahead and get started.
Then about an hour later he calls me back and tells me the neighbor (surveyor) had called him back and then cut my price by a $100. I told him that's fine, too. It's your money, spend it like you like.
Then he told me he figured that was a little 'unprofessional' of the other fella. I didn't disagree. He said go ahead and get started, it was worth the $100 to see who was 'professional' and who wasn't.
I have always had a "full price" for anything I do, but these days that is a moving target depending on the situation.
I am not the highest guy around here, but way way from being the cheapest.
I do have some long time high-end clients that rarely dispute my billing. Not many anymore, but some.
Good for you if you can get it, but I do not see the good old days of naming my price coming back anytime soon. Used to get offered a bribe or 2 every week on top of my price if I would just get it done a little sooner.
Those days are gone!!!
These days, the home run is rare, but you can still stay in the game by hitting a few singles.
Reality sucks!!
Had a call come in today for a new job from a new client who was referred to me by a client for whom I have done several jobs over the years. We had gone through everything else before we got to him asking me what kind of a cost might be expected. I shot him a fair number that should be reasonably close, clarifying it might be higher or lower. He seemed pleased and said, "It's been so long since I have had a survey done I didn't know if it would be something like $300 or $3000." I told him that I frequently tell clients that their bill will be "too danged high", just like gasoline, tires, taxes, utilities and almost everything else.
