Pricing

[msmith15 (Mark Smith)]

I would like to know how most of you guy’s are pricing your inspections these days. It would be nice if we were all on the same page in California.

[mlarson (Michael Larson, WI Lic. # 1672-106)]

@msmith15

I would like to know how most of you guy’s are pricing your inspections these days. It would be nice if we were all on the same page in California.

Call you competition and ask them for a quote.

[rsandoval (Rico Sandoval)]

What part of California are you at?

[jpope (Jeffrey Pope, CMI)]

“Price fixing” is illegal. Discussing prices in this public forum may give someone the impression that this is going on…

[gromicko (Nick Gromicko, CMI)]

Jeff is correct. And why our www.nachi.org/fee-calculator.htm allows you to set up the Standard Rates boxes first depending on your business model. You should do that first and test the calculator on hypothetical inspection projects before using.

[rhensel (Russell Hensel)]

LMAO…why in the hell would I charge a ‘typical’ fee for a superior product. Next time walk into the Mercedes dealer and tell them the Hyundai is much less and they should be comparable in price…after all they are both cars.

So the guy who markets, has been in the industry for years, has superior equipment, spent years building relationships for repeat business, should be same price as the guy who started yesterday?..

If people are not wanting your service because of price. The simple answer is, that you are not providing a “value” for your increased price. People will pay a higher fee, when they can see value in spending the money. So the problem isn’t a price on anything, its getting the customer to see that your worth the additional fee over your competition.

[jpope (Jeffrey Pope, CMI)]

@rhensel

LMAO…why in the hell would I charge a ‘typical’ fee for a superior product. Next time walk into the Mercedes dealer and tell them the Hyundai is much less and they should be comparable in price…after all they are both cars.

So the guy who markets, has been in the industry for years, has superior equipment, spent years building relationships for repeat business, should be same price as the guy who started yesterday?..

If people are not wanting your service because of price. The simple answer is, that you are not providing a “value” for your increased price. People will pay a higher fee, when they can see value in spending the money. So the problem isn’t a price on anything, its getting the customer to see that your worth the additional fee over your competition.

That’s on the “advanced” pricing calculator :D.

[gromicko (Nick Gromicko, CMI)]

I don’t think Russell was referring to the fee calculator which is the opposite of industry price standardization since each inspector sets and adjusts the Standard Rates box first. What it does standardize is your fee schedule intra-company (legally not price fixing), so that once you set it up, your secretary, hired at 9AM, can bid a job correctly, deriving the same fee you would quote, at 9:02AM.

[gromicko (Nick Gromicko, CMI)]

So the problem isn’t a price on anything, its getting the customer to see that your worth the additional fee over your competition.

Correct. And that requires two things:

1. You have to be actually worth the additional fee over your competition (mostly requires a commitment to education and customer service).
2. You have to get your customer to see that you are better than your competition (mostly requires marketing and referrals).

Only then can you charge more than your competition. Commanding a higher fee structure isn’t accomplished by simply raising prices… it is the explosion that naturally occurs when you combine #1 and #2.