A flat rate has many advantages, from building confidence in your customers to being able to maintain a price book easily. A price book is fast and easy for technicians to calculate the total cost of a job; this because it will give the total pricing, not just material and labor.
A price book can also be presented to the customer to have a look at the pricing to help them in decision making. They are also able to match the pricing with their budget and decide whether they can afford it.
However, the flat rate system has to be maintained and this takes time and a lot of effort. There are two ways to maintain your price books:
- Maintain it yourself by creating a system that will work for you.
- Purchase a flat rate system from someone else.
Purchasing a flat rate system from someone who does flat rate for a living is your best bet. They have perfected the art and can therefore do it faster and more efficiently than you. So, typing out HVAC flat rate pricing or any other service provider you know of could really have you sorted out.
Here’s why you need to give the professionals a chance.
- Save time and money on updating
A flat rate system must be updated regularly. You can be sure that you will eventually take this for granted and start skipping once in a while. The excitement of anything new eventually wears off and chances are you eventually cease to notice it is even there. This will then cause problems for you as you will have to start afresh.
If you let a company handle your flat rate system, your updating will be done regularly and on time. After all, that is their job.
- Pricing ahead
You should not update using the last inflation rates. You will forever be trying to catch up with the rates. Instead, project your pricing forward. Find an average between last year and what estimates are for this year to come up with a fair price.
- Updating should be done at least twice a year
The experts will tell you that updating annually is not enough. Your flat rate company may offer a nice discount if you update at least every six months. You may think that updating costs money, as it does. The company is not doing it for free. However, the returns are felt in a few weeks. Like they say, you cannot make money without spending it.
- Putting off updating with the excuse that it is too expensive
Actually, it is not. If you only think about the money you are paying out, you miss out on the money that is coming in. Updates give the current pricing and that is what your customers will pay. If they continue paying the old rates because you refuse to spend money updating, you will be making losses gradually. In approximately three weeks, you should be able to see the fruits of your updating.
- Most companies fail to update annually
Most companies jumping on the flat bandwagon figure that they recently upgraded the company’s pricing when they joined. They argue that there is therefore no need to update again. In reality, there is need to upgrade.
What happens when inflation rates have shifted in the course of the year? You are still charging last year’s rates because you only joined the flat rate company last year. If inflation is evident, then you are running at a loss. The pricing that you made last year was based on the company’s costs at that time. They are different now and you will need to catch up. The following costs may have gone up:
- Insurance
- Cost of materials
- Labour
- Fuel
If the costs of these things have gone up, then your charges need to march the increase, hence the need to update.
- No performance evaluations
Having your own flat rate team means performance evaluations every now and then. If IT is not your niche, you will not be confident about what you find during the evaluations. You must constantly follow up to be sure that they are are not lagging behind in updates.
Outsourcing takes this load off your shoulders. You simply pay a monthly fee and everything is sorted out for you professionally and on time. The company you have outsourced to has the mandate to ensure that the technicians working for them are qualified. Furthermore, they know what qualifications to look out for.
- You have a team that takes care of issues that arise before the whole system goes belly up
You know how the network can be sneaky sometimes and just choose the most inopportune moment to collapse? An IT company that depends on the fees of its clients will not allow this to happen. Problems are arrested before they fully manifest. An in-house team may not be as fast.
Avoid hiring a company in the spur of the moment; you realize that something is wrong and needs to be fixed as soon as possible, dig out your directory or frantically search for one on the internet. Instead, have a longstanding agreement with a reputable company.
- Peace of mind
When you know that your flat rate needs are taken care of, you can rest easy. There is no pressure weighing down on you about remembering to update and think about inflation rates. You have a competent professional team working to ensure that everything is running smoothly. They will:
- Take care of your updates
- Stay on top of the latest technology
- Take care of anything that goes wrong
- Ensure that your site is operational and everything is running as it should
- Make sure to minimize your network’s downtime
You can then concentrate on other areas of your business like building a larger customer base and expanding. As long as you pay your IT bill on time, then you can put the issue of flat rate systems out of your mind.
All you have to do is search for a topnotch IT company like HVAC flat rate pricing or your preferred company that will give you the professional services that will put your mind at ease and allow you to concentrate on making profits.