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Thread ID: 60485	2005-08-03 07:50:00	Where to from here....	Myth (110)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
377861	2005-08-04 10:53:00	I confess to not charging an elderly at all and charging one $20 for 2 hours assistance. Then I put him onto Seniornet. But hey, he was 93 and it was his first PC, so good on him.	pctek (84)
377862	2005-08-04 18:41:00	yeh i've a couple like that ........well they're not 93 lol but older and well y'know they get very generous rates.........	drcspy (146)
377863	2005-08-04 20:40:00	I used to give my mother-in-law free service, but she keeps getting others on her machine who 'twiddle'. In the end my partner told me to charge her mother full price (in the hope it will deter her from allowing others to muck around with it). :blush:	Myth (110)
377864	2005-08-05 20:58:00	I hate to disagree SurferJoe, but I worked for a Cybercafe who was bought by a man with similar mottos to yourself. Pretty soon the Internet prices went up from $4 epr hour to $5 an hour in Te Atatu.... The price of a cup of coffee in a disposable cup went up from $2.50 to $4.50... Printing went from 20c a page to 30c a page (This is it using a photocopier to print, where it costs us less than 6c per page to print, and the pharmacy next door would to a 15 print). We went from charging $65 per hour for an hour callout to $95 an hour. Our market dropped immensely which offset the worth of the price increase. The idea is not about charging the most or the least, but finding that amount in-between where you'll get the most amount of people for the highest price. Go too high with your price and you loose 'value-centric' customers who arent prepared to pay an arm and a leg.	Chilling_Silence (9)
377865	2005-08-06 17:42:00	Success being the best testimonial, I stick by my guns here chill: While I worked with that gentleman of whom I spoke for 13 years, we found that any time we lowered our expectations by . . say . . being open on Saturdays or lowering prices to accommodate those who were not our customers, we generally regretted that idea very soon . By being open that extra day (Saturday) we only attracted what we called "stone-pickers" . These were people who would bring their vehicle in for service and they hung around and asked a gadzillion questions, picking our minds for service and repair ideas that they were going to perform themselves anyway . The "lookie-loos" wasted our time, clogged up the shop for others who needed real services and generally made it impossible to be productive for that day . After a few weeks of this, we shut down the Saturday service and never lost a real customer . By keeping our prices artificially high, as well as making sure that we kept our service at unusual-for-the-trade levels of service for them, we had dedicated and respected customers . Every part we bought was marked up by a ratio of 1 . 8:1 . That might seem high on the surface, but from that profit has to be paid the rent, utilities, insurance, maintenance and infrastructure of the business . Payroll came out of the labor side of the services, and I recieved 50% of that . We held extremly tight service hours, and if you were unfortunate to be standing under the roll-up doors at closing time, you had a headache from the impact . Our customers brought us gifts at holiday times, and we always made a follow-up phone call a few days after our service to make sure they had no problems with what we had done . We never used the mail to send cards or letters or "reminders" that it was time for service according to our records . . etc . . . . . we always used the more personal telephone for that contact . That's why we were so successful and had such loyal customers and friends . Service is a necessity; PERSONAL service is priceless . ;)	SurferJoe46 (51)
377866	2005-08-06 20:55:00	I started my business in Levin. Started with nothing but knowledge and a desire to give service,ended up buying the building of my opposition. Secret,bend over backwards with service.	Cicero (40)
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