I can understand what your saying Tony but that sounds like good advice for a company that can afford too because your BIG enough to hire sales people and staff and have the phone ringing all day long with established customers. For us guys that are making our own calls hoping to get work for next week is a whole different issue. You can't drop prices on the few rolling jobs you have...The price drops you mentioned above about computers and cell phones are apples and oranges compared to MY labor and time IMO. You paid 2500 for a computor because you had too...same for .80 min for cell...I'm sure you didn't like 1000.00 cell bills but what did you tell yourself and or significant other? "I have to have it to operate my buisness"...I would bet you didn't see it as a choice. I'm not against adjusting prices some in the right situation but theres a big difference in working for yourself, getting the work, doing the work OR working for yourself with people to do the work for you. Its like some big shot restaurant owner coming out and slapping backs comping out meals right and left playing big shot leaving the waiter standing with a 2 buck tip because the owner came out and deferred the attention away from his hard work leaving the people with an entitlement attitude. Most of us out here can't afford your business plan. Were just trying to make a living not run a corporation. Your response sounded pretty harsh and almost arrogant to me. He may not be able to afford your business plan either. Most of us don't have budgets,,,say for advertising,,, we have payments for the add and hope enough work comes in next month to make all the "payments". I may have read it wrong but that made you sound like your trying to pat yourself on the back and or too big and out of touch to be giving any of us advice,,,thats just my opinion.
Ok Randall,
After rereading what my post and yours I see where you came up with that. First, I'm no different than you. I may have owned businesses for a few years, but this particular business (Sonitx) has only been going for about four years and at least two years of that was tip-toeing along learning from mistakes.
Here is the original question:
The company I am doing work for has been going through some changes. The boss of the company has leukemia, and has not been making it to work. I assume the secretary is now taking charge, because she has been cancelling my work and rescheduling the fleet washing. She wants the fleet washed once every three weeks now instead of two. Now that the trucks and trailers are way dirtier than normal, is it ok for me to charge more?
He's just saying the owner is sick, the secretary is reducing frequency resulting in more work at a less frequent interval because the trucks are dirtier.
And he's asking if it is ok to charge more for the extra work of cleaning the dirtier trucks.
Russ and John I'm sure, gave answers based on just plain old hard earned business sense. A little goodwill with the customer goes a lot farther than "holding the line" to some "business plan" or "ideal" of "never lower your prices".
Terry's remarks about people who lower their prices must be in financial trouble or they don't know the cost of running their business was an untrue statement as I tried to show by comparing Allegiant airlines and Walmart, both of which lower and raise prices all the time with no consequence except for a HUGE market share.
The examples he gave in regards to buying a $45.00 shirt at Kohls for $9.00 because they are "on the way out" doesn't have any relevence to this thread. This was simply about whether or not to share in the difficult financial situation of the fleet company or toss the account. That's not about liquidating like Kohls and Marshalls.
You thought my posts were arrogant and the irony of that was I posted what I did because I thought Terry's posts were arrogant and condescending to the guys who are just trying to make a living and can't hold fast to "business school" rules like you and me. I thought he was advocating "holding the line" of not lowering your prices at all costs because if you do you look like a loser.
And, by the way, your 10:52am post was right on the mark, if this fleet thing turns out to be just a stupid secretary trying to cut corners. But if there really is financial difficulty due to sickness it changes things and just from a human standpoint it's better to suffer along with someone if you can. You can't lose that way.
If you thought my post was arrogant, and it wasn't meant to be, then I guess it's possible that I thought Terry's post was arrogant and he didn't mean it that way either.
I didn't mean to sound arrogant, I'm no better than anybody else here, in many case I'm sure I'm far worse. I can't even clean concrete much less a truck. I have owned a few businesses though and I was just trying to counteract what I've experienced to be really bad advice.