FLAT RATE IN A SMALL TOWN

Many service techs don’t believe that Flat Rate can work in a small town.  They argue strongly that Flat Rate is the ruin of this industry, and will be the downfall of society.

You may think that I’m over exaggerating the feelings of these self described Small Towners and Anti Flat Raters.  I’m not.  And, to prove it, here are a few of their direct quotes from Facebook. 

From a Plumber:  “You would get run out on a rail if you did flat rate in my small town.  We tried it.  Didn’t work.”

From an Electrician:  “Not trying to be negative. I’m sorry but I can’t support you. I feel you are creating a large group of people that can work on things but not necessarily fix problems. I think long term success will be hard to find doing this. It happened with the auto industry the good shops that have maintained employees and customers for decades found flat rate billing to hold them back from long term growth. I wish you luck and urge you to look up the works of dr. W Edwards Deming.”

From an HVAC Tech / Business Owner:  “Flat rate in HVAC is a rip off to almost all customers. Yes you increase your bottom line, but your not looking at the customer and most homes are financially strained. It’s bad enough Hvac companies have a 300% mark up on parts, throwing everybody together is not fair to local customers. I built my Hvac business on the principle of putting the customers needs ahead of ours. You will see that old fashioned approach create a huge customer base in s short amount of time.”

I removed their names and faces, but if you want to see them CLICK HERE and read the comments in our posts.  There are lots of them. [Like the page while you are there.]

Trolls love 3 things:

1. The comments section of social media
2. Blanket statements that rage with opinion over proof
3. Other trolls. 

If you have been a utilizing Flat Rate over Time and Material for any period of time, you may find the quotes from Facebook rather lacking in reality.  RELATED:  Classroom Training for Techs

I grew up in a small town.  Technically, I lived in a village called Sanford, and I went to school in a town called Seminary.  To put things into perspective, Seminary has a population of 314 people according to the last US census.  

In this small town, all the business are located on Main Street. (Yes, that’s it’s name.  Maybe that’s the same in all small towns)  This is where the locals go to buy their goods and services.

As I considered the nature of Flat Rate and a Small Towns, I contemplated one question:  Why is it that all the businesses on Main Street are operating on Flat Rate pricing?

There is not 1 business that is operating on Time and Material, yet these business are filled with small town people spending their small town money on Flat Rate purchases.

There is even a local bakery that sales Eggs for breakfast, and they charge a flat rate!  Can you believe they would have the nerve to do that?  My sister, and half of the folks here, have chickens that lay fresh eggs.  So, why in the world would I want to pay for your eggs? They should break that down for me in Parts and Labor, and maybe I’ll bring in my own eggs.

I’m not going to address this topic with a direct answer in my own words in the post.  Instead, I’m going to show you a video.  I popped into a local store and asked, “Why not time and material?”

Watch the Video to Learn Why Any Business Should be on Flat Rate

Special thanks to Sherrie at The Dixie Grill.  If you are ever in Seminary, stop in for an amazing burger!

Question:  Why do Time and Material service companies hate Flat Rate companies? 

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