Normally we do not inform a customer we are going to flat rate pricing as it is a presentation change
only. Instead of informing the customer of the price after a field person repairs something, the field
person will now be telling them the price before they repair. The difference in flat rate is the service
call or diagnostic fee.
Your company probably will be assessing a service call fee, for example $69.95. This fee covers travel
to the home and some average time in the home to diagnose the problem. Whether the field person spends
10 minutes or 40 minutes in the home diagnosing the problem, the fee does not change. Time is removed
when you go to flat rate. The customer is paying a flat fee for someone to come to their house and diagnose
the problem. After the problem has been found, the field person will show the customer the price in the
flat rate book for that repair. The field person will charge them accordingly for the repair only, not
for the parts+materials+tax. The field person will summarize the invoice instead of itemizing it.
Customer Call
The phone conversation might go like this:
Ms. Jones, we charge $69.95 to travel to your home and completely check your plumbing/HVAC/electrical
system and tell you what is wrong. Once the plumber/technician finds the problem, he/she will tell
you exactly what it is going to cost before he repairs it to get your approval. Also, if we do make
the repair, all our repairs are guaranteed for (warranty days or years). May I schedule the call?
