3
A chat with a landlord in Austin flipped how I quote dryer vent jobs
Had a landlord call me out to a duplex in Austin last week for a dryer that kept shutting off mid-cycle. He watched me pull a solid 40 feet of lint out of the run and then asked why I charge per hour instead of per foot of duct. Made me realize he just wanted a flat number he could budget for, not my detailed breakdown. Has anyone else switched to flat-rate quotes for routine vent cleaning and seen customers ease up on the haggling?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
dianas5015d ago
Oh HELL no, flat rate is the ONLY way to go once you know your numbers. I switched two years ago and my phone stopped ringing with people trying to nickel and dime me over every little elbow joint. The trick is you gotta quote the worst case scenario right up front, like "this is the price for a fully clogged run, took me three hours on a bad one last spring" so they feel like they're getting a steal when it takes you forty five minutes. That landlord in Austin basically told you what he wanted, a target number to stick in his spreadsheet, not a lesson on vent physics. Plus, flat rate kills the "can you just knock off twenty bucks since it was faster than you thought" conversation dead in its tracks. You're selling a solved problem, not your time.
6