Hiring a contractor to perform a project at your home or business can be time consuming and stressful.
We recently shed some light on a concept called Flat Rate Billing or Flat Rate Pricing.
If you didn’t read Flat Rate Billing (Part 1)…What is it? Check it out to learn more.
Signs of a Contractor who uses a Flat Rate Pricing Structure
When you hire a contractor, how can you tell if they are using a flat rate pricing structure?
It is not always easy to spot but here are a few key indicators.
Technician can do the project the same day or provides you with a quote to sign prior to leaving
Contractors that use a Flat Rate pricing structure operate under the philosophy that the more time you have to think about something, the less likely you are to do the project.
For this reason, they try to get you to sign a quote they provide on-site or do the work immediately.
At Lapp Electric, we want to make sure that you have time to think through any questions you may have and make the best decision for your family or business.
Contractor mentions packages
Flat Rate billing contractors operate under a package approach.
If you do one thing, you can add a “package of services” for another, possibly, discounted rate.
Technician looks at project but then offers suggestions of other things that should be done
This is not always a guaranteed sign that a contractor is using a flat rate pricing structure because in order to offer superior customer service, we also make suggestions to our customers if we see potential dangers or hazards.
However, most technicians at contractors who use a flat rate pricing structure receive an incentive for every project that they sell and then do.
For this reason, there is an extra push to make suggestions for things that may not necessarily need to be done.
Technician recommends something unrelated to what you called them about
Again, this is not always a guaranteed sign as we also offer suggestions.
However, if for example you call and want someone to help remove a broken bulb from a light and the technician make a big deal out of your panel, you may want to get a second opinion.
What to learn more?
If you want to learn more, be sure to check back for the third and final post about Flat Rate Pricing where we explore how Lapp Electric operates when it comes to billing customers.