Your knowledge is worth something.

Years of experience and knowledge have helped you and your team resolve issues reliably, quickly, and efficiently. Having worked hard and accumulated 10 years of experience, a service technician is able to solve a problem in 10 minutes. They are more valuable to your business because of this.

Providing a quick assessment or inspection of the related systems will guarantee a satisfactory job for your customer when you provide them with fast and accurate service. As well as providing additional peace of mind to your customer, this process also helps to identify potential property issues. The customer will be sure to request your services again if you can assist them with an expedient resolution to their issue along with a detailed report on their system(s).

To recap, quick and comprehensive quality service is absolutely valuable. Providing a quick summary of the resolved issue and an analysis of their equipment to your customer is the best way to convey this information and avoid complaints. This not only justifies the cost of going above and beyond, but also shows the customer that you have their best interests in mind.

Balance out fuel and vehicle maintenance costs.

Whether your service technician takes 10 minutes or all day to reach the customer’s site, it takes time. Consider this when deciding whether to charge a minimum. Keeping your service truck and technician on the road costs your business money, whether it is time spent in traffic or time spent reaching customers at the edge of your service area.

Consider the expenses of vehicle maintenance when discussing a minimum charge for your services. These service fees should include gas, oil changes, and insurance. Even if some of these expenses are negligible for jobs around the corner, it may take an hour or more to reach some sites. It will help you offset the costs of those longer trips if you charge a fair amount for your time and travel on every job.

Additionally to vehicle costs, your company might invest in tools, trash bags, gloves, and other supplies that wear down over time. As a result of only charging for parts and labor, you could be losing money on broken or worn down equipment that is not properly accounted for in overhead.

Taking your equipment to the job site is an investment in the customer. Maintaining quality equipment helps you work faster and more efficiently while covering the cost of replacing equipment when it fails or requires maintenance.

Is it necessary for your business to charge a minimum fee for every service call?

Your customer cannot get the job done without you because of the experience of your technicians and the cost of owning and maintaining your equipment. Having a service minimum will make it worthwhile to offer small issues to your customers or to be their go-to business for service issues.

The accounting and service teams should be informed of how much the company spends on a typical workday. Explaining why your business includes a service charge on all visits will help your team answer questions from customers.

I don’t currently charge a minimum service fee, how do I start?

Examine your field service software. Using a good piece of software can help your business calculate the right amount to charge, as well as keep track of the time and expenses spent on delivering a satisfactory outcome to the customer.

SAWIN’s field service management software tracks your technicians’ time on site and can automatically apply your minimum hourly charge. With this method, you can track your travel and payroll expenses while rounding up the time you spend on site.

Schedule a free SAWIN Service Automation demo today.