Saying something useful about price when every job differs

Trades resist publishing prices for good reasons, and customers keep asking for the same reason: they have been quoted before, sometimes badly, and they are trying to work out whether you are reasonable.

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Even without fixed prices you can publish a call-out or minimum charge, an hourly or day rate where you work that way, typical costs for your most common jobs, and the factors that move a price. Customers use these to place you, and the alternative is that they place you by guessing.

What the customer is actually asking

They are not asking you to commit to a price sight unseen. They are asking whether you are the sort of business that charges a modest amount or a substantial one, because they have been surprised before.

Almost any honest indication answers that question, and answering it is what earns the call.

What you can publish safely

Several things, none of which commit you to a figure for an unseen job.

  • A call-out or minimum charge, and what it includes.
  • An hourly or day rate, where you work that way.
  • Typical costs for your two or three most common jobs.
  • What an emergency or out-of-hours visit costs extra.
  • Whether materials are included or charged separately.
  • The factors that move a price up or down.

Typical costs for common jobs

Most trades have a handful of jobs that recur constantly and vary little. Publishing a typical figure for those, with a note that unusual situations differ, is honest and extremely useful.

It also positions you against the competitor who says nothing, since the customer now has one supplier they can place and one they cannot.

Be explicit about the call-out

The call-out charge is where most complaints in trades begin, usually because it was not mentioned until the visit. Publishing it prevents that entirely.

Say what it covers, whether it is deducted if the work proceeds, and whether it differs at night or at weekends. Customers accept these charges when they know about them in advance.

Handle the cheaper competitor honestly

Someone will always quote less. Rather than ignoring it, explain what your price includes that a lower one may not: insurance, guarantees, qualified people, materials of a particular standard, and coming back if something fails.

Give customers questions to ask any supplier. It is genuinely helpful, applies equally to you, and quietly reveals what a bare number hides.

Keep it current, or publish drivers instead

Whatever you publish becomes a promise in the customer's mind, so review it whenever your costs move. A stale figure produces an awkward conversation at the first contact.

If keeping figures current is unrealistic, publish the drivers and the call-out charge alone. Those change far less often and still answer the question the customer is really asking.

How Licheo handles this

We publish what a business can genuinely maintain: minimums, typical costs, and the factors that move a price, placed where customers look for them rather than buried on a separate page.

For our own work we publish the drivers and not a figure, because scope varies too much for a number to be honest before a conversation.

Part of a larger guide

This page is one part of Service business websites. The other parts:

Questions people ask

Should trades publish prices?
Publish what you can maintain: a call-out or minimum charge, a rate if you work that way, typical costs for common jobs, and the factors that move a price. Customers are trying to place you, not to trap you.
What if every job is different?
Publish the drivers and the minimum instead. Almost any honest indication answers the question the customer is actually asking, which is whether you are modest or substantial in price.
Should I list my call-out charge?
Yes. Most complaints in trades begin with a call-out charge that was not mentioned until the visit. Say what it covers, whether it comes off the work, and whether nights and weekends differ.
How do I compete with somebody cheaper?
Explain what your price includes that a lower one may not: insurance, guarantees, qualified people, materials of a standard, and returning if something fails. Then give customers questions to ask any supplier.
What if my prices change often?
Publish the drivers and the call-out charge rather than figures you cannot maintain. Those change far less often and still let a customer place you accurately.

Answer the question they are really asking

Minimums, typical costs and cost drivers published where customers look, and kept to what you can genuinely maintain.

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