Pricing

[rawjahprintshop]

I need help pricing on everything.. so I’m not going to ask someone to break everything down for me, but do you think having a program like execCALC or another sign shop app would be good where I’m able to price people products while on the phone?

I’ve lost lots business having to call people back not knowing prices and I want to just be able to put in the pricing of our materials and laminates, all our “business info” like what your % of upsell is and all the other info it can help gather to make my phone calls go much smoother and they feel like working with me.

Unfortunately by the time I call people back they got off the phone and already called someone else just moving.

My material vendor is fantastic so I know I have GREAT PRICING along with the highest quality materials and I want to have it ready to go for my customers!

Thank you

 

[victor bogdanov]

Figure out how much you want/need to charge per square foot to make a profit for the materials you offer and once you know this you can calculate sqft and quote on the fly for most jobs. Also calculate your "shop rate" and use that to multiply by the number of hours you estimate the job will take (takes experience to know how long something will take YOU to do)

 

[victor bogdanov]

For example someone calls in wanting a 10 ft x 10ft wall mural, already have a ready to print design.

= 100sq ft x $5/sq ft = $500 for the print
2hrs to install, 1 hr driving, 1hr for emails/back and forth etc = 4hrs x $200 = $800
add more hours if there is any chance of complication or something

But the key is knowing how long stuff will take you to do and allow some cushion in case something goes wrong

 

[visual800]

victor nailed it. Ill also add it takes a while to be able to figure out quotes, especially when prices are always changing

Lets say a dude calls you and wants trailer wrapped, materials come out to be about $1500, Ill add another $700 to that and then install will be about $850-$1000
now i dont have a printer so I pay wholesale for my priinting (I honestly do not want the responsibility of owning one)

Also keep one thing in mind when your pricing dont worry about what someone else is quoting, you do you! It took me a few years to stop trying to be the cheap one to get the jobs

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Understand your costs and shoot from the hip on a phone call. When you have to call them back, they immediately get off the phone and start calling someone else. You have a fish in the line when they call, before they get off the phone, you better be asking for credit card to take deposit.

 

[geezer]

Just a little extra advise: If you subscribe to Signcraft magazine (on line or print) they have a three tiered pricing calculator. This alone makes a subscription worth while. But the content, including, inspiration and wholesale sources has been invaluable for the many many years that I have been a subscriber.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Hope this helps!

 

[gnubler]

Ill also add it takes a while to be able to figure out quotes, especially when prices are always changing

It was also hard when I first started the business, having nothing to go by, no idea how long certain jobs might take when estimating labor costs. I'm sure I lost tons of money but that was part of the learning process. I remember my very first install, updating some vinyl window lettering at an office across the street. I figured it would take me 10 minutes, so I charged $10 for labor. LOL. It should have been more like $75, if I were to do it again today.

I'm in my fourth year now and am pretty good at estimating how long something will take, if it's something routine like vehicle or window decals, or making an 8x4 ACM sign in the shop. Most materials are quoted at a sq foot cost, so it's pretty easy to shoot back a ballpark price to at least give a customer an idea of cost. I try to respond to quote requests the same day or 24 hrs tops.

 

[Lux]

I need help pricing on everything.. so I’m not going to ask someone to break everything down for me, but do you think having a program like execCALC or another sign shop app would be good where I’m able to price people products while on the phone?

I’ve lost lots business having to call people back not knowing prices and I want to just be able to put in the pricing of our materials and laminates, all our “business info” like what your % of upsell is and all the other info it can help gather to make my phone calls go much smoother and they feel like working with me.

Unfortunately by the time I call people back they got off the phone and already called someone else just moving.

My material vendor is fantastic so I know I have GREAT PRICING along with the highest quality materials and I want to have it ready to go for my customers!

Thank you

I started using Excel to figure out pricing on the fly. I did not take to it well initially but now I use it every day. You can also use an online google sheet or numbers on mac. I have been transitioning to Zoho and Zoho sheets - it is similar to google sheets. I built a template that has square inch prices for material and ink cost with markup. Then I need to think about what work is involved with the file prep and mounting and delivery. I put sizes and quantities in the spread sheet and I get pricing for various materials and substrates. This means it is easy to discuss options on the phone immediately. The template is locked, so I can not accidentally overwrite it. I will save it as a new file with the customer name and date once information is entered. I like to email something, even a rough quote to the client right away. I will request the client email me a quick hello, so I can send them the quote if we have not done business before.
I know your pain of not being able to give a quick price and losing a job, gnubler mentioned the issue of underestimating jobs. That is another pain you will eventually experience, so having everything written in front of you will help you to not repeat that mistake, as that will eventually happen, hopefully on a small job.