revised Service Call or ? [RE-wrenches]

[Baran Galocy]

Travis,

If you are lucky, you will NEVER hear from him again.  I no longer argue
about price - I don't have time.  There are plenty of people out there who
value knowledge and experience.  Now-a-days, I show people like you
described a_ _ hole and elbows as I am running far away - fast!  Bob-o, et
al were right on!  You are selling something other than time.  When queried
about my hours and/or prices, I tell people that I am like a very
specialized automobile mechanic.  There are not a lot of people like me
around and my time and services are in high demand.  I liken my hourly rate
to having a tune-up done.  Look on the mechanic's invoice - he charges 15
minutes to one-half hour's time to do a "five" minute job.  Why?  Because
some of those 5 minute jobs take an hour, and you never know when you are
gonna get one.  I point out that billing is an educated guessing game.  I'm
juxtaposing turning a profit against offering him fair price.  I used to
tell people that if a job took less than I estimated, I would refund the
difference.  The only problem was that there were very few people who wanted
to pay me more money when the job took longer than estimated.  When I knew I
had a real tire kicker, I would sometimes blow them off by telling them that
their job was, in part, subsidizing some other underbid project.  The truth
can drive people away faster than a story.

In conclusion, you do not (assuming you aren't masochistic) want to do any
job that YOU have to apply pressure tactics to.  When challenged, you should
"hear the other phone" or "someone just walked in the door" and ask the
person to call you back if they decide they want you.  Be that glorious
combination of firm and understanding - and don't apologize!

Namaste, Baran

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