When a customer calls up your plumbing company, there’s a good chance that they are in need of a professional repair ASAP. They are in a vulnerable position and you could take advantage of that if you wanted to. They probably don’t know the going rate for plumbing services off the top of their heads. If the price that you quote them at doesn’t seem too outrageous, there’s a good chance that they will pay you what you ask for. Taking this approach might mean a nice payday for you, but it will always backfire in the end.
You can never underestimate the power of the consumer. People talk about the service providers that they’ve worked with and compare notes. More and more often this is being done online via social media outlets and consumer review sites. Even if the customer had no idea that you overcharged them when it happened, there’s a good chance that they will find out eventually and they definitely won’t be happy about it!
Here’s a real life example for you:
A customer called up a plumber to do a tune up on 3 boiler units in a rental complex. The plumber charged more than $1,000 to do the work. It seemed like a lot, but the work needed to be done and the plumber seemed to be trustworthy. The work was good, and everything worked fine. After a few years had passed the customer decided that it was time for another tune up and asked the oil company what they would charge for the work. The oil company was straightforward and explained what work would be done (clean the filters, flush out the oil line, change the nozzles, etc.) and that it would take about half a day to do at an hourly rate. The final quote was $450! Obviously, the plumber that had completed the work a few years prior had been drastically overcharging.
Situations like this one happen all the time. When a consumer feels scammed they probably won’t just sit back and say “oh well”. There’s a good chance that they will take action by telling everyone they know about the poor experience that they had with the company and write some harsh reviews online. Reputation (online and off) is everything to a business today.
If you are guilty of overcharging your customers, think twice before you do it again. There’s a good chance that they will find out and it won’t be pretty for you. If you do good it will come back to you and if you do bad- that will come back to you too! Honesty and integrity are the only ways to do business.
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