I finally started charging a rush fee after a client complained about my 24 hour turnaround

I overheard another electrician at the supply house say he adds 30% for any job that needs to start in under a week, and it clicked for me. One guy actually argued my rates were too low and that made me rethink my whole pricing structure. Has anyone else had clients push back on rush fees at first?

3 comments

3 Comments

shanes6616d ago

Did you feel like a total scam artist the first time you added it, or was it just me nervously sweating through the whole explanation?

rowan_ross16d ago

I mean I get feeling awkward about it but scam artist feels a little dramatic. You're just adding a service you can actually provide, not lying about anything. Plenty of people charge a premium for emergency work, that's just how it works.

abbyhall16d ago

Caught myself doing the same thing @shanes66. I remember reading somewhere that even experienced guys in the trades get that impostor feeling when they first add a new service. My buddy who does HVAC told me he felt like a fraud the first time he sold a customer on a whole system upgrade. For me it was offering emergency work at a premium rate, I kept over explaining myself until the customer asked if I was trying to talk them out of it. Does that nagging doubt ever fully go away or do you just get better at hiding it?