It seems every area of the country has a “going rate” covering labor for service and repair work. The common wisdom seems to be if you exceed the going rate you will lose business to competition and suffer untold other consequences. This notion, that there is only a narrow range of acceptable charges for labor in a community, seems to be firmly fixed in many service and repair business owners’ minds. Charge more than the going rate and your business will falter, and maybe fail. That’s the feeling I get from owners and managers.
That concern is legitimate in today’s marketplace. However, I flatly disagree that you cannot bust the going rate without losing business. In fact, I suggest doing just that — and I’ll give you some examples and tell you how.