Charge Administrative Fees!

[HarrytheCarGeek 298]

Stop subsidising other industries and charge your administrative fees!

 

For example if you do towing and you have to write out a check to pay towing fees to other providers, charge an administrative fee.

 

Data entry, getting all details correctly and chasing down paper costs money. We charge a $25 to $35 fee depending how much time the clerk has to spend working on the case.

 

You should have a line on your billing system so your clerk automatically ads the admin fee when they process the payout to the other service provider.

Edited January 9, 2017 by HarrytheCarGeek

[xrac 961]

You are charging this to the customer?

[ADP 0]

We charge a standard mark up on towing or any other sublet work. The way I see it not to sound rude, but I don't do anything for free (of course we do free inspections and some diag time is free, but you get what i'm saying). If I have to put my money out there (sometimes 30-60 days with some company's) and wait for you to pay me back then I'm going to add a fee to this. If I'm not making a profit on it I don't see any reason in waisting my time messing with it.

[FROGFINDER 89]

Charges should start at "Hello, How may i help you"

[HarrytheCarGeek 298]

We charge a standard mark up on towing or any other sublet work. The way I see it not to sound rude, but I don't do anything for free (of course we do free inspections and some diag time is free, but you get what i'm saying). If I have to put my money out there (sometimes 30-60 days with some company's) and wait for you to pay me back then I'm going to add a fee to this. If I'm not making a profit on it I don't see any reason in waisting my time messing with it.

 

Doing complementary work is not a problem, but it has to be understood that it is complementary and it does cost money as it draws from revenue generating time. I am 100% with you there.

[xrac 961]

I wanted to be sure that I was following you. We do mark up sublet work and things like towing. However, we only mark up tows by $10 as a rule.

[mmotley 208]

UGH, I have a customer who bought an extended warranty that pays for 3 oil changes a year... Guess who gets to call and orchestrate that whole ordeal. Better believe that oil change is going up at least $15

[carolinahigear 118]

We mark up local tows from $10 to $25. Longer tows we add $40 or more. I don't own a tow truck, but with my phone I call Tow #1, occasionally Tow #2, and seldomly Tow #3. As far as the Admin fee goes, I would rather work it into the repair order. That way "No questions asked." Usually. Arranging towing can be a pain sometimes, so I charge for it accordingly.

 

When I enter my weekly data into my sales grid, I look for a pleasing profit on sublet work. IE, I sent a truck dealership diesel tech on a service call last week. I was charged $619, so I charged $889, and have already been paid. If it makes sense to me, then it makes sense. It helps the bottom line.

[thetireshop 3]

We charge a nominal shop supplies fee. A percentage of labor that caps at $10.00. How many of you guys flash update controllers? We do a bunch. I usually charge a data fee per flash update, but I was wondering if it wouldn't be better to charge a small data fee to every repair ticket, akin to the shop supply fee. Thoughts?

[ADP 0]

We charge a flat fee of $15 shop supplies fee to every ticket that has a part on it. Now the nature of a Diesel Shop differes though. Our Average RO is $1,250 so I don't think we have ever been questioned about the shop supplies. On tickets under say $50 (very rare for us) I would wave the shop supplies. We also flash update controllers. Again it's just a flat fee of $100 to update a controller. I don't see the need in breaking it down to a data fee and a flash fee. Leaves room for customer to question why he's being charged X dollars for a data fee. When at the end of the day he doesn't mind paying the $100 it's just a matter of wording.

[Shopcat 98]

ADP is right on it, its all about the wording, or presentation. Less detail, to a point is less to argue about. I think all sublet needs to be marked up. It costs time and money to set up towing, or sublet work, then pay for it and wait for your money. Also I recommend the phrase "job supplies" over shop supplies. The customer is more willing to pay for stuff you use on his vehicle, shop supplies sounds like he may be sponsoring supplies for the shop. I also like to type in some itms used on the particular ticket, like dielectric grease, m.a.f. cleaner, convoluted tubing., etc. This meets with no arguements, or resistance.

[tyrguy 66]

We charge 5% of labor for shop supplies with no cap. I asked my guys today if they ever remember a customer complaint and they replied no. As far as sublet, we divide by .75 for a 25% GP. Sublet would include mobile reflashing, towing, wheel repairs, windshields, and machine shop labor.

[alfredauto 399]

We call the same company for all our tows and pay them on time no matter what. In return they give me a discount. The cost to the customer is the same. It's a win/win/win for everyone.

 

In the end everything you do for your customers needs to be billed. Even charities take a cut.

[bstewart 58]

On 2/6/2017 at 4:27 AM, alfredauto said:

We call the same company for all our tows and pay them on time no matter what. In return they give me a discount. The cost to the customer is the same. It's a win/win/win for everyone.

In the end everything you do for your customers needs to be billed. Even charities take a cut.

This is a smart way to do business, negotiate a volume discount with vendor, charge customer the "normal retail" price, pocket the difference, or even give the customer a small discount and pocket most of the difference.

Vendors love volume, and it's worth it to them to give discounts to keep you coming back, not to mention they give premium service and other perks to larger accounts.

It's also very true about charities and non-profits. Their people still need to get paid just like anyone else, they just don't get the remove profits from the business at the end of the year.