Showerthought: I put my hourly rate on my website and got a weird call

Last month, I added a clear 'starting at $95/hour' line to my HVAC service page. A guy called, said he loved the honesty, then asked if I'd fix his neighbor's unit for free to 'build my brand' in his gated community. I said no, obviously. The lesson? Being clear just filters out the people who were never going to pay anyway. Anyone else get wild requests after being upfront about pricing?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinnj242mo ago

Ever get those calls where they want a freebie to "test your work"? I put my tree trimming rates right on my site, and a lady asked me to do her whole backyard for free for "exposure" to her book club. Stuck to my prices and she hung up. It really does just save you time.

grayjohnson2mo ago

Man, that's everywhere now. People act like your real work is worth less than their pretend currency of "exposure". Good on you for not playing that game.

jordan_webb491mo ago

Yeah, the whole exposure thing is like trying to pay your electric bill with a high five. Her book club probably thinks a good tip is leaving a nice review on a napkin. You dodged a whole afternoon of listening to people talk about a wine club novel instead of actually getting paid.